Tag Archives: Spain

Spain

Trip to Barcelona

We went to Barcelona for a few days to check out the city before heading out on our Mediterranean cruise. We took the high-speed train from Alicante and arrived in just over five hours to downtown Barcelona. The train ride was very relaxing and there were some beautiful views of the Mediterranean along the way.

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View on the train ride to Barcelona.

The city is beautiful with numerous architectural features and historic buildings. The city is quite large with a population of approximately 1.8 million.

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View of Barcelona from the hilltop of the National Art Gallery

We walked through the downtown core area and in the old quarter of the city. Some of the buildings were unique and old.

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Building in Barcelona
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Statue in square of Barcelona
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Typical walkway in old quarter of Barcelona

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One building, we particular liked was the art centre.

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Unique art centre building in Barcelona

There was a statue that was very neat and you could look at it from different angles and it would change its shape.

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unique statue that changed depending on where you looked at it

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We took a break and stopped at a restaurant in a large plaza that had numerous restaurants. The food was very good and the salads were very tasty.

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unique Salad from a spanish restaurant

After lunch, we did more exploring and came across a store that had miniature characters of famous people. Below are a few pictures of some famous people. Can you figure out who they are? We found over 10 people we recognised.

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caractures in store in Barcelona
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Characters in store in Barcelona

We walked about 12 kilometres throughout the day and finished the evening sitting on the rooftop terrace of our hotel admiring the skyline. It was a long day but very enjoyable.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

 

Spain

Tour of a 309 year old winery

Friends of ours contacted us and wanted to go to a winery called Casa Cesilia with us. This winery is located in a small town called Novelda. We took a 30-minute drive to the town of Novelda and decided to check out the “Santuario de Santa María Magdalena” church before going to the winery.

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The Santuario de Santa María Magdalena church on the hilltop in Novelda, Spain

The church is located on a hilltop high above the town of Novelda. The view from the church was breathtaking with a panoramic view of the town.

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View from the Santuario de Santa María Magdalena church in Novelda, Spain

The church is in a “Gaudi” style and was built-in 1918 and was not completed until 1946. We walked around the church and admired the unique architecture.

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Front doors of the Santuario de Santa María Magdalena in Novelda, Spain

Some of the stonework was crafted with unique curves and arches. There were designs built into the church by using different rock shapes and colours.

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Notice the twisted stone column in the midst of the other church columns

We walked around the outside of the church admiring some of the features.

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detailed corner section of the church
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Stained glass window above one of the doors

Unfortunately, the church was closed and we were not able to see the inside.  After walking around the outside of the church we decided to relax on the patio of the restaurant then headed to the winery.

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Ray, Mike, Liz and Shelley in front of the church before heading to the winery.

We arrived at the main gates of the winery which is situated in the valley below the Santuario de Santa María Magdalena church.

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Giant vat at the entrance to the Winery

The Casa Cesilia winery was established in 1707 and has a long history of making excellent wines. We drove along the roadway which goes partly through some of the vineyards to the main facility.

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Main building of the Casa Cesilia winery

There was beautiful landscaping around the building which is also the home of the owners of the winery.

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Some of the landscaping outside of the winery

The view of the surrounding vineyard and mountains was also very impressive.

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View from the winery

The main building was large and also had a restaurant and areas that were used for special events.

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Restaurant area of the winery

One area which was neat was a wine cellar which special guest or VIP’s could go and enjoy a glass of wine. We could see the room through the glass floor in the restaurant area.

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View of the wine cellar through the glass floor in the restaurant

We took a tour of the winery and saw some interesting aspects of wine making. It is hard to imagine that this family business has been running since 1707.

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Some of the fermenting vats in the winery
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Oak barrels used in the wine making process

The tour took us to a beautiful covered patio area where we could stay in the shade and enjoy the view of the vineyard.

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Shelley in the covered patio overlooking the vineyard
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Patio area near the vineyard

After the tour, we headed to the restaurant to sample some wines. Sitting at an oak barrel table we enjoyed some different wines.

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Ray, Shelley, Liz and Mike have a sample glass of wine

We finished the day by having a great meal and another glass of wine before heading home. On the way to the car we stopped and took a look at the vines and grapes up close.

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Ray in front of the rows of grapes in the vineyard.
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Some of the grapes used in the making of the wine.

It was an interesting and enjoyable day and well worth going to see.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Bubbly times!

Last night we went to the “6th FASCV Sparkling Wines Bubbles Party” held in Alicante. The event was part of the InterNations activities held each month. The party was held at the Isla Marina, which is a beautiful restaurant and marina on the coast of the Mediterranean sea.

