Month: May 2017

4. How Do You Name A Cave?

~ cueva limon ~ 2 Comments

How Do You Name A Cave?  That is not an easy questions to answer!

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Naming your cave is a necessity if it is located within the Campo, (countryside), in rural Spain like ours.  There are no roads or streets only dirt tracks, and miles of them. Tracks that do not show up on any sat nav or map. Hence the quickest and easiest way the postman can identify you with your address is by naming your cave. Don’t get me wrong…. you will not get a delivery once a day or even once a week. Certainly not! You go to the local post office (which could actually be located in a butchers shop, tapas bar or a local business office) and sort through any post they may have. Apparently, I have been told that neighbours, (and I say that in the widest sense of the word), will be asked to pop the post round to you if they happen to be passing!

Our original idea for a name for our cave was a good one we thought , Cave of Dreams’. We came up with the name because the web site is called http://www.makingdreams.me.  We truly believe that the cave will become our dream home and we are absolutely in love with the whole project.   So…. It sounded just about right to us. Cueva de Suenos our cave of dreams.  However, looking on the internet I found at least 3 caves in the same area with that exact name.  We would be looking for trouble and lots of confusion too so… we had to rethink.

Lots of suggestions came up and cast away just as quickly. Then I thought about the style of the cave I was looking for. I want white, smooth, curvy walls, nothing straight, nothing rough and only white. How about ‘The White Cave’. Immediately I went back on the internet and found nothing in the area that was similar. Or….how about ‘Cave With A View’?

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It certain does have a view all around and one that we love. This started the ball rolling, we had lots of thoughts for a name.  Now comes the hard part, which name to choose and which name would be appropriate for our dream cave?

The White Cave – La Cueva Blanca.
Cave With A View – Cueva Con una Vista
Cave With Views – Cueva Con Vistas
Cave of Poppies – Cueva De Amapolas
Our Cave – Nuestra Cueva
Cave of Susanne – Cueva de Susana

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I will let you know soon, but if you have any suggestions (clean ones please) get in touch. X

3. Cave Living. Why?

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Our cave!

Cave living – why?  Caves have been home to mankind forever. We have all seen pictures of ‘cave men’ huddled around an open fire whilst they look out for predators trying to join them in the safety of the cave. In more modern times these caves have become homes that we would recognise today. Within the Province of Granada in southern Spain there are thousands of cave dwellers, or Troglodytes as they are fondly known, who’s families have lived in caves for hundreds of years.

My first thought upon hearing about cave dwellings was a very negative one. Surely the caves are damp, dark and dirty? How can anyone live in a cave? Yes, some are damp, dark and dirty but often it is not the cave itself – you get houses like that all over the world. The majority of cave dwellers have the perfect homes. Dry, clean and can be added to quite easily by digging out another room. Apparently, not long ago, when a wife became pregnant she would start digging ready for the new arrival. It is not unusual to find an 8 bedroomed cave!

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Until only a few years ago cave living was for the poor and cave homes seen as inferior to the modern town houses. Shepherds and farmers used them for shelter (and for their animals) as they worked. They were dug out of the land often by hand or small tools. Today caves are becoming big business. There are many hotels and restaurants in caves and even churches and council offices. Cave living is on the up and up.

What advantages are there to cave living? The answer is simple – lots!

Continue reading →

2. Off To Buy A Cave!

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IMG_4002Off to buy a cave. You don’t say that every day!

Could have been worse…. we could have been buying a teapot so a cave is quite normal in comparison (apparently in China several families can, and do, live in a red teapot).

Travelling to Spain from Cyprus is not an easy task out of season. Usually you have at least one stop off in the UK, France or Bulgaria. However, Cobalt have added a new route from Larnaca to Madrid.  Madrid itself is not perfect for us as it is at least a 5 -6 hour drive to the cave, near to Baza but, we felt it was worth while as we would only be in Spain for a few days before returning to our work in Cyprus.IMG_3690

The flight to Madrid landed ahead of schedule and the drive down to our rented accommodation in Zujar was an easy 5 hours (once we managed to negotiate the exit out of the airport!).   It had been a long day and to bed we went.

Our first full day was to be the admin day.  To buy anything of note in Spain you have to have a NIE number. Continue reading →