The Most amazing paella

We had the most amazing paella. Really. I mean, I've had paella before, but this was amazing. It had 2 types of prawns in it, and chicken, and pork...

Following a painless flight to Malaga, we claimed our hire-car, and wound our way up the sheer spanish sierras. The village of Canillas was really beautiful. A white mountain-top pueblo that is stuck in a time warp. If it weren't for the occasional satelite dish, it could have been 1940. We settled into the casa, a great town-house with a roof-terrace owned by Sue and Mike (it occured to me that a great name for the house would be Mike Casa Sue Casa (you know? As in mi casa su casa?)).

...And calamares. And the rice, and peas and red pepper obviously. Mmmm - it really was good. Maya immediately took to the spanish lifestyle, and liked nothing better than hanging out in the plaza, or sitting on the doorstep shouting 'hola!' at the passers-by. She was a huge hit in Spain. Almost everyone who saw her called her either guapa or rubia, and stroked her head. She basked in her new-found adulation. Also, her confidence with other children has really grown this holiday. She would go over and introduce herself (wordlessly) to the spanish children, and just join in their games, chase them around the square. It was great to see.

Oh and there was this faintly vaginal seafood in it too. I thought it was oysters, but Donna thinks it was more like clams. Nice. Salty.

We did an overnight trip to Granada, so that I could see the Alhambra. We stayed in the tiny streets of Albyzin. I loved the city, finding it to be very bohemian, and very African. About 14 years ago, Donna lived in Granada for a month, gaining work experience in the schools. She was excited about returning to this city of her youth. She recognised absolutely none of it. Possible explanations are:
a) They knocked down the city and built a new one
b) She was so pissed the whole time she was there, that her memories have been erased
c) She stayed in some suburb of Granada, and never actually ventured into the city

I suspect it's (c), but Donna insists it's (a).

Our vagabond into Granada served to stoke our dromomania. So we planned another trip, this time to Seville. Seville, too was an amazing place. Much more Spanish. We did a fantastic tapas-crawl through barria de Santa Cruz.

And now we're back home.

What do you call those wee things in the little shell-shaped shells? Are they cockles? I don't know, but those were in it too. It really was an amazing paella.