Tag Archives: Retirement abroad

Spain

Christmas music in the Castle

We walked up to the 9th century Santa Barbara Castle to enjoy a free concert by soprano singer, AscensiĆ³n Perona and Pianist Daniel CatalĆ”. Our walk began at 7pm and we walked up the steep incline towards the Castle. The views along the way were stunning and you could see the Castle light up in the night.

Castle of Santa Barbara in the evening

There were beautiful views of the city of Alicante along the walk up the mountain. We could see the city lit up in lights.

View of the city of Alicante at night.

We reached the entrance of the castle after a 15 minute walk up the mountain.

Entrance to the Felipe II hall at Santa Barbara Castle

We entered in the Felipe II hall located in the main area of the castle. There were seats set up and we found seats at the real of the hall.

The view from our seats of the front stage

We were entertained by a soprano named AscensiĆ³n Perona. She was well-known and had studied technical vocals and interpretation in Los Angeles. She was also accompanied by pianist and composer Daniel CatalĆ”.

Soprano AscensiĆ³n Perona and pianist Daniel CatalĆ” performing Christmas songs in the Santa Barbara Castle.

They played a mix of Christmas songs from different countries. There were a selection of songs from “Pie Jesu” – Andrew Lloyd Webber to “White Christmas”- Irving Berlin. It was quite interesting to listen to songs from around the world as well as from regions of Spain. Below is a small sample of some of the songs.

The event was one of the many free events throughout Alicante. It was certainly worth the climb to enjoy this free Christmas concert.

“Adios y que tenga un grand dia”

Spain

Is Van Gogh Alive?

We went to see the Van Gogh Alive exhibit at the “Lonja Del Pescado” building in Alicante.

We went through the entrance and the exhibit began with some photos and write ups about Vincent Van Gogh.

Entrance to the Van Gogh Alive exhibit

We walked through the room looking at the displays and reading the information. After a few minutes we were brought into another area of the exhibit which had chairs along the walls. We found some seats and waited for the interactive show to begin.

Multimedia area of the exhibit

The interactive show displayed Van Gogh’s art works through digital imagery. It went through his life from the early years until his death. It was an interesting way to see an art exhibit.

Digital displays of Van Gogh

We put together a short video of the exhibit to give you a sample of the exhibit.

It was a very enjoyable experience and a unique way to view artwork.

Ray and Shelley in the Van Gogh Alive exhibit

“adios y que tengas un grand dia”

Spain

A Typical Sunday in Alicante

We went for a nice leisure walk throughout the city of Alicante on Sunday. The weather was nice and warm at 21 degrees and the sun was shining bright. We began our walk by heading towards the coastline of the city. We came to a lovely walking trail which had orange trees along the path.

Orange trees along the walking trail in Alicante

We followed the walkway until we came to a beautiful water feature along the trail.

One of the water features in Alicante

We had to stop and take a selfie and enjoy the moment.

Shelley and Ray at a water feature along the walkway in Alicante

We then walked along the waterfront on the beautiful boardwalk area of the city. The boardwalk has rows of palm trees that align the walkway. The views from the boardwalk were spectacular, you could see the castle and all the boats in the marina.

Boardwalk along the harbour in Alicante

We walked along the boardwalk until we reached the beach area. We could see the dates on the date palm trees and people were enjoying the beach and walking along the shoreline.

Postiguet beach in Alicante with date palm trees

We walked along the beach walkway and came across a tent which was set up along the walkway. They were doing a fundraiser and selling Paella and drinks. People were lined up to sample some of the traditional Spanish food.

Tent on the beach walkway selling paella and drinks.

We continued our walk until we reached the end of the beach area and then decided to walk along the “Explanada de EspaƱa” which runs parallel to the marina and port. The walkway on the explanada is made up of 6.600.000 marble tiles. The three different colours of tiles form a unique pattern.

The explanada de EspaƱa in Alicante

We walked along the explanada and came across an area where people were gathered around listening to music. As we got closer we could see that people were also dancing on the explanada. We stopped for a few minutes to check it out.

After watching the dancing for a few minutes we continued our walk along the explanada and came across a vender selling roasted “castaƱas” nuts.

Shelley buying some roasted nuts at a vender on the Expanada in Alicante

We had to sample them so we stopped and bought a small “cone” of chesnuts. They were very tasty and the shell came off very easily.

A shell on a roasted chestnut
A roasted chestnut

The chestnut tasted similar to a roasted potato and was quite enjoyable. We continued our walk along the explanada and enjoyed the day. It was a great way to spend a leisure Sunday in Alicante.

“Hasta Luego and tiene un buen dia”

Spain

Tapa Competition

We decided to try something different and hosted a Tapa competition. We invited 10 couples to participate in the event which we held at our apartment.

We selected three judges in advance for the competition which were not known by the participants.

The judges Felipe, Sonya and Marcelo sampling one of the tapas

Each competitor had to make enough tapas (23) in total for everyone to enjoy a sample. They also had to have 3 tapas plated for the judges. The judges scored the tapa based on taste, presentation creativity and the pairing of a wine or other beverage.

Everyone enjoying the sampling of tapas

Everyone enjoyed trying the different tapas and sampling of wines.Ā It was a very interesting event because we had people from multiple countries around the word. There wereĀ Spanish, Welsh, English, Scottish, American, Argentinian and Canadian competitors.Ā  Each one brought some unique twist to the Spanish “tapa”. Below are the tapa entries. Each one was unique and very tasty.

The winner was selected by the judges and determined that Tapa Number 7 won the competition. Janice was awarded the Tapa trophy and the official tapa apron for “The best Tapa in 2018”

Janice with her trophy and Tapa apron

It was a very enjoyable and fun time with friends.

“Adios y que tenga un grand dia”

Spain

Xiringuito Postiguet

We went down to the postiguet beach where there is a great little chiringuito.Ā  It was a great evening with a full moon.

Shelley and Ray at portiguet beach

The chiringuito is located directly on the beach and has a great view of the castle and Mediterranean sea.

Chiringuito on Postiguet beach in Alicante.

There was cuban music playing at the chiringuito and people were gathering to listen. We found some seats and settled in to listen to the tunes.

The cuban band playing music at the chiringuito

We ran into some of our friends there as well.

Suzanne, Terry, Eric and Dana at the chiringuito

The music was very good and more and more people gathered around the chiringuito as the night went on. There were people dancing on the beach, even Shelley joined in.

People dancing at the chiringuito

We had a great evening listening to some fantastic cuban music on the beach of the mediterranean sea.

“Adios y tengas un gran dia”