Vamos a la Playa
Have I mentioned how GD hot it is here? It feels like the rays of 4000 hot suns are beating down on us at all times between the hours of 12pm and 7pm. We understand the need for siesta. And we needed to get out of the city and to the coast for some cool(er) air. So Pedro whisked us off on a Monday morning to the Cadiz region of Spain...the south coast where you can spy Africa on a clear day and the breezes kick up on the beach like nature's air conditioner.
We stayed in a picturesque white walled town called Vejer de la Frontera a few miles from the coast. Our airbnb.....Casa Ganesh......was on the quirky side, but you couldn't beat the views and the dude who owned the place, Dominique, a french expat with dreadlocks, ended up saving us from a major snafu -- which will be revealed later in the post.
Will doing his morning routine of dancing on the balcony in his underwear. Normal.
When I say quirky, I mean a glued-on DVD of Pulp Fiction just to the right of the bed at eye level so you could look into Uma Thurman's eyes before turning out your light at night.
First day after a lunch at a fish shack was a fun little beach where the boys swam, I hid under an actual umbrella, Pedro and Pat played the ping pong on the beach game....what is that game name?, and the boys gawked at all the women without their tops on and I hissed at them to stop staring. Classic Americanos at the European beach situation.
You can also tell we are the only Americans on the beach by the fact we are all constantly covered by sunscreen/umbrellas/SPF clothing at all times.
Ended our night at this restaurant listening to a live Spanish band cover U2 and the Cranberries. This is Pat's first ever selfie. It took him 7 minutes to figure out how to do it. We were yelling at him bc he was going to miss the sunset.
The next day we hit just the most wonderful beach....Playa Paloma. Enormous sand dunes and crazy kitesurfing. Will was so into the coral and 4 tropical fish he spotted while swimming with his goggles. Leo finally let his freak flag fly and got naked--as we do in Spain. There was even an area at the end of the beach where you mixed sea water with these clay rocks and then smeared the concoction all over your body for a spa treatment. It was a perfect beach day.
Set this up immediately upon arrival. He kills me.
Pat, who has never gotten any sort of spa or skin treatment in his life was like, "My skin feels so good and soft" after we jumped in the ocean to wash it off. Um, yeah. That's why I take care of my skin, dude.
Look at all those kite and wind surfers! It was crazy and fun to watch all day.
Just have to post another one bc it's so adorable.
And then it got nuts.
We packed up with sandy smiles on our faces and decided to go to the town of Tarifa for drinks/tapas/dinner. We set out for the car with our chairs, beach bags, coolers, etc. As we approached the car, Pedro started searching his pockets... "Do you have the keys, Pat?" Um, no. We unpacked every bag, turned out every pocket... no keys. Then the search through the sand began.
The search through THIS sand:
Are you shocked we didn't find them after searching for an hour and half? Spirits were a little low, but we figured it out (meaning Pedro figured it out....I just kept on buying chips at the little corner store near the parking lot) We posted up this campground check-in building not far from the parking lot and listened as Pedro got in touch with his brother Miguel, who went to their mother's house in Granada, searched for and found the second set of keys and then sent them --ON A BUS BY THEMSELVES--to Cadiz. Yes, that's how things work in Spain. You can send a set of keys on a bus. They were set to arrive in the afternoon to Cadiz which is about 45 minutes from the town where we were staying. Next we ordered two 75 euro cabs to drive us 45 minutes back to Casa Ganesh where we celebrated "Plan B" with pizza and white wine. It was 11 pm at that point. Our new best friend Dominique lent his car to Pedro to go get the keys from the Cadiz bus station and then gave him a ride back to the parking lot where he picked up the car. Namaste, Domnique. We are forever grateful for you!!! The upside is that we were able to explore the town of Vejer and it's incredible Spanish/Moorish style. Took some snaps of my faves. Pedro came to get us and we were home and in bed by 9 in Granada.
Seriously, who is this child?
We ended up at this lovely place called La Casa del Califa....if you are ever in Vejer, you must go! It's an ancient complex now converted into several terraces and buildings for restaurants, a bar, a hotel and this perfect little spot where we had a Moroccan tea sampler with Moroccan sweet treats to boot.
Oblivious to the views as he searches for his legos.
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