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Bar Casa Puga, Almeria

7 Oct

Yesterday we took Mick’s mum to Almeria shopping.  Well, at least I wanted to go shopping and the last time Sadie went to Almeria with one of her other boys she was taken straight to the football stadium and home again!  So we thought she deserved to actually see the city this time, you know, with shops, coffee stops and everything!  I always like to go to Zara Home at the Mediterranean Shopping Centre and needed to exchange something.   But our other main reason for going to Almeria was to take Sadie to our very favourite tapas bar for lunch.

 

Casa Puga exterior

 

Casa Puga is something of an institution for the locals; located in the old town near the cathedral, it has been run by the same family since 1870 and is a truly authentic Spanish experience.  It has a fabulous long marble bar where people stand and have a drink and a tapa, where the waiters tot up and write bills in pencil on the bar and then there are a certain amount of small marble tables, mainly at the back for a proper lunch or dinner.  You are all crammed in together, which is just as well as you want to see what everyone else is having (in these places they always seem to serve stuff which isn’t on the menu, and we hate missing out!).  They serve the best mushrooms, prawns in batter and the most fabulous jamon iberico – it is the good stuff and pretty pricey by standards around here – 17 euros for a plate, but plenty for three of us.

 

As authentic as it gets!

 

The staff run around constantly, bringing more dishes in any old order, and you just lift your glass to indicate wanting another, so you are never really waiting for anything.  Mick finished with what I can only describe as a miniature black pudding paninni – exquisite.  As we were having a leg of roast lamb for dinner we decided not to go too crazy, but could have easily stayed until 4 o’clock stuffing ourselves – it is the most wonderful place to end a shopping trip – you need to arrive by quarter to two though, in order to get a seat – otherwise you have to stand and eat at the bar, not good if you have been schlepping about for 2 or 3 hours.  Evenings there, particularly on Friday nights, are noisy, smoky, fun affairs and attract a vibrant and interesting crowd – so long as you can persuade one of your party to drive home it is worth the hour long trip.

Here’s the fabulous mushroom recipe as shown by Juan the barman.

Casa Puga telephone number: 950 231 530

Almeria airport, Almeria

4 Oct

Well, this is not so much Yummy Almeria, rather than Useful Almeria!  Having said that, Almeria Airport IS a very nice airport.  It is completely hassle free, small (although is undergoing expansion which it needed), takes no time to get through passport control and luggage and straight out to the car hire desks and on your way.

The airport is only 10 minutes from the city in one direction, and 45 minutes to Cortijo del Sevillano in the other, being the best airport to travel to if you are staying with us.  Easyjet and Ryanair fly here from London everyday and other airlines such as Monarch from Manchester several times a week.  The other new thing from Almeria is that you can fly Ryanair to Madrid for a tenner – it is brilliant and means that if you are here for a week or more, you could integrate an overnight stay there if you wanted to (or longer – Madrid is great fun to visit).

Not the busiest airport in Spain

When you leave, again it is completely hassle free; the car hire return is easy and all you have to do is check your bags in (or not as the case may be) and go through passport control and to the gates downstairs (no endless walking miles to gate 56 – I think there are only 5 gates!), and onto your flight home.

Almeria airport arrivals

Vera Fiesta

27 Sep

Spain is the home of the bank holiday or Fiesta as they are known.  There always seems to be one on somewhere near us as we are surrounded by small and large towns.

This weekend was Vera’s Towns turn and actually the first time we had gone to this one.  Fiestas are great – no-one really knows what time anything starts and even if they do it is never correct.  So you just have to take pot luck in the main and turn up anytime that suits you.  What you always know is that they go on until 2 or 3 a.m. and then they set off the fireworks (which we nearly always miss as usually by 1 a.m. we are exhausted and want to go home!

Fiesta is for everyone!

