Garrucha

15 Oct

Whilst we love the buzz of the summer season here, we kind of always forget how lovely the autumn and spring are here until they arrive! – there is still a lot of warmth in the sun during the day, but the mornings and nights are cooler and more comfortable than high season and of course, everywhere is that bit quieter!

 

Downtown Garrucha

 

Garrucha is a lovely seaside town near us – a lot less busy than Mojacar, the neighbouring resort, and much more local somehow.   The main fish market is here and at sunset you can watch the auctions take place – very confusing but good fun to watch – and, yes, Garrucha is known for its fish restaurants among other things!  The other morning while Mick’s mum was still here, they went off for a bit of precious time together and Mick took Sadie for breakfast in Garrucha.  She loves the sea and also Garrucha, so it was a good choice.

 

The Garrucha Hot Air Club

 

It has a long, long promenade adjacent to the beach and up on the road is just restaurant upon restaurant.   They found a new cafe though on the beach and loved it.  They had coffee and croissant overlooking the sand and sea – what more could you want.  At nighttimes during the season, the restaurants are alive with holidaymakers, both from the UK and the rest of Spain, offering the freshest of fish and seafood at really reasonable prices.  Apart from the Garrucha prawn – visitors beware – they are 100 euros a kilo – I guess a bit like ordering lobster in London!

 

The famous Garrucha prawn

 

There is also a lovely little marina here too and one of our favourite places overlooks it – Rincon del Puerto – the corner of the port – you can have coffee, lunch, drinks all afternoon or dinner here and is the loveliest of spots with great food.  Now Mick are on our own again it is one place that I will be going for someone else to serve me breakfast!

Agua Amarga, Cabo de Gato

14 Oct

It is Tuesday and Mick has taken the day off, along with every single person in Spain!  It is Christopher Columbus day here (and in the States too I think!).  It is a holiday for the armed forces and the police (a great day to commit a crime!) and a national holiday.  We decide to go for lunch at our favourite beach, Agua Amarga, or bitter waters, about 40 minutes away.  You can take a fantastic scenic route along the coast past Mojacar and then go up the scary, but beautiful, mountain road.  It takes longer though and is no good for people who don’t like heights and narrow hairpin bends!!

 

Agua Amarga beach

 

Anyhow, we choose the motorway route for speed and comfort as we have Mick’s mum, Sadie with us – it is still a wonderful drive once you are off the motorway, around 35 kms from the house.  Then you have an awesome drive through the Cabo de Gato (Cape of Cats) – a kind of Spanish moors if you like.  It is very remote and isolated but quite stunning and the road just goes straight through the middle of it.

 

Costa Amarga restaurant

 

After about 15 minutes you arrive at the town of Agua Amarga, a little place which used to be a fishing village, but now I think is a popular place for holiday homes, although you do of course still get some little fishing boats here.  It is simply an exquisite place, with a couple of rather lovely little hotels and 4 or 5 restaurants on the beach.  A few are still open for lunch well into November so we pick our favourite one, right on the beach and overlooking nothing but a turquoise sea and rugged landscape either side and some beautiful villas.  We tuck into red mullet, chips and salad with a glass of vino and a coffee – the menu is vast and full of delicious things, but we have friends coming for dinner so don’t go too mad.  Agua Amarga is one of the chicest beaches around us and at this time of year virtually empty apart from a few families out for the day or who have just come out for a long lunch as it is a holiday.  Even in season it is too off the beaten track for the coach party crowd and isn’t really on the tourist map but mainly frequented by Spanish people or English, Dutch and German people in the know.  It was featured in the film Sexy Beast, and visitors will recognise the villa on the left hand side on the hill as you drive into town.

 

Lunchtime view

 

Reluctantly we get ready to leave wishing we had brought our towels to spend the afternoon lazing on the beach on one of the last days of summer…..but we will be back for lunch again before winter sets in.

