September Greetings

Well that’s goodbye to July and August ... hello September! 

We’ve been home now for more than two months from our Spanish adventure and I haven’t finished sharing my photos and posts! 

I’m promising myself to do these this fall. 

Today I say cheers to the long weekend! 

Torredembarra Orientation

Lazy, hazy days of Summer and it’s only June 22nd ... that’s the feeling that has overtaken me since we arrived in Torredembarra. 

The sun shines brightly with intense heat everyday! Temperatures in the high 20s / low 30s.  

I was expecting cooler temperatures than what we experienced in Seville. 

Seville is stated to have the hottest temperatures in Europe and is known as “the frying pan of Andalusia”! 

There was a sea breeze lightly scented with sardines and sun tan lotion the first couple days which made the heat bearable. (maybe “fruits de mer” or “los mariscos” scent sounds better) ... 

The aroma/scent is not offensive! 

The palm trees outside our bedroom window and off our balcony swayed ... almost slapping my face. 

As a bonus we can always have a “Gelato” to cool us; there is no shortage of Gelateries.

The blue water of the Mediterranean Sea sparkles and twinkles like dancing diamonds!  

Early morning picture ... see the sea twinkling/ winking at you! 

The gelato shop just outside our building. 

When we venture out for our walks to explore we drip in our own perspiration / sweat (ladies perspire/ men sweat sounds nicer) from head to toe. 

We’ve spent our first couple of days settling into our apartment, neighbourhood and living life on the beach. 

Tuesday we wandered along the boardwalk to the Port/ harbour. 

The boat slip entrances are lined with beautiful hibiscuses. 

Later in the day Senor suggested we go to the rooftop terrace. I said sure, the elevator will take us there, right? 

Wrong, it only goes to the fifth floor and then it’s a heart-pumping, sweaty palms climb up two narrow sets of open tread stairs and open views from high above.

I’m sure if anyone heard Senor trying to convince me to go up ...they would have thought I was being tortured. 

I did finally make it and it was beautiful but my fear did not let me enjoy as I was thinking the whole time about how I would have go back down the stairs. 

The back view overlooking the town and mountains ...



We enjoyed a light summer supper of melon and ham and then had a leisurely stroll! 

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!