We turned up at 9 p.m. on Saturday night and arrived at the town square to find everyone packing up the beer tents, confetti everywhere, streamers strewn all over the streets and virtually empty!  We knew that the crowd had moved on to the main event but weren’t sure where it was.  Anyhow we walked on a bit and sat outside a little bar and had a drink, where we asked the waitress where the fair was – so she pointed in the direction of the park at the end of town, so after we had had a glass of wine, we hopped back in the car and headed off.  When we arrived there were about 400 million people and 400 million lights which made us laugh as we had only driven about 500 metres.  Mick dropped us off (us myself, my almost 80 year old parents and my aunty, 83!) – they were really excited as there was loads to look at – temporary bars which every drink you could want, loads of tents with fantastic barbequed food, salads and potatoes, some really scary rides (which no-one would go on with me), dodgems (which Mick did go on with me!), stalls selling fantastic cakes and sweets, and candy floss, and a little market selling, rather strangely, loads of shoes which as you might imagine no-one was remotely interested in!

Scoff-tastic

There was a huge stage with some fantastically terrible girl singers, but no-one cared and everyone danced.  We had a delicious dinner of chicken and ribs with some pretty good plonk too and then just spent a couple of hours soaking up the atmosphere and left just after midnight as our eardrums had had enough (they always like to shout a lot on loudspeakers at all times!).

Everyone goes to the Fiesta from tiny babies to great grandparents – nobody is left out and everyone really enjoys themselves without any kind of agro it seems – it is the same whichever Fiesta you visit – you can buy a drink at 4 a.m. but no-one appears to get drunk which is just brilliant.

Late night Churros and chocolate

We had the best time – now we are looking forward to the Antas Fiesta later this month, but as usual no-one can remember when it is!

Cuevas del Almanzora

24 Sep

It occurred to me that since I started the blog, I haven’t mentioned our nearest town; it is a nice town too.  The name means Caves and the minute you arrive you don’t really have to ask why.  There are many cave houses here – both deserted now and converted from caves which were excavated thousands of years ago.  The modern ones can be quite grand as they build a normal house on the front and then use the caves as bedrooms as they remain the same temperature all year round – cool in summer and warm in winter.

Cuevas Town Hall

Cuevas has a population of around 12000 people, 99 per cent Spanish – yikes!  Luckily I have continued to drag myself to Spanish lessons pretty much every week for the last two years.  My Spanish is still rubbish but I can make myself understood (understanding Cuevans is a different matter though – I guess it is like someone from Madrid trying to understand someone from deepest Devon).  Anyhow, I digress.  We have a castle, which has a very nice little art gallery (we even have a Picasso exhibited there), a Dam (constructed for the 2005 Mediterranean Games for the rowing events), a motocross arena which happens in August until 3 in the morning, a pub which looks like it could be in Dublin, but is completely Spanish owned and run – they serve draft Guinness – we love it.

Check out this fantastic over the top Cuevas video made by the Andalucia tourist people  

There are little pizzerias, one really good restaurant although I prefer to go in winter as it is indoors, a pretty square with fountains and a children’s playground and a really pleasant bar called El Recreo, where you can sit and have a drink and watch your children playing.  We have markets up at the castle on Tuesdays and Thursdays that sell fantastic fruit and vegetables and then all the usual stuff that markets sell (i.e. mostly ‘toot’ but I have bought a linen dress there for a fiver before now!).  Also up at the castle are a few little cafe/bars; one of which, bar Canada,  is just fantastic for ribs, chorizo, pinchos (little kebabs) done on an old fashioned wood burning grill – order chips and salad to go with it and you have a really gorgeous supper.  Do not drink the red wine though – I believe it comes from the local garage and is completely undrinkable, so stick to beer or G&T’s.  I have never risked the white wine – in fact I don’t think they have it.

We have one or two really good shops – my favourite is the nice lady shop as we call it as I can never remember the actual name but it is full of nice ladies ready to help you! And we have a couple of great clothes shops, supermarkets, and about 14 banks.

The best time to see Cuevas is during the early evening when all the families are out for a stroll and a drink with all the kids in tow – it is the same all over Spain and just something we in the UK don’t really do (because of the climate) but something which is very pleasurable here.

