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. 

Hello Spring!

Hello again! We’ve said goodbye to the Autumn and Winter here in Canada with one last blast of blustery winds and snow last weekend.

I am hoping Spring has sprung. 

There are signs as the birds are tweeting outside my window, the grass is starting to turns shades of green, my early flower bulbs are beginning to bud along with buds on the trees and planters of pansies can be found in the local stores. 

The sun is shining brightly and double digit temperatures are forecast for this weekend! 

Here’s one my birds outside my window singing to me this morning.

We did escape some of the early winter months (November & December) for some heat and sunshine (a good dose of Vitamin D) in Florida. 

The balance of winter was spent in hibernation mostly. 

We used some of this time to plan some adventures for 2019; so I now must finish posting about the balance of last year’s Spanish journey ... so stay tuned.