Rugs, Hams, Caves, and Seafood

Our adventures in Spain continue! While I really want to be basking in the sun right now, I decided that I had better take a quick break to blog about our latest activities before they start to pile up on me.

Monday, after a good sleep-in for our jet-lagged travel partners, we decided to set off on a day trip to La Alpujarra de Granada.

On our way out of Salobrena, we rocked out to a little A Costa on the radio, nice!


Our first stop was in Lanjaron, a spa town to which people from all over travel to bathe in the "healing" waters. The famous waters come from 42 natural springs around the town and form the main source of bottled drinking water in Spain with over 400,000 liters bottled daily. Funny thing - all those springs in that tiny little town and we couldn't manage to find even one! Oh well, we have tried the bottled variety; it tastes like, well, water...


Next stop, Pampaneira, famous for hand woven rugs. We enjoyed a nice lunch there (Terry very impressively ate an entire blood sausage! Terry, you have my utmost respect!) and I also managed to leave with a very large rug. I'm still not sure how I'm getting it back, but I'll worry about that some other time.


And finally, it was off to Trevelez, the highest village in Spain, located about 4800 above sea level in the Sierra Nevadas. The village is famous for its Sierra cured hams (jamon serrano); because of the village's ideal conditions for curing ham, most local farmers take their hams to Trevelez to be cured. The streets were lined with shop after shop selling and curing hams.


Being that the ham is a local delicacy, we decided that we had to get one. Jason and Terry inspected the hams, looking for just the right one to purchase:


But, in the end we decided the best route would be to just ask the shop keeper to select one for us. And the winner is...


...Willard!! Here is Jason with Willard outside the ham shop (yes, we totted him around so long that day that we eventually ended up naming him!):


After a long day in the car on very narrow, very curvy roads, we were all ready to head home (especially John, who'd been doing all the nasty, mountainous driving in a car with a manual transmission and Jason who fought car sickness all day long). We were all relieved to make it back to our nice patio for a little grilling out!

After a good night's sleep, we headed out on Tuesday morning for more adventures. Our destination this time, the Caves of Nerja. Apparently, a very popular destination among the Spanish "holiday makers." Here we are waiting in line with 200 or so of our closest friends...


The caves were quite the sight to see - complete with the world's largest stalactite (or maybe it was stalagmite...can't remember now).


Home from the caves, we were hungry and ready for lunch. Quickly, everyone began eyeing our new friend Willard who was hanging quietly in the corner. We decided it was time to say our goodbyes and dig in!


The famous jamon serrano was pretty good. Basically a saltier version of proccuito and very tasty with bread and cheese.

Finally, Tuesday concluded with a trip to nearby Motril, the main fishing port for this area of Spain. There we bought a 6 1/2 lbs salmon for $25 and 2+ lbs of giant prawns for $12 (yes, we were hungry again!). Dinner last night was amazing to say the least! Tonight, we will feast on more of the same!