Spain

A true Spanish meal

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Ray and Felipe went to a small traditional Spanish restaurant called “To Bar”. The restaurant is in an old house which was transformed into a restaurant.

The owner “Geroni”, who knew Felipe, met us at the door and welcomed us into the restaurant. We sat down at the table and ordered the meal of the day. There was a loaf of bread on the table as well as a “Spanish Porron” with red wine.

A traditional Spanish Wine decanter called a “Porron”
Ray ready to enjoy the meal of the day
Felipe ready for the meal of the day

They began bringing out different tapas to our table.

Salad with bread slivers
Pineapple with a sweet sauce and octapuss
Pastry base with fish and greens

They also brought us a unique tapa which was in a bowl and had a herb burning in the sauce.

Tapa with burning herbs in sauce

This tapa was extremely tasty and the sauce was very good. The owner then brought us the main course which was a seafood mix.

Sea food main dish
Chocolate mouse dessert

After enjoying the meal the owner came and chatted with us for a while. He brought us a complimentary after dinner Spanish traditional drink.

After dinner Spanish drink

We paid our bill which was very inexpensive for the quality and quantity of food we had. It was a fantastic meal and a great experience.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Making Goat Cheese

On Sunday we went to a small mountain town of Tibi about 30 kilometers from Alicante.

View of the main street in the Town of Tibi, Spain

There is a goat cheese store and small factory located in the town called “Quesería Del Valle De Tibi”. We arrived at the store to learn about goat cheese and how it is made.

Store front of the “Queseria Del Valle De Tibi”

We were met by one of the owners Lilian who brought us into the “factory” part of the building. They had a table set up with a sampling of several different types of goat cheese, goat milk, bread and wine.  Lilian explained how the goats are tested yearly to ensure they are safe from outside diseases etc. This allows them to make cheese with unpasteurized milk from their goats.

Lilian at the table with different goat cheeses and goats milk.

We began our sampling by having some unpasteurized goats milk. It was fresh from the goats that morning.

Pot with fresh unpasteurized goats milk

The goat’s milk was surprising tasty and very creamy.

Ray sampling the fresh goat’s milk

After trying the goat’s milk, we sampled several different goat cheeses. One cheese was only a week old and others were up to one year old. Each one had a unique flavour and tasted different when sampling with the wine.

Shelley and Ray sampling different oat cheeses

Lilian then explained and demonstrated the making of the goat cheese. We watched her as she made some cheese in the stainless steel container she uses for the process.

Lillian demonstrating the making of goat cheese
filter screen that separates the milk brine from the cheese

Lillian then removed the cheese from the stainless steel container and packed it into containers to make its form.

forming the cheese into containers
Goats cheese formed into containers

Lillian left some of the cheese on a tray for us to try.

It was very tasty and good but had a strange feel because it was still warm and very moist.

Fresh goat cheese

We finished the tour in the factory area, and then went to the store front to look at some of the cheese products for sale.

Different goat cheese for sale

It was a very interesting experience seeing how goat cheese was made. The small family business that still makes cheese in the traditional manner is very rare. They are very proud of their process and how they have maintained the traditional process of making goat cheese from unpasteurized goats milk.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Volvo Ocean Race headquarters command center

We had the honour and opportunity to have a special tour inside the Volvo Ocean Race Command Centre, which is located in the Volvo Ocean Museum in Alicante. We began our tour going through the administration area before heading into the command centre.

View of the support administration area for the Volvo Ocean Race command centre

We entered into the command centre which is located in a secure glass enclosed area. Inside the command centre there were staff monitoring the race 24 hours a day.

View of a section of the command centre of the Volvo Ocean Race

We gathered around the command centre while our guide explained some of the operations of the centre. They monitor each boat in the race tracking them in real-time by satellite.

Some of the overhead monitors in the command centre.

They are also in radio contact with each boat. During the race the boats make videos of their activities and send them back to the command centre.

Staff reviewing a video from one of the race boats.

The videos are edited and finalized in the command centre before being put online. There are stories about everyday life on the boat and stories of unique experiences they have during the race. One experience was a “ghost ship”, found by one of the Volvo Ocean Boats. They located an abandoned sailboat approximately 360 miles east of Guam on February 13, 2018. It was the SV Sea Nymph abandoned by Jennifer Appel and her crew member Tasha Fuiava nearly 3 to 4 months earlier on October 25, 2017.

https://youtu.be/L9OgNgiE2MA

We spent about an hour touring the command centre and learning about the logistical challenges of coordinating a world race. The race encompasses twelve countries over six continents and takes nine months to complete.  We found the logistics of coordinating the race very interesting.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Basketball in Alicante

We were invited to a local professional basketball game in Alicante. We were not aware that Alicante was the home to the “Lucentum” professional basketball team.

We arrived early to the game which gave us time to explore the stadium.

View of the one end of the stadium
View of the basketball court from the second level of the stadium

We found our