Vera market, Vera

13 Oct

Saturday morning and we are off to Vera to wander around the market – normally I have done most of my supermarket shopping on Friday, so this is purely for pleasure and to buy lovely fresh fruit and vegetables and to treat myself to some flowers.  Although there are markets in every town on every day of the week, Vera is my favourite.

Fresh produce at Vera market

It sprawls out from the Plaza Major (town square) in every direction, down all the main streets and the little alleys off them.  It is colourful and noisy and full of crazy Spanish people selling everything from jelly beans to whole legs of jamon, underwear to sunglasses and everything in between.  You have to watch it though, they have one price for locals and another for tourists (a difference of about 30%) which obviously really annoys us and if they try it on me, I chuck it back at them shouting “no estoy una turista, vivo aqui!” and stomp off!  We mooch about looking for the best seasonal fruit or vegetables and any bargains which catch our eye.  Then we always have a coffee in our favourite cafe, outside and right in the hubbub of everything. It is never raining at the market as if it is the stall holders simply don’t come and neither do we!

Mmmmm...chicken and chips

Then sometimes we go and have a glass of something in Carmona Terraza, a fantastic bar and restaurant in the town’s hotel – it is actually really famous in the whole region and serves the best acorn fed jamon (known as Pata Negra or Jabugo).  The market generally finishes at lunchtime but we like to go earlyish so we have the rest of our Saturday.  Everyone who comes to the Cortijo goes to Vera market and usually come back with lots of good little purchases to take home with them.  There really is something about a local market when you are on holiday – it is something that just has to be done!

 

Desert Springs Golf Resort, Cuevas del Almanzora

9 Oct

Sometimes during the week, when we don’t want to go out for the whole evening but we feel like a pre dinner drink somewhere, we pop up to Desert Springs. It is only 10 minutes away and has two options to have a drink or dinner.

 

El Torrente 'Clubhouse' Restaurant

 

There is the clubhouse – it is a lovely colonial style building with a vast terrace running around it so perfect for a late summer evening drink.  We met a couple of our friends there the other night who have a house on the course and as it doesn’t get dark until at least 8.30 pm and it was a wonderfully warm evening, we met on the terrace.   It is a great place to relax for an hour or two with friends and has a good restaurant too where we sometimes go for Sunday lunch.

 

The view from the 19th hole

 

More often. though, we go to the other bar/restaurant, the Crocodile Club.  It is a fabulous building which looks like it could be on an African plain – it has a huge thatched roof and rustic furniture with a terrific view over the deserty landscape, to the sea.  It is lovely to go and meet friends for drinks or dinner – kids are very welcome and they can just run around as there is lots of space and the staff don’t seem to mind.  There is a menu for every taste – from burgers and ribs to wonderful fresh fish, salads and pizzas.  The service is always good and it is just so convenient for us if I don’t feel like cooking.  We go there all year round and there are cosy open fires for the chilly nights from December.  Oh, yes, it also has a beautiful golf course for the golfers among you – anyone can play so long as you have a handicap – if you play with a member you pay a reduced rate (we usually know someone who can sign you in).  There is also a swimming pool and tennis courts for non-residents – that should keep everyone happy!

El Torrente Restaurant telephone number: 950 548 403

The Crocodile Club Restaurant telephone number: 950 548 404

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

Valle del Este Golf Club and Spa, Vera

3 Oct

As most of you know, in June it was my birthday – the hideous big 5-0 but it came and went without too much pain!  In fact I received some really lovely presents from dear friends which softened the blow somewhat – one of which was from our friends John and Phil, who live in London but are restoring a gorgeous old cortijo in the hills near us.  They treated me to a fantastic afternoon at the spa of one of our beautiful golf courses here.  It is nearing the end of the season (I have one more group booked in arriving tomorrow for 8 days!) so I thought I had better book myself in.

Valle del Este is a 10 minute drive from here – it is really gorgeous and is a hotel resort with golf course, huge outdoor pool, terrace restaurant and bar, and the spa of course.  It is all open to non-members and Mick and I used to go there on Sunday afternoons before we had our swimming pool installed.  There is no charge.

