Our route to Casares took us on a toll road along the coast, and we were literally the only car going either way on the highway. It was a little eerie. This was another reminder of how the lack of tourism is affecting the economy of these coastal communities. We got off the toll road and followed the directions I had found online. There is no parking near the baths, so we parked along the river and headed up the road on foot.
As I've mentioned before, the succulents in Spain are amazing. Aliah was enthralled by this giant variety. We think it looks like an aloe vera plant, but we aren't sure. If there's a horticulture specialist reading this who can confirm or reject, let us know!
I had read online that many people coat their skin in mud from the river bank and let it dry (like a whole-body skin mask) before bathing. When we arrived, we headed down to the river to begin the process. We discovered a sign discouraging bathers from using the mud as it is eroding the river bank. That almost shut the rule-follower in me right down, but I did let the girls do a little body painting just for the experience.
It didn't take long for the mud to dry, so it was time to hit the bath. Shawn was the first to jump in. It wasn't ice cold, but it's wasn't exactly a warm bath either. A couple of women had just gotten out, and one offered to take a picture of us all together. We accepted her offer, and the girls and I jumped in too.
The water was clear and refreshing. We had the place to ourselves and swam around a bit. The bath is small and intimate, and I personally enjoyed it immensely. There was something therapeutic about this swim for me; it felt both physically and emotionally cleansing. It was like we were being reborn into a new world after being cocooned inside our surrogate home for so many weeks. I am so grateful I found this little gem when researching things to do. It was the perfect way to start our first week in phase 2.
In phase 2, the biggest change for us was being able to spend time at the beach. That was our next stop. We chose to revisit Playa de Cristo in Estepona but quickly discovered why it's considered so family-friendly... the water is shallow and there are no waves... perfect for small kids. We watched as a couple of toddlers splashed around while their parents chatted at the water's edge. It was fun people-watching, but we were out for some fun of our own.
We decided to move down the coast to Playa de la Rada. This beach had some good waves, which was more our speed. We got a good dose of sunshine that day. Unlike the Spaniards, who typically don't wear tops on the beach, we were grateful to have our swimshirts to prevent sunburns. While our girls were asking why they don't have tops on, I'm guessing their kids where asking why we were wearing our clothes in the water.
We were planning to go for a hike on Tuesday but ended up shopping instead. The weekly market had been stopped in March when Spain declared a state of alarm. It finally returned the first week of June. Shawn forgot the market was returning and parked the car on the road where it's held. When we went to get the car, we discovered it was right in the middle of the produce stand. That's OK, we needed some produce and a beach blanket anyway!
On Wednesday, we visited several beaches in Nerja and tried out our new beach blanket. It's a keeper! It was another wonderful day in the sun and surf. We watched as several people jumped off the big rock in the photo below, so I challenged Shawn to do it too. Of course, he did. The waves were gentle that day, so the girls and I floated on our noodles and watched from below. Shawn and I also walked down the beach and collected a handful of sea glass.
Most of the shops and many of the restaurants were closed in Nerja, but the girls had spied an ice cream shop near the entrance to Playa de Calahonda. When we left, they each got a dish. Wow!... the ice cream here is really good... and the flavors are interesting. This could have been the perfect day. Unfortunately, we left a bag of water shoes and flip flops on a bench when we switched beaches, and they were gone by the time we realized it. We looked in all the garbage cans hoping someone had just tossed them, but they were gone. Apparently, someone needed them more than we did.
More beautiful succulents on someone's windowsill.
On Thursday, we set out to go for a hike just outside of Casarabonela, a neighboring village. Just as we got to the parking spot, it started to drizzle. We had no cell service at this point, so we had no way of knowing low long the rain was going to last. We decided to eat our lunch in the car and see how things went. The fog rolled in and it started to rain harder. After lunch, we drove down the mountain to get a weather update. It was going to rain for a few hours. Another hike thwarted.
We found out later than day that our June 30th flight home was cancelled. I called the airline to discuss our options. I had looked online, and it appeared we could get out July 1st. The airline representative coyly suggested we consider rebooking after July 20th. She said Aer Lingus would not be resuming most European flights until after that date. Since Shawn's flights were booked through UW, I wanted to be sure he could fly with us before I rebooked anything for myself and the girls. He called the travel agency. They gave him his confirmation number and suggested we rebook all of our flights with the airline at the same time. By the time we called back, the flights up to July 20th had been cancelled and we were told the soonest flights we could get were on July 22nd. Also, we could not rebook Shawn's flights with the airline; he had to call his travel agent back. Thankfully, they were able to get us all on the same flights.
The next step was to check in with our landlord to be sure we could extend our stay. She had previously indicated that we were welcome to stay as long as necessary, but I wanted to be sure now that we were actually going to need that option. Thankfully, she was willing to extend our lease.