Valencia

21 Sep

The wonderful thing about living in mainland Spain (as opposed to Mallorca, which I love, for example), is the ability to drive to other cities (or even other countries come to that!) – no panicking about getting to the airport on time, or wondering whether your bathroom scales are correct and actually you are half a kilo over weight in your luggage.  You can just get ready in your own time, pack up the car with whatever and however much you like, lock the front door and get on the road.  One place which is easy to get to and one of our favourite cities is Valencia.  Ok, it is a four hour drive, but definitely weekendable from here and straight up the E15.  There are loads of good places to stay and I would always recommend staying in the old town, near the cathedral.  It is perfect for young and old alike – if the walking gets too much you just plonk yourself down in an outside cafe and have another drink!

Valencia has much to offer, great architecture old and new, shopping, fantastic world class restaurants, music, arts, and the dry river bed going through the centre is now an enormous and beautiful park – quite an unusual sight as you criss cross the bridges when driving around the city.

Valencian architecture

The last time we went to Valencia was last November.  We took our parents, all in their mid seventies.  The weather was incredible and the city was not crowded as it was not half term or any major holiday.  I like to do my research when I travel and so spent hours on the internet looking for restaurants in particular (hotels I find are much easier as you decide on your budget and pick the one which looks the nicest); restaurants are much trickier but I figured I would pick an uber expensive one (as it was my mother’s birthday) and one more casual, fun one.  It worked a treat as the first one, Chust Godoy; (strange name) was fab.  It was rather formal but at the upper end of Spanish cuisine (and price!) and everyone enjoyed it.

When we awoke the next morning, it was the most beautiful day so after breakfast we headed off to the central market.  Even if you are not a foodie, it is the most amazing. It is a kind of old Covent Garden and Harrods food hall rolled into one.  We spent a good couple of hours there mooching about – I spent 57 euros on cheese!  I won’t go on about it but suffice it to say that you cannot go to Valencia and not go to the market.  We will be going next week as Mick is meeting a client there so we will stay overnight and cram in the market in the morning.

The Central Market

Then we hopped on an open top bus – the most perfect thing to do in a group of mixed ages as everyone will enjoy it and gives everyone a chance to relax and enjoy the city and the weather.  The destination of these buses is usually Valencia beach – the home of paella. So we got off the bus and we did a bit of a recce for lunch.  All the beach restaurants looked pleasant and busy so we just took pot luck with one.  It was brilliant, great food, fresh fish and a bottle of rosado wine.  We had to leg it a bit in order not to miss the 4 o’clock bus, otherwise we would have had to wait for another hour (no real hardship!).

Then it was back on board to the city and the main square for yet another drink – well we were on holiday.  After a small late siesta, it was up and off again for dinner.  This time a short cab ride away to Conde Altea an area Mick and I had visited before.  It is similar to Soho in London (without the sleaze!)  in that there are streets lined with restaurant upon restaurant most of which look good judging by the volume of people in them.  We chose a huge pizza place (Don Salvatore Italiano) which I had researched, frequently apparently by the football crowd (players, not fans I hasten to add!).  They boasted 100 different pizzas and was quite simply brilliant.  My father went a bit crazy and ordered a bottle of champagne, a bottle of red wine and one of white so by the time we were full of pizza we were also smashed.  Anyhow, we had another great night and wandered around after dinner for a coffee and a brandy before heading back to bed.

We were only there for two nights on this occasion which is fine but if you want to do more of the cultural things than we did on this particular trip (the museum of modern art, the aquarium and opera house which architecturally are quite incredible, the cathedral and maybe some serious shopping) then I would say you need at least another day and night in order not to be shattered.

The dolphins at Valencia aquarium

What I would say, however, is that however long you decide to go for, do go – it is well worth the visit and a complete contrast to where we live.

Alcazaba, Almeria

18 Sep

If you come to Almeria, you could do a lot worse than spend the day in the City of Almeria.  I wouldn’t particularly recommend it in August but any other month it can be a great day out.   However, you do need to know where you are going to fully enjoy the experience (like most cities) and someone who can read a street map and do a little research before heading off, otherwise you are in danger of parking the car and wandering about aimlessly!   The old town is full of great little bars and restaurants (some of which I will feature later) and there is a good main shopping street leading down towards the port (where you can get a ferry to Morocco, another thing on our ‘to do’ list!), plus the bus and train station, from where you can travel all over Spain.

