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. 

 

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!