Yesterday we went to the “museo the Argueologico” in Alicante. The museum has received awards for its content and presentation. The building is impressive with a grand entrance area.

In the museum there are 10 wings which have selected displays within each wing. We went through each wing taking our time to view the amazing and detailed exhibits on display. There was a prehistoric period with hunters and food gatherers on display. There was a display of tools that were some 16,000 years old. Hard to imagine these tools still being in existence today.

There was a wing dedicated to the Iberians territory. This territory was in the Alicante region. The Iberian culture was known for its agricultural abilities but also for its fine ceramic art work.

In the centre of the Iberian wing there is a statue of the Lady of Cabezon Lucero.

There were also some beautiful religious artifacts on display.

There was a display of the Roman artifacts and culture from the second and third century BC. This was very interesting because they were from the Alicante area known as “Lucerna”. There were painted tiles and roman coins and a large section of pottery.

Other areas of the museum had displays on archaeology and how they  went about locating the artifacts. There were excavations that were done in caves, churches, castles and even underwater. A lot of research and work went into the discoveries and items on display. It was truly amazing how they managed to preserve and exhibit the artifacts over time here in the museum. One of the many things we enjoyed was the Roman ruins, walls and stone writings which were displayed.

The exhibits were very well done and we enjoyed taking our time and reading about the history of this particular area. It has given us some insight into why certain areas of Alicante have specific names. For example the area of “Luceros” in Alicante is where the Roman town of Lucerne was located back in the 3rd century. There is a long and rich history here in Alicante.

“Adios y que tenga un grand días”

On Saturday  we went to the local market and there on display were some fafa beans. These beans are very poplar in Spain and every market or grocery store sells them fresh. We decided to buy some fresh fafa beans and try to make a meal with them.  They are a very big bean and don’t look very appetizing.

We took them home and tried a Spanish recipe for the bean. There are a few steps that needed to take place before you can eat them. First you need to get the bean out of the pod. I thought there would be more beans in the large pods. Each pod contained maybe 3 or 4 beans in total.

Our total beans amounted to approximately 1/4 cup. We were expecting more beans than that.

We rinsed the beans and then boiled them for approximately 5 minutes. Once the outer skin of the bean turns white you remove the skin.

Once the skins were removed we rinsed the beans and then crumbled them up. We added some crumbled feta cheese, fresh mint and olive oil in with the beans.

The mix is put on top of a toasted baguette with a drizzle of olive oil. The end result was a very tasty meal.

“Adios y que tenga un grand días”

There are numerous areas in Alicante that have  outside exercise equipment. There is a concept here of promoting fitness using outdoor exercise equipment. We see the equipment in almost every park we walk by.  There are even some outdoor exercise equipment on the walkways right in the heart of the Alicante business area. It is not uncommon the see some people using the equipment, especially on the weekends.

A while back we were walking through the Palmeral park and came across a section of the park that had outdoor exercise equipment. We decided to try it out and get a bit of a workout.

All of the equipment is designed to use a person’s weight as the resistance for the workout.

After the quick test of the equipment Shelley took a well deserved break.

People here enjoy the outdoors and we can see why they like to exercise outside. The weather here is conducive to having outdoor exercise equipment.  There is no need for a membership at a gym when you can simply walk to the local park and work out.

“Adios y que tenga un grand dias”