On Friday, we headed to Playamar in Torremolinos. We learned a lesson that day: Check the wind forecast before leaving for the beach! The waves were rough, the sand was stinging, and stuff was flying everywhere. One little girl's inflatable ring went rolling down the beach like a tire. All the wind surfers were a telltale sign this was not going to be a relaxing day at the beach.
We ended up tucking in between the palm trees for lunch, searching for shells and strolling down the boardwalk instead of enjoying the sea. We also stopped at a store and bought some new flip flops.
On Saturday, June 6th, we packed up for a week's stay at a rural house with a pool. I had booked a rental on a website called Ruralidays. Our confirmation said that we needed to call when we were ready to meet, as the host would lead us to the rental and give us a tour. When I called, the host only spoke Spanish. Shawn and the girls were are the grocery store, so I had no interpreter. I ended up hanging up on the poor man as he clearly couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand him. Haila called him back and made the arrangements. A young woman, who also only spoke Spanish, came to meet us and give us the tour. Thank God for our girls who can communicate for us!
We followed the young lady to a gated property. As soon as we arrived, we realized the place was even better than expected. Haila helped us get all of our questions answered, and we spent most of the week relaxing in or around the pool... swimming, reading, playing cards, and watching a movie every night.
The moon was full the night before we arrived at the rental, but it was still bright and beautiful. One night, Haila was trying to push Shawn in the pool. Of course, he was egging her on. She finally made it happen (although he sort of let it happen) and can be seen celebrating her victory below.
Aliah had brought some of her toys to the rental and was playing outside when a palm frond fell from a tree onto the pool deck. She came crying into the house. We thought she was hurt at first, but she was just scared. The palm fell relatively close to where she was playing and must have been loud. After she calmed down, she found it fun to play with, although it was actually quite heavy. It's a good thing she wasn't playing in the shade of that tree!
We took a trip to Coin on Wednesday for some groceries. Our rental had a built-in outdoor grill, and we were all missing our favorite grilled delicacies (namely, brats and steaks). Also, we had seen a restaurant on the road between Alozaina and Coin called the Ginger Pig that makes pancakes and planned to check it out on our way back. Aldi had swimwear this time, so in addition to groceries, Haila got a new suit which she is modeling below.
The Ginger Pig Country Pub was fabulous. It's operated and frequented by English speakers, so it has a much different feel than other local restaurants. Both girls ordered a pancake with bacon, another meat we dearly miss. When the pancakes arrived, they were bigger than their plates. I wish I had taken photos. They were thinner than American pancakes but thicker than a crepe and tasted divine. It's hard to find maple syrup here, so they served the pancakes with caramel and chocolate sauce. The chef forgot to add the bacon, so he brought out another plate. The girls were pretty full by this point, so I helped consume the bacon pancake and found it downright delicious.
There were a lot of pool shenanigans this week. Little Miss Aliah learned how to spray water out of a pool noodle and found it great fun to spray her Mother as if she were an elephant. Haila attempted to choke her Dad with his pool noodle after he antagonized her profusely. Aliah offered to incessantly splash her Mother in exchange for $8, and this offer was unsolicited (although agreed to by her Father unbenounced to me).
There was also a lot of floating and chatting. Although I didn't mind having Aliah in my lap, we eventually invested in a third inflatable ring so Mama could have her own.
It was a wonderful week with one exception: the spider incident. On Tuesday night, the girls were swimming in the pool after dark with their goggles on. All of a sudden, Haila scrabbled to exit the pool. She said there was a giant spider at the bottom. Shawn didn't believe her at all, and I said that the spider had to be dead so there was no need to fear. She was going to get the skimming net to scoop it out when Shawn pushed her back in the pool, right near the spider. She panicked. Needless to say, she was quite disgruntled when she exited the pool the second time.
Haila proceeded to scoop the spider out of the pool, thereby proving it existed. Much to our dismay, it was also alive; it crawled out of the net onto the handle. Now I'm screaming too. This was no small spider, and I could not believe it was still alive. Shawn grabbed the handle and tossed the spider into the field, but now we're all a little distressed. How could that be? I did a quick google search and found that some spiders can indeed survive in a pool. Well, that was the end of our evening. Talk about having the heebie-jeebies!
We left the rental property on Saturday, June 13th. We considered staying a couple of extra days as the house was available until Monday, but we decided to go to Nerja instead. I really wanted to walk the Rio Chillar, so we headed home to unpack and repack. Our plan was to go to Nerja on Sunday and spend the night, so we could get up early for a hike on Monday.
After unloading the car, Shawn went to wash and park it. When he got home, he surprised us with a new haircut and close shave. I was very happy to have my clean-cut man back. He's pretty cute when he's cleaned up. Now, if I could just get him to put on an actual shirt... I'll work on that next!
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