From Monsieur to Señor ... France to Spain

Saturday, September 28th, 2019

It was rise and shine early today, these are our last early morning views from the main terrace and the  Juliette balcony ... 

We said au revoir, hopefully it will be just a bientôt to “La Belle France” and we were on our way! 

First stop was the airport in Barcelona for Madame Susan and Monsieur Mark’s return flight home. 
The run time to the Barcelona airport was about two hours if there wasn’t any issues on the road. 

Everything was going smoothly. 

A pit stop about 30 minutes or so from the airport to fuel the car. 

Normally not a problem, but today was difficult. 

No pay at the pump feature so Monsieur Mark & I went inside to pay. 

You’d think this should have been an easy task ... aha the customer in front of us was having problems getting his card to work. 

Twenty minutes later after trying several different credit/debit cards with no success and a long line up of other impatient clientele behind him, the cashier finally moved him aside. 

To avoid any problems I dug deep in my wallet for cash (euros) instead of using a card. 

We think it might have been the gas stations’ payment machine that wasn’t working properly. 

Finally, back on the road ... the last half hour of the drive was the busiest with traffic. 

We did a “Kiss ‘n’ Fly at the entrance to the Terminal.  

With Madame Susan and Monsieur Mark’s bags unloaded, we wished them “Bon Voyage” and safe travels. 

Hugs and kisses all around and there they go! 

Footnote: We are already talking about planning our next adventure together! 

Our friends realize now that they aren’t just on vacation any longer (since they’ve retired) ... they are travellers! 

Monsieur Honey & I ventured on to the Costa Brava for one more week in Europe. 


Thanks for coming along for the ride! I still have posts and photos to share about our week in Spain; so check back soon.

Just Another Day at the Beach

Thursday, June 21st, 2018 ... today we woke to views of the beautiful, bluer than blue sky.

It didn’t take long for the town workers to be busy. 

There seems to be a beehive of activity with lots of preparation for the “Festa Major de Sant Joan” which is happening on our beach for three days this weekend Friday to Sunday.

I’ll be writing and sharing more about that in another post. 

After a slow start to the day, we headed out for more exploring along the promenade. 
It was all about olives today.  Look at the size of this trunk. This tree is ancient. 

Here’s Señor Honey standing next to the trunk to give it some perspective.

He measures 5ft. 6 inches tall.

As we continued our stroll we discovered this display at a roundabout. 

This olive press was gifted to the village by the Torrens Family. 

It was another hot day, time to find a cool drink ... a table at a café with views of the beach below. 

                                                                

We sauntered back towards our apartment; admiring the gigantic flowers and rich colours of the various tropical blooms. 

  

                             

     

It was time for a light lunch ... some tapas at L’Ham which means hook (one of the many sea side restaurants/cafés on the promenade) while we watched all the activity on the beach. 

A little calamari ...  yummy! 

After chatting with our server, we decided it might be wise to have dinner at La Sirga tonight rather than on the weekend during the “Festa” which translates to “ Big Party”. 

Table for two reserved for 8PM, lots of time for a siesta. 

You’ll have to come back to read about our dinner date. 

A Tour of Historic Torredembarra

20th June 2018 ...

Today, we left behind the beach for awhile walking into the historic centre of Torredembarra. 

We had no agenda, just a different area to discover. 

We walked from our beach “Baix a Mer” area underneath the railway station/ tracks then thru residential neighbourhoods to arrive near the town centre. Strolled the main shopping street, finally reaching the old centre. 

An abundance of beautiful florist shops ...

Some window shopping ...

Nois de la Torre ... literally translated as “guys from the tower”.

                         
The old centre was full of interesting ancient,  architecture and history. 

The “Torre de Vila” Town Tower is said to be the origin of the town dating back to 1057. It is a medieval, four storey, square tower with gothic style windows and formed part of the original castle. 

                                   

San Pere Church surrounded by beautiful trees. I’m not sure if they are Jacarandas. 

     

It was a hot day and time for some cooling, hydration. We found a street side cafe in the Castle Square with views of the Icart Castle in the background. The Castle was constructed by Louis Icart (lord of the town) in 1565 and completed 15 years later.  It is the only new civil construction that remains of the Catalan Renaissance period. It now houses the Town Council. 

I could sit in the shade of this square for hours. From here we continued thru the square to the Castle and down the narrow streets on the other side of the Church where we found some quaint shops ... including a wine shop where we found a delicious rosé.  

Aren’t these flowers spectacular? 

We strolled back to our little beach apartment for a light salad lunch, then a bit of a siesta. 

We could have had lunch out but we are trying to treat our bodies with some respect. 

For our before dinner apero we found a beachside table at La Sirga (which is the restaurant below our apartment). 
Dinner this evening was served on our balcony ... a homemade pasta dish with a great tasting bottle of red wine and views of the evening activities along the promenade and the glorious sunset.





Come back another day I’ll fill you in on what was on this swimming platform. 

More of Magnificent Málaga!

25th May 2018 ... Day 2 in Málaga 

As we were only staying for a short time here,  (as it turns out it was too, too short) we haven’t stocked the pantry and cupboards with much of anything.

We had a very good sleep last night and we were ready to tackle the day. First some desayuno (breakfast)! 

Found a great little café “Volapie” just two doors down from our apartment. 

Delicious coffee and eats ... Señor Honey can’t seem to get enough of the Jamon (ham). 

                                       

                                                              

Now we were ready for more exploring. We had the tourist map in hand but as you probably know by now we are “freelance” travellers and prefer to discover the unexpected sights. We had no plans to visit / tour any museums, etc. 

We just wandered (the map was tucked away in Señor Honey’s infamous backpack ... only in case of emergency, i.e. if we were extremely lost). 

We strolled along the main shopping street “Calle Marqués de Larios” where only pedestrians are allowed.

We walked south towards the water which brought us to a very busy main street ... Alameda Principal. 

We originally planned on walking to the train station to purchase our tickets for our trip from Málaga to Seville on Sunday, however our friendly waiter, Grafa told us it was not necessary ... so instead of a right turn, we went left.  

A walk along the water sounded appealing but rather than walk in the full sun we searched for some shade. 

We quickly left the sidewalks of the main road and entered the Málaga Park. 

What a wonderful green space, opened in 1897 ... 33 hectares of botanical gardens, fountains and sculptures in the middle of the city located between the Alameda Prinicpal and Paseo España. 

This park was amazing ... 

From here we had wonderful views of many of the historical sights plus the beautiful plants ...

Look at the magnificent jacaranda (above) and this gorgeous hibiscus...

 

Not sure what this plant is but oh so pretty...

The Alcazaba Fortress viewed from the park ...

From here we wandered back into the historic centre viewing many wonderful sights! 

It was a full day ... so this is what happens when you just wander, you come upon such amazing sights with surprise!

The Roman Amphitheater...

From here we kept wandering, arriving at a Plaza where today to our surprise was a “Maserati” car exhibition ... it was actually the blue purple jacarandas that caught our eyes first ... at least my eyes, it’s only a car! 

I’m tired just looking at and writing about our day ... and it’s only 1 o’clock! 
We kept on with our trek thru the streets of Málaga for a couple more hours. 

We discovered the market and look some more of that delicious ham ....

Here we could have seen Morticia in the Addams Family ... 

After our siesta, we ventured out for the evening. 

First some strolling thru more of Málaga’s beautiful streets followed by a tapas dinner.

And of course, Señor suggested a stop at our next door “Taberna” Casa Lola for a little more ...