Let’s Go To The Beach

We made it safely to Torredembarra from Seville travelling over 900 kilometres in our little red Mercedes ... it is a bit larger than what we normally drive when in Europe (the Europcar rep. upgraded us to a diesel vs. gasoline, more economical she said). I think she might be right we only used one tank of fuel and Señor calculated we are getting 49 miles per gallon. 

We had ordered a VW Polo because we are so familiar with the car’s features and the size typically is small enough to get in and out of tight spaces in European villages’ narrow streets and lanes. 

Our route took us through ever changing landscapes. The highway medians lined with “gigantic” oleanders in a kaleidoscope of colours in various shades of pinks, reds, whites and a shade of peach were absolutely stunning. 

There were fields of poppies with sunflowers winking at the sun, golden coloured rock faces and fields of freshly harvested grains, tunnels through the mountains, miles of windmills and of course glimpses of the azure blue Mediterranean Sea. 

My photos from the passenger seat through the car window didn’t do the subjects any justice (bounce back from the glass). 

We spent Sunday night on the road in a smaller village El Puig de Santa Maria just 15 kms north of Valencia giving us a shorter travel day on Monday. We stopped later than expected, found a hotel, then ventured out to stretch our joints. We ended up in a cute bar/café “ El Parquet” in the square filled with locals.  Tonight Señor Honey was craving a hamburger (and it was a true “Ham” burger made from pork) and fries. The fries were the traditional Spanish “patatas” like fried potato squares with a squirt of aioli and a little romancesco. Señor was delighted with this culinary experience all the while watching the World Cup game (Brazil vs. Switzerland). 

Look at this beautiful bottlebrush tree in the square.

 A good night’s sleep, a little “desayuno” breakfast and we were on the road to Torredembarra. We arrived earlier than expected, apartment checkin was normally after 4PM ... we were going to drop off our bags and explore, however we were lucky and our little place on the beach was ready. 

I think life will be good at the Beach! 

Plazas ... the People Places

I’m going to try once again to write / share photos through a post on the blog! My fingers are crossed that it will work. 

Today, Saturday June 9th, 2018 we ventured out for a longer stroll in search of the Plaza de España.

Saturday’s are busy days in the city .., weddings, families out and about shopping, spending time together. 

We saw several couples in the throws of tying the knot or actually already with the knot tied! 

Plaza del Salvador 

It was a longer than anticipated stroll through many plazas. 

What is a Plaza? 

When in Canada I think of it as a strip mall/ shopping centre. Many, many years ago (if my memory is correct I think it was the late 1960s) my parents owned and operated a delicatessen in a small plaza on Hamilton Road, London, Ontario. 

Definition from vocabulary.com

A plaza is an urban park or square, or another public space where people can walk, sit, and congregate. You might, for example, tell your friend to meet you in the plaza downtown with the big horse statue.

The plazas here in Spain are mainly open spaces for pedestrians (they seem to be located in every neighbourhood) ... you most likely will find benches, sometimes fountains and statues. Most are have trees and green plants. Some are beautifully landscaped with flower gardens.

Our stroll lead us to new areas of discovery (more in-depth than our tour on the bus the other day).

We wandered in and around the SAN TELMO Palace, built in 1682 as the seminary for the University of Navigators. Named after the Patron Saint of Navigators San Telmo. It once was a royal palace since 1989 it has belonged to the Andalusian government. An amazing piece of architecture ... baroque facade with statues of historical figures lining the one side of the building.

The Plaza de España is the most elaborate of plazas I’ve seen. It’s a semicircular brick building with a tower on each end designed by the architect Anibal Gonzalez for the Ibero-American Exhibit in 1929 (Expo 29).

It is surrounded by a 500 meter canal with four bridges and here you can rent boats. 

It is located in the beautiful, lush and tropical Maria Luisa Park where you can stroll in the shade of the many different trees.

Can you see the oranges?

We’re finally here ...

Ceramic lamp posts and balustrades ... 

The Plaza is popular for the horse and buggy rides especially with the newlyweds and wedding guests ... this day was no exception! 

There is so much more to this day ... I’ll share pics and stories in another post soon! 

We ended our day in our local “Plaza” for an aperitif before heading back to the comforts of our apartment. 