We registered at the entrance and paid our 5 euros to receive a sparkling wine glass for a free sample drink and our name tag. This was to allow us to try one glass of champagne for free. The person doing the registration could not find our names on the list so he added them and gave us two “name Tags” with the word “Professional” on it. Well, it turns out that having the “professional” name tag provided access to all the champagnes for free.

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Our name tag which allowed for unlimited free champagne

Off we went to check out the more than 20 producers of sparkling, champagne, cider and other wines.  We met up some of our friends from the group and tried a glass of champagne.

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Ray and Shelley with InterNations group

After sampling a glass of champagne we headed to the sitting area near the water to enjoy the scenery.  We found a beautiful spot to sit and relax.

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Ray and Shelley enjoying the view of the Mediterranean sea

The view from our table was spectacular allowing for a complete view of the sea.

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view from out table

Our friends gathered at the table and we had a great time chatting about all kinds of different things.

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Our group sitting at the table

One of the items we chatted about was the use of the “abanico de mana” which is Spanish for “hand fan” . They are very popular in the Spanish culture and most of the women at the event had an abanico de mana with them.

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Abanico hand fan
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Shelley with some of the group

We had a great spot and stayed there for most of the evening only heading out to refill our glass or to get some tapas. There was a selection of different tapas which we could buy for three euros.

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Tapas for sale at the event

We tried different types of Spanish wines and champagnes including Caves Mestres,  Gramona, Juvé & Camps and a few others. Each vendor had an area on display.

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One of the vendors displaying her selection of wines

We stayed until 11 pm and enjoyed the event. The weather was hot and there was a nice breeze from the sea. We then headed home by taxi with our wine glasses in hand.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Bull fighting in Alicante

We decided to attend a bullfight, although we are not entirely sure we will enjoy it. The culture here is different and we are trying to embrace the culture and immerse ourselves into it. It certainly is not up to us to judge one way or the other the merits of the bullfighting tradition and this blog is not going to debate the issue.

We went online and ordered our tickets which arrived by courier a week before the event.

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Ray with the bullfighting tickets

The day of the event we headed to the Plaza de Toro a little early so we could check out the bull fighting arena.

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crowds of people gather to enter the bull fighting arena

We headed inside the Bull fighting arena and took our time to check out the building. The inside is old and with partly tiled walls and cement features.

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Inside the arena

We walked up the stairs to find our seats. The stairs were uneven with different  riser heights, some were over one-foot high. The seats are basically a board with a rubber finish on top.

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Arena seats with small rubber mats

The view of the arena resembles a gladiator’s arena with an open top.

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The centre ring area is covered in sand and there were two vehicles on display before the show. It was very hot and there was no shade where we were sitting.  We decided to tour the arena before sitting down in the sun.

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Shelley and Ray at Bull Fighting arena

The start of the event is done with a band walking around the arena playing for each section of the arena.

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Band playing music for the opening of the bull fighting event.

After the band, there is a parade of the matadors and people on horseback. The media is also there taking pictures of the matadors and the crowd cheers and shouts. The atmosphere is similar to a major league baseball game.

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Matadors walking around the arena before the start waving to the crowd.
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Men on horseback leading parade
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Matadors being photographed by reporters
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men on specialized equipped horses.

The bullfighting is not done by a single matador, which is what we thought. There are four or five matadors in the ring and they distract the bull and have it run through their cape. There is one main matador who sets the pace and finishes the bull fight. The crowd is very much apart of the bullfight and sing and cheer.

https://youtu.be/fgKZNNW-NXU

We stayed for about half of the event and then left early. It is not for the faint of heart and it is something we experienced but will not likely go to see again.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spain

Fireworks contest in Alicante

There is a week-long fireworks competition in Alicante every year. It is called ” LXXI Concurso de focs artificials” and begins the night after the Fogueres de Sant Joan festival ends. They are set off at midnight down on the beach area of Alicante.  We headed down to the beach area and walked along the breakwater pier. We found a perfect spot to watch the fireworks on the pier.

The first night we watched the fireworks from the pier, they had a mishap about half way through the fireworks. Part of the system fell and launched their fireworks into the beach sand. We could see the fireworks hitting the beach sand and then just glowing. This went on for about 5 minutes. Then the fireworks began to go up into the sky again. It was fairly windy and the fireworks display was hindered by the strong winds.

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view of misfiring fireworks on the beach

The second night we attended the fireworks, it was a lot better. We managed to get the same viewing area and the fireworks were excellent.

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view of fireworks from the  pier in Alicante

We could hear the crashing of the waves against the pier and the thunder of the fireworks in the sky. It was very enjoyable.

The below video if of the finally of the fireworks one of the nights.

https://youtu.be/HpHASmroZvc

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”