#15 Road Trip Part 1: I Knocked Over a Baby :/
After the rugby season came to an end, Lasso, Sara, and I had time to drive the 4.5 hours to the infamous Playa de Los Muertos which I had been wanting to go to since I heard how “transparente transparente transparente” the water is. While that specific beach was number one on our list, there is a long coast of gorgeous beaches throughout the southern coast of Spain each offering their unique charm. Sara, Lasso, and I can all work remotely so YEET YEET off we went on a Saturday afternoon for our adventure with no place to stay and really no concrete plans - we didn’t even have a car to get us there until the last minute. And we were kind of unsure if we’d make it there with the car we did have, as we share the same birth year, pictured here:
I’m writing this before we’ve made the return trip home… so let’s hope she keeps up the good work.
The thing I love about traveling and exploring new places is not having any expectations. You just show up and are surprised to find whatever you find. It’s an additional surprise when you can’t always follow the conversations of your road trips buddies. Really I was just tagging along wherever they decided to take me. Initially I tried to get involved and proudly showed Sara the cheap hostel I found but she informed me that plans had changed and we already decided we weren’t staying in that area anymore.
First stop, La Gata de San Pedro. So, the only way to get there is by boat or by walking. After an hour(ish) walk in the hot sun through the mountains we could see the gorgeous beach, what was left of an old castle, and people! As we were making our way down the mountainside we ran into a man sitting naked by a natural water fountain making necklaces out of string. We engaged in some nice conversation and he let us know we could drink the water miraculously coming out from this stone (in the middle of a SUPER dry climate mountain). We filled up our waters and continued on our way.
When we made our way down to the beach the first thing I noticed was almost everybody there was completely naked. After my first blog post you’ll know I’ve been getting used to a bit more nudity here in Spain, but up until this experience at the beaches, women were usually topless but nobody was completely nude. I have never been totally naked in the ocean, in daylight, with other people around. But let me tell you I have never felt SO FREE and so comfortable in my body. Because IT WAS SO CASUAL and EVERY body was nakey!! Nobody stared, nobody cared.
In this little beach haven there were little homes made of palms, bamboo, tents, and/or blankets scattered throughout the beach and mountainside. After talking to some locals (from one naked body to another) we learned that some live there year round while others just come for the summer. So for example one man we met has a house in Malaga but every summer for the past 5 years he’s been living on this beach in a tent. JUST before this trip I was watching a documentary on Netflix about minimalism and I mean WOW, talk about minimalism. There seemed to be only one home, which also doubled as a bar, on the mountainside with electricity from solar panels the owner had built himself. It was just a really grounding, atypical, wondrous experience for me.
The trek to La Gata de San Pedro.
Next stop we we’re in Carboneras. Lasso, Sara, and I were walking to dinner. I was in a strong stride when I spied a little crepe stand to the right. I got lost in the sauce, caught in a trance staring at the different nutella options, when suddenly I felt a thump against my leg. I looked down to find a baby face down on the pavement under my feet. I stared at her, she stared at the ground and what felt like a solid 2 minutes later she began to sob. It took me a moment to realize what I had done. I panicked and picked the child up off the floor standing her up on her teeny tiny feet. Her mom came rushing over and all I could seem to get out was, “lo siento lo siento.”
The worst part was that we were walking in the wrong direction to the restaurant so we had to turn around meaning I had to face the scene of the crime once again. People were looking at me like I was this monster going around and knocking over babies (which in this case yes I suppose I was).
We finally made it to the 1 euro sign seafood restaurant according to Google. We sat down and they served us some bread and picos. We ordered a big bottle of water for the table and an iced tea for Sara. The waiter then brought us over these little tostadas with tuna for a free appetizer. The place really gave off the ambiance of southern California. As we we’re perusing the menu we realized this place was absolutely NOT a 1 euro sign restaurant and was far out of our budget. We realized this after we had housed the free app and ripped open the bag of picos. I thought we had to at least order something but my travel buddies didn’t have any problem telling our waiter we wouldn’t be dining there anymore. We told him the whole situation, he laughed, told us it was absolutely no problem, and pointed us towards a place more suited for our budget. Why is it considered rude to sit down or enter a place and then change your mind? I don’t know why I was embarrassed or thought it was rude. You don’t tip in Spain and the place wasn’t busy anyways so why the heck would that guy care lol. Plus the bread and picos don’t really cost a thang. Anyways, we left, and enjoyed our fabulous dinner at a different, less costly location.
Stay tuned next week for more adventures from our road trip. :)