Seville Orange Trees line the walkways in the María Luisa Park ...

“Settling In” in Sevllie

Our train ride through the Spanish countryside (miles and miles of olive tree groves) from Málaga to Seville was relaxing and on time!

We arrived in Seville on Sunday, May 27th, 2018.

Seville, the capital of the Andalusia region of Spain is situated on the Guadalquivir River and has six distinctive neighbourhoods. 

We chose the  San Vicente area based on this description ... “ a residential neighbourhood notable for its many squares and churches, located in the northwest of the historic centre. Minutes from the major sights and attractions, it makes an ideal base to explore an authentic part of the city and enjoy some of Seville's most renowned local tapas bars”. 

We didn’t want to be directly in a tourist area (way too busy for our liking) and as it turned out, we chose well ... we are within easy walking distance from most of what the city has to offer. 

Thank goodness for “Google Earth” ... it has helped us when planning our travels/in choosing the location for our travel accommodations! 

We were introduced to the workings of our apartment by Ludovic (a very friendly French expat from Bordeaux) an  employee of the rental company, Veo Apartments. 

It was after 6pm on a Sunday and we weren’t certain if any stores would be open. Ludovic suggested the local Supermercados might be open. We ventured in search of this market in our neighbourhood to buy some basics i.e. coffee for the morning, some cheese, bread, fruit, ham and wine for tonight’s dinner ... we were in luck, the Mas was open until 6:30PM. 

The apartment has everything we need for our three-week stay and is in a very central location. 

It is located in the 19th century building, Casa Palacio with a beautiful inner courtyard. 

The apartment is the perfect size for us ... with a large bedroom (euro king-size bed - maybe too comfortable we’ve been sleeping in later than normal every morning), open concept kitchen with breakfast bar, living/dining room and two large windows that lets of light in. The best rain-shower bathroom we’ve ever seen or used. 

Dear Son, Michael (my plumber/contractor) if you’re reading this ... you may need to put one of these in Mom’s shower at home, please! 

For our first couple of days we’ve been exploring/ discovering the local area.  

On Monday we sauntered into the “Centro” Center passing thru several beautiful squares/plazas.

Here we found the major shopping streets and did some “window” shopping.

Señor Honey thinks I need a new hat, a fan and these red high heels for flamenco dancing!

Oh wait don’t you think I need the dress too?

I lost Señor a couple of times, he had to check out the clock/ watch shop ...

And test some fragrances at L’Occitane en Provence 

I’m still enamoured with the beautiful bluish purple Jacarandas ... that look like something out of a fairytale storybook.

Come back tomorrow for more of our discovery strolls, we are going to look for this plaza,

Planning and On Our Way Spain 2018

It’s been a long fall and winter. 

For various reasons, we didn’t/ weren’t able to head south to escape the cold, snowy Canadian winter this year so we hunkered down and hibernated for most of the season. 

We had one week of fun in the sun with family in Mexico the first week of January and the warmth of that week faded quickly when we returned to our day to day life in the cold. 

By the first week of February, Monsieur/ Señor had sussed out some flights to Europe, and after much discussion we decided to spend an extended stay in Spain this year.  So no France for me this year ... 

Flights were booked arriving into Malaga and returning from Barcelona. 

We will spend 5 weeks in Spain in May and June 2018.

Once the flights were booked, we first found a wonderfully looking apartment in Seville for three weeks.

The posted info on the website www.veoapartments.com said that it was not in one of the 

tourist barios but a typical neighbourhood.

The San Vicente one bedroom apartment is located in the historic centre, just minutes from the major monuments and sights.

It is part of the “Casa Palacio” dating from the 19th century with an inner courtyard/patio which is beautifully decorated with columns, arches and various tropical plants. 

We were working backwards at this point, now we needed some place in Malaga for 3 nights when we arrived. 

After much searching we found a cute fourth floor apartment “Apartment Strachan” using HomeAway.com.  

We would travel by train from Málaga to Seville. 

We made a conscious decision to not have a car in Seville.

We would pickup our rental at the end of our stay on the 17th of June.

Seville is not a friendly city for drivers and walkers alike  ... 

narrow one way cobble stoned streets in every direction with no rhyme

 or reason.