We arrived in Malaga, Spain on the evening of the 15 Sep 07 to plenty of sunshine, true to the name Costa del Sol. We stayed at the Marina del Sol Resort which is part of the Club La Costa complex. The unit had two spacious bedrooms and opens up to a terrace with 4 round swimming pools. This gave us opportunities to relax by the pool and to enjoy the occasional dip.
The Costa del Sol had changed considerably since we last visited in Apr 2001 with Debbie. This resort complex did not exist then and the whole strip that faces the sea along the coastal highway to Cadiz is now more built up with lots more hotels. Andalucia is the largest of 17 autonomous regions (AR) in Spain occupying the sunshine filled south. It has 8 million people. We were told that in the last decade many Europeans have been buying up villas in Southern Spain making this the fastest growing economy.
Fuengirola 17 Sep 07
This is a seaside resort boasting a good beach. Many British tourists flock to Fuengirola for the sun and away from the rains and early frost of British weather. Along the beach there were several British type cafes and pubs selling fish and chips and rump steaks. We settled for typical British pub food at Jumbo Joe’s. Pat had a lot of laughter reading the juicy, naughty and witty posters pasted on the walls of the eatery.
Spanish cuisine took a while to get used to. We decided to brave the Tapas menu. Contrary to our expectation of tapas as salty Jambon over pieces of stale melon, we discovered tapas to be a Spanish 'dim sum' of small servings to enjoy with Spanish wine or liqueur. We ordered Tortilla Espaniola or baked eggs with onions and potatoes, Calamares (fried squid rings) and Flamenquin (roast pork) rolled in a thin slice of Jambon (dried ham) and then deep fried like a spring roll. To these tidbits, we whet our palates drinking Vino Dulce 'Pedro Ximénez' a very sweet red aperitif and the usual 'Sangria.' Pat said that Sangria tasted like Pimm's. It is claret in colour and tasted mildly sweet with an alcohol content of about 7%. Another typical Spanish meal is the Paella. It is saffron rice cooked with seafood in a shallow pot which we had in Ronda. It is like the Italian dish Risotto.
We chanced upon a cafe in Cordoba, the ‘Salon de té.’ It was a delightful small cafe along the narrow alley Buen Pastor, 13 (B de la Juderia). Here we had some sweet pastries and Tigernuts drink. Horchata de Chufas or Tigernuts is grown in Valencia and make a sweet and refreshing drink which is white and taste like almond flavoured soya bean milk. Tigernuts according to the advertisement "help prevent heart attacks and thrombosis. They activate blood circulation. Due to high content of soluble glucose they prevent cancer."
A customer Barry Rae (March 97) described the ambience:
"The tranquility of the house
The gentle breeze
The beauty and scent of the flowers
The trickling flow of water
like the hands of Time
Transported us into another age of enlightenment
Restful...Exotic...Sensual...
Pure delight!"
Barry aptly described our own experience resting our tired feet in the cool breeze in this cafe. No wonder the Spaniards treasure their siesta.
No comments:
Post a Comment