The Alcazaba entrance

If you do visit, then a trip to the Alcazaba is must.  It is an Arab fortress which dominates the city and was constructed in 955 and is one of the best preserved in Spain.  It is the second largest Muslim building in Spain (after the Alhambra in Grenada).  In its heyday, 20,000 people lived within its walls.   In 1489 the town was captured by the Christians and opened up a new era of economic development.  However it came to an abrupt halt when in 1522 an earthquake devastated the city.  The 16th and 17th centuries were a period of slow but steady expansion but the Alcazaba has more recently undergone extensive renovation and is well worth the effort of a visit.   There is a good deal of walking as you would expect and also a lot of steps so it is not great for wheelchairs unfortunately, but if you are up to it, it makes an interesting contrast to a day at the beach followed by a fabulous long lunch somewhere in the old town.

Tha Alcazaba interior

Riad Cabrera/Fatima’s Restaurant – Sierra Cabrera

13 Sep

If you are happy to go for an ever so slightly hairy drive into the hills that are Sierra Cabrera, you couldn’t find a more charming gem than this fantastic restaurant.  It nestles in a dip high up in the Cabrera’s, near the town of Turre.  The influence of course, is Moroccan and is where Fatima herself hails from.  The restaurant is absolutely beautiful – a fabulous terrace to dine or have drinks on in the warm summer and early autumn nights and an intimate bar inside with stunning Moorish tiling for when the evenings are no longer warm enough to be outside.  The huge inside dining rooms are immaculate and stylish and would make a magnificent venue for any party, whether it is a formal wedding reception or a special birthday or anniversary do.  So all of that without even mentioning the food!

The view onto the terrace from the restaurant

Well, you need a good twenty minutes and a large gin and tonic (served in a wonderful goblet) to study the extensive and inventive menu.  It is a joy to read and very hard to decide what to choose and in fact, when deciding,  you are in your mind already planning your next visit!

To start you have to select one of about twenty six – no mean feat!  Duck foie with blackberry sauce and sweet wine jelly does it for me (but among other things you could have Spanish ham and melon, anchovies, fresh marinated tuna tartare with wasabi sauce, ostrich pate, various delicious sounding salads, prawns, risottos, fresh pasta with pear and cheese….. I could go on.

The beautiful terrace

The house specialities consist of various delicious tagines (lamb, chicken, venison and vegetable), several different types of cous cous, fish pie with Moroccan herbs and spices, confit of duck cooked in onion oil, cinnamon, lemon and honey to name a few.

Then there are the most delicious meat and fish dishes, including suckling pig with mashed apple, lots of beef choices and roast leg of young goat with cous cous.  There is fish for every taste, red tuna rolled in sesame with teriyaki sauce, grilled hake, cod, or tuna and prawn kebab.

There is separate dessert menu, if you manage to get that far.  I am sure you have gathered that this is a high end restaurant but still offers fantastic value for money.

The service is warm and welcoming and I guarantee you will want to go back again.

Go for lunch if you are scared of driving in the dark, but do go – you won’t be disappointed.

Riad Cabrera telephone number: 950 092 042

Lua beach bar – Mojacar

7 Sep

Whenever we feel like a bit of glamour we go down to Mojacar beach where there are some great beach bars.  The most glam is Lua – a kind of Trader Vic’s on the beach (for those of you old enough to remember the basement bar at the Hilton in Park Lane, London!). It really only comes to life late at night during the summer, but it is still fab to go for a drink at sunset.  It is right on the beach so you watch the waves rolling in and feel the wonderful breeze after a blistering day.

