Showing posts with label Tapas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tapas. Show all posts

Saturday, 7 March 2015

A week in the life......

Well it's been a week since I last posted and I just thought I would share with you what we've been up to since then....!

On our journey back from Benidorm last Monday we discovered that the air conditioning in the car was not working as it should, it was getting extremely warm on the way back so JD decided to stop and have her re-gassed...

We just happened to spot a garage that was offering this service for just €39.95... Bargain.

Whilst he was attending to this I had a nosey around a nearby Outlet Mall...didn't buy anything though...good eh?

Tuesday saw us return to normality and our regular Zumba class at the Kimrick was not as hard as I anticipated..

Wednesday morning we awoke to FOG???!!!! I cannot remember the last time we experienced this in Mojacar, so I snapped these shots on the way up to our morning swim at the Municipal pool....

We have been waiting for our appearance on Deal or No Deal, as we had been audience participants...filmed at the Dream Factory way back in November 2014 just a few miles from where we live in Bristol. Wednesday and Thursday saw our two programs appear.... It's hard to take a photo but I did manage to capture me in one shot...just!

Yvonne ended up accepting £16,000 but she did have the £250,000 in her box number 21!

That's my birthday date so if I had been playing I would have kept that box to the end...easy to say though isn't it in hindsight?

Friday morning saw the sun beaming down so off to Garrucha market we trotted for the weekly churros and chocolate fix!

Afterwards we walked back along the paseo..

Whilst JD was pouring a quick coffee from the trusty flask that travels with us everywhere, I couldn't resist a quick go on the swings...you're never too old are you?!

We'd parked even further away than normal so we walked through the semi rural countryside that runs parallel to the main road from Garrucha to Mojacar and most of the flowers, trees and bushes that had flowers on seemed all to be yellow...my favourite colour! This beautiful Mimosa bush was in full bloom...just like Pom Poms on the stems!

It's now Saturday and we had to stock up on quite a few items from various stores that were all in the Vera locality, so we decided to head off to the market there also...

Inbetween fruit,veg and clothes shopping we stopped for a quick coffee and tapas...

Just along from this cafe I had remembered a corner store that was typically Spanish and sold ladies wear so off we trotted just on the off chance they may have something unusual and different for a special wedding day in May that we have been invited to...

Blow me down with a feather...there it was....the most perfect suit in the most perfect colour in EXACTLY my size.....even the owner of the store said "perfecto"..! ( well she would wouldn't she !... No seriously it fitted like a dream and felt wonderful)...Even better was the suit was in the sale so I ended up getting 75% discount....result!

After meandering through the narrow streets of Vera back to the car, JD remembered an article he had read in the Euro Weekly News about a bar/restaurant in the shade of Vera bus station that sells fantastic steaks and meats all cooked on a wood burning grill..owned and run by Pedro and Anna. All at very reasonable prices too, this is definitely one to revist.. We just stopped for tapas and drinks..

Honestly we don't seem to have enough hours in the day to do and see everything in our area...but it's great trying, there's NEVER a dull moment here in Mojacar.

Tomorrow, Sunday 8th March is 'Ribbon for Life Day' so we are both looking forward to that...there will be lots of stalls, a giant paella, bar, local dancing and lots more I'm sure..hope the sun shines for us!

See you soon...xxxx



 

Saturday, 14 February 2015

Cuevas del Almanzora

We decided to take a short drive to Cuevas del Almanzora today to have a wander around the town.

Cuevas del Almanzora is one of the oldest towns in the province. In the early 19th century Silver was discovered in the nearby area, and Cuevas del Almanzora became home to many a fortune hunter.....the town got its name from the many artificial caves in the nearby hills once inhabited by the miners. This was the start of an age of splendour for the town.....

The impressive legacy of this silver rush can still be seen all around, especially in the elegant family houses of the mining barons, the grand avenues, churches and statues.

Many of these houses still remain, and it is well worth a meander through the narrow streets to gaze at the impressive bourgeois architecture, many of which are still inhabited today...

This one instantly caught my eye because of the incredible mosaic outer...completely covered on all floors!

Some of the buildings date back to the middle of the 1800's...

They must have been very, very grand in their day..

In the Plaza de la Constitution there is the Heroe de la Caridad (Hero of Charity) statue.

This is a dedication to a humanitarian benefactor who helped the area during the terrible floods of 1879..

Carrying on through the back streets we arrived at the Castillo. It is a palace/fortress built in the 16th century in the Gothic style and sits high up in the town..

Within the extensive grounds there is a keep, the Marquis Palace, a well and a Tercia. This was built in 1773 as a granary..

Great little nooks and crannies everywhere to peep out of!...

Exiting out of the main gate we were back into the plaza and took a right hand turn...

Just off the square we spied a cute little hostelry and peeked inside to see what it was all about...

El Castillo, is a really excellent tapas bar. Extremely friendly and great ambience. We weren't really certain what some of the dishes were, however, we were more than happy to taste 5 of the dishes on offer! Totally authentic atmosphere and the Spanish customers that were already there warmly welcomed us in and instantly shared a freshly cooked plate of whitebait with us!

By the way the dish on the far right that looks like liver is in fact Sangre which turns out to be congealed blood!!!! Yikes... Can't believe I ate that...

Of course hubby had to have the snails too...The total bill came to €9...bargain!

We would both highly recommend a visit here if you enjoy tapas and you are looking for the "real deal"...

All in all a very, very pleasant Saturday was spent meandering around, never knowing what was around the next corner, plus the weather was warm and the sun was shining!!

Until next time... Mojacar Carnival tomorrow so may list some pics of that for you...

Adios...xx