This is supposed to be the first of my Spain posts, but before we head off to the continent, a wee word about our new baby.
Blog readers didn't guess her name; the Homeschool on the Croft Facebook page readers tried valiantly but failed; but just in the past hour, an Instagram follower got it!
Her name is Niseach!
(For the poor, uneducated, sad non-Gaelic speakers among y'all - and you have my sympathy - 'Niseach' is a person from Ness. And for those even more deprived and who don't even know what Ness is ... you dear folks. I sympathise. Not to have been born in the best place in the world is one thing; but never even to have visited this little spot of almost-perfection on earth ...well, I shall try and deal kindly with you ;) )
And so there you have it. She is Niseach. And she is a bundle of adorableness.
And now on to Spain. My next blog post will look at the two eating places we'd definitely recommend. This post will look at three great memories from our holiday.
1. The balcony
I loved sleeping to the sound of the sea. I loved wakening to it, and stepping out onto the balcony to be met by a view like this.
(If you look closely, you may be able to see Gibraltar in the distance. This was the only time we caught a glimpse of the Rock during our week on the Costa del Sol.)
Everything seemed to move slowly in these parts, and these fishing boats dawdled around here, right in my line of vision, for the best part of this gorgeously warm and calm day. I think those on the boats were simply enjoying the beauty around them, and who of us would want to rush in these kinds of conditions?
I loved sitting to read on that balcony with my cuppa and the sea air and sea sounds filling my senses.
2. Mijas
I took a half-day trip to Mijas, about fifteen miles from where we were staying. What a gorgeous little town! It was quintessentially Spanish from top to bottom.
I hopped on a Tuk Tuk along with three other visitors, and it was most certainly a well-spent five Euros. Our driver was lovely and considering the width and steepness of some of the streets, this is probably the only way I'd have seen some parts of the town.
The church on the hillside (you see it?) is closed all year, except for a couple of days around Easter, when villagers walk up the hillside to a Mass. The building is set in a most stunning place, but my heart kinda aches when rituals are all people know rather than the glorious, free Gospel of Christ.
There is nothing more beautiful than Christ in all His liberating beauty.
This is what many of the streets looked like.
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Isn't this beautiful! The flower pots on the wall are supplied by the local council, all blue because this is the colour of the municipal district. It was all so pretty, with all the streets immaculately clean. We saw a couple of residents sweeping and scrubbing their own steps, and so that explains how beautifully clean the area looked.
3. Fuengirola Street Market
We all visited this street market, the largest of its type on the Costa del Sol. I wouldn't spend more than a morning here, but I would definitely go again if we go back to the Costa del Sol. It's busy, but because it's outside, it doesn't feel like a crowded shopping centre. The selection of stuff is huge, ranging from, erm, rubbish (am I allowed to say that?) to some lovely leather goods and crockery. Our bus guide told us that most of the vendors don't accept haggling and that the given price is what you ought to expect to pay, but DR bought a leather bag, and the sellers at that stall most certainly expected and welcomed haggling.
At this point I'd like to point out that I may have spent the past twenty-five years married to the Builder, but there are clearly some things about him I had yet to learn. One is that he is amazing at haggling!
Who ever knew?! While I cringed in the corner and smiled apologetically at the stall holder, he held his ground, threatened to go to another stall he'd seen where he was 'bound to get a better deal', and eventually took the price to about half the original asking price.
Who'd have thunked it, eh?
I was also chuffed to bits to discover that our Spanish classes have not been wasted....
After careful consideration, I figured that this van belonged to the local Police.
I amaze myself. I'm almost trilingual.