Swimming with a view

Anyhow I arrived after lunch and went straight into a full body massage – anyone who spends half an hour massaging my feet has to have something going for them – it was divine!  Then I had a face massage and a hydro massage (basically a lovely warm, deep bath with jets of water that pummel you and somehow make you feel instantly thinner!

Outdoor area Valle del Este spa

You can have a Jacuzzi, sauna or steam as well or just go outside and sunbathe and read.  I went straight onto the hotel terrace and had a gin and tonic.  What a fantastic end to the week – thank you John and Phil.  Even better, when I arrived home, Mick was in the kitchen making dinner for me and had downloaded Mad Men which I was too tired to watch the other night.  How lucky am I!

The Alhambra, Granada

1 Oct

If you ever holiday in Spain, either here or elsewhere in Andalucia, I urge you to take time to go to Granada and more specifically, the Alhambra.  If you do come here, it is an easy and gorgeous drive through the Sierra Nevada, though it takes 3 hours and so an overnight stay is recommended.  Hotels are plentiful and you don’t have to spend a fortune (although my standard of never staying anywhere less nice than my own home means that a number of hotels all over the world are out as far as I am concerned!).  But luckily not everyone is like me.  The last time we went (this summer with friends Di and Pete from Perth, Australia) we stayed in the old town in a beautiful small hotel, Santa Isabel La Real.  All the rooms were set around a courtyard with a fountain, and were situated in a higgledy piggledy part of the old town, virtually overlooking the Alhambra.  Di (who luckily is even worse than me!) spent a lot of time researching somewhere lovely to stay and it was sheer bliss to be taken off for the weekend by our dear friends.

Old Granada town

The Alhambra (which means the Red Fortress) is quite simply one of my favourite places to visit in the world – it is a sensory overload if you arrive in the spring – the rose gardens waft their perfume as you wander through at your leisure; the gardens go on and on and give you inspiration to get back and mow your own lawn (or in my case, plant some more cactus).  The Moorish architecture is a magical use of space, light, water and decoration and although the fortress had existed since the 9th century, it was the Nasrid Dynasty who started restoration in the 13th Century and leave this most amazing fortress for us to see now. For full facts click here

Inside the palaces

This is a great clip for a mini tour and you can improve your Spanish.

Granada is easy to get around – this time we pretty much stuck to the old town and just ate and drank our way through the narrow, romantic streets.  On the second night, we spotted a rather fantastic looking restaurant and booked a table.  It turned out to have a terrace where we dined with the best view of the Alhambra lit up at night – the view you see on every night shot on postcards so that was the icing on the cake.

The cool interior of the Alhambra

There isn’t really an “out of season” when you visit the Alhambra.  As you might imagine, it has visitors from all over the world at all times of the year (I think they are closed in the depths of winter so check it out) – in the height of the summer, the hotels are cheap (everyone is at the coast!) and restaurants available – I have been 6 times, in Spring and Summer and never tire of the Alhambra – so go at anytime, but make sure you do go.

Pometini Cocktail

28 Sep

Please forgive me for including something with pomegranates so soon but I have just scrumped another 4 kilos of the things and so thought I would juice some (as it is a super food of course) and include it in a cocktail (not included in the super food category I’m afraid).  As the juice is such a delicate hue and flavour, vodka is the obvious choice for the alcoholic bit – this may well already be a cocktail but I have never come across it. Only serve one before dinner though as it is, like many cocktails, subtle in its affect on one and it does need a good slug of vodka not to taste a bit like lolly water! We’ve called it a Pometini! Here goes

For two cocktails

One great slug of vodka (I would say 4 pub measures)

Juice of two large pomegranates

Juice of a lime

Splash of soda water

2 thin slices of lime

Put ice in your cocktail shaker and add the vodka, pomegranate juice and lime juice

Shake

Strain into cocktail glasses three quarters full

Top up with soda water or mineral water

Add a slice of lime

Voila!

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!

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