A sea view with your drink

September is a particularly lovely time to go there in the early evening.  It is lovely and cool and has lots of nooks and crannies with comfy sofas and chairs to hide away in or to sit on a bar stool overlooking the beach while the barman brings your favourite drink with some nibbles.  It is a good place to come late as well, busier and enchanting in the dark, with all the Buddha’s and blue fairy lights and banana trees – a real tropical hideaway.  Have a drink here, whether just the two of you or in a big crowd – it is very spacious, both indoors and out.  Most of the beach bars close during the winter, but are open well into the autumn which makes it feel like spring is just around the corner for those of us who live here.

Lua beach bar telephone number: 950 472 643

Chiringuito Perichan – San Juan de los Terreros

2 Sep

The Perichan chiringuito is situated a few hundred metres down from the Calypso Hotel at San Juan, 20 minutes from the cortijo.  It is a favourite with Spaniards and English alike and during the summer months it is essential to book for lunch, especially at the weekends.  It is a large airy space, cool inside or if you prefer you can sit at a table outside.

Perichan interior

The staff are friendly and slick and you never have to wait for a drink, some bread and alioli (garlic mayonnaise) and a menu – a winner with me as I hate having to try and attract the attention of waiters who are obviously busy, but refuse to catch your eye!  This way everyone is happy and no-one minds a short wait until your order is taken.  You need time anyway to peruse the vast menu – endless starters of boquerones (fresh anchovies), squid, octopus, prawns, salads to name a few.

Choose between the sea view...

Main courses consist mainly of lovely fresh fish, always fantastic and grilled to perfection, or all kinds of grilled meat and kebabs, burgers if you must and a kind of all day Spanish fry up, good for brunch.  If you are spectacularly hungry, order the mixed fish platter, grilled not fried, and a huge salad, a bottle of Rosado (rose wine) or a cold beer and some agua con gas and you are all set for the next hour at least.

...or the mountain view

There is no hurry here, no kicking you off for the next sitting and no rushing you with dessert and coffee – you are nearly always offered a chupito, a liqueur of the house (sometimes you are offered a drink of your choice if you have had a particularly large meal!) with the bill.  This beach bar is a must during a visit here – the beach is gorgeous too so spend the whole day there and sleep off lunch under a brolly at the Calypso Hotel.

Perichan telephone number: 610 784 360

San Juan de los Terreros

31 Aug

The last Saturday in August and I am thinking “Can it get any hotter?” I am rushing through my chores, the rooms, clearing up breakfast and doing a bit of preparation for dinner tonight as we have a houseful – 10 including 4 under the age of 7!  The littlies are having lasagne at 7 pm so that their parents can enjoy a relaxed dinner later.  They are all allowed to stay up tonight for the outdoor cinema – they are on holiday and they don’t want to go to bed, even the littlest 2 year old! 

By two o’clock we are just about ready to head off to one of our other lovely beaches at San Juan de los Terreros – only a 20 minute drive away.  So we head off for the pleasant short drive there, a windy road through lots of hilly countryside and nothing on the road because is it lunchtime, something, rather like the French, Spaniards take great pleasure in though it is a rather less formal affair. 

We go to our favourite chiringuito, Perichan, which is packed but they find us a table for two.  Even though there are dozens of people the service is great – they take your drinks order immediately and bring them back with bread and garlic mayonnaise and leave you to peruse the menu, taking the pressure off them and you not waiting!  I order grilled sepia with salad (squid) and Mick orders a hamburger because I am cooking fish tonight!  The menu is huge so there will be something for everyone but as we on the sea, obviously fish is the choice of the day.  You can have huge platter of mixed seafood or fish to share, a bottle of vino and a salad for under 20 euros a head.

San Juan Calypso hotel

Then as we are a bit pushed for time today, we head back down the beach to our favourite spot, in front of the Calypso hotel.  There are beds and brollies for hire, an air conditioned bar for those who wish to escape the heat and a great restaurant too but you need a bit of time to linger over lunch here.  We nap and read a little, and then just before coming home at 5.30, I go for a delicious swim.  The waves are up and I leap around to keep above them and enjoy the feeling of being on holiday, albeit only for a short while.  We wish we could stay till sunset, and next week when we are by ourselves we will.

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