Motril, Spain: We had a very easy passage last night, but woke to more cloudy - but very warm - weather in the port of Motril. This area of Granada is rich with produce, fishing and Motril is a busy port. Granada is also home to the best climate in all of Spain (if not Europe). Quaint beach towns dot the coast. But we were not here to soak up the sun (which did finally appear late morning). We were here to visit a cave. Girls, never marry a geologist or you may spend way too many days exploring caves and spelunking underground... however this afternoon, My Geologist told a woman he has spent more time in Louis Vuitton stores with me, than I have ever spent in caves with him. He may be right. (But how much fun is for a blind woman to be traipsing around a dark cave? Louis is well lighted.)
Our tour today provided a big coach, but there were only 15 of us on the bus. We were luckily joined by Karen Worrall, the shore excursion diva on the Explora II. Ms. Worrall has been working with travel and cruise companies to design excursions and itineraries for years. She has been nearly everywhere and has written extensively. She is also a pleasure to be around and adds to our excursions. Plus, she is funny as heck.
Our first stop was to the Nerja Caves. In 1959, five boys (re-)discovered the entrance to the massive cave, but they fled after finding skeletal remains. Scientists took over and now know the caves have been occupied by humans for at least 35,000 years (but have not been occupied for the last 3,000+ years). The caves were used as living spaces, places to gather material for making tools, and burial sites. They have discovered over 200 cave paintings, so far.
I am going to post only two photographs, as the entire cave is covered in stalactites and stalagmites, and maybe they can all look the same after while? (Just sayin'... from someone who has seen her share of stalactites AND stalagmites.)
The path through the caves is fairly well lit, there are stairs (about 600 or so!) and usually a handrail - so I was fine. No flash is allowed, but it amazing what an iPhone camera can do these days. We spent only 90 minutes or so inside the cave and it wasn't too crowded. (May 1st is a national holiday in Spain - and in most of the world - as the International Day of the Worker.) Of course, just like Disneyland, your photo is snapped at the entrance, but we both had our eyes closed in our snapshot, so declined.
After our spelunking adventure, we again boarded the bus and rode just a few minutes to the adorable seaside town of Nerja. You would never know it was a holiday as the city was crawling with locals, plus European/Scandinavian tourists. The shops and restaurants were open.
Spain suffered a devastating earthquake in 1884 and King Alfonso VII came to assess the damage. While standing in Nerja, looking out across the Mediterranean, he declared Nerja the Balcony of Spain, and so it has been ever since.
In Nerja, we were given over an hour to stroll around, take in the views, have something to eat/drink, shop or just people watch.
After I snapped these photos, the sun came out and we really enjoyed our stroll through town. The Catholic church in town, El Salvador, has been standing since the 1500's and is one of only a few churches on earth to hold representations of all three archangels (Michael, Raphael, Gabriel), or so says our guide. In the square there are ice cream and gelato shops next to each other, so many families out for the afternoon, young lovers strolling hand-in-hand, and people enjoying a drink or lunch on pretty little terraces. Such good people watching. We were back to the ship by 2p, and went straight to the feed trough on Deck 11. I've been on this ship 18 days and have yet to visit the pasta bar. No longer so:
The chefs prepare fresh pasta daily - and also a different ravioli daily.
only once-a-year rule.
Our afternoon was very quiet. I stitched. Dave read. He worked out. I stitched. We were mesmerized by the wind turbines being loaded onto a cargo ship near our ship - plus our guide today told us you can ski in the mountains above Nerja in the morning and swim in the sea in the afternoon. This area is happily recovering from a 3-year drought. It was so bad, the city turned off water at night and swimming pools were emptied. All better now!
We didn't go up for cocktails until after 7p and only had appetizers in the Mediterranean Yacht Club.
When we returned to our room, we felt the engines fire-up and Captain Serena sailed out of Motril 45 minutes early.
Until my next update, I remain, your "another sea day tomorrow" correspondent.
LINKS:
Motril Tourism
Explora II
Current Ship Location