La Sirga Dinner Date with Señor Honey

21st June 2018 

After a little siesta and getting glammed up a bit we were ready for our night out. We didn’t have far to go. As you can see “La Sirga Restaurant” is located on the ground floor of our apartment building. There is no indoor seating, the dining area is in a framed structure in front of the building. There is a bar area and of course the Gelato Bar. 

The high top bar tables and stools is great place for an apero. A perfect perch for people watching.

     

And just maybe we stopped here a couple of evenings for a little gelato! 

My Señor Honey looked pretty dapper tonight. 

Our server, Carlos was on top of his game tonight. His recommendations were artistically presented and delicious.

Most delicious mussels ...

The freshest salad plate ... served on thin slices of pineapple! 

The recommended “Paella” for two ...


Carlos preparing our plates ...

Paella 

Dessert ...

We had an enjoyable evening with the most scrumptious food & wine, great service.

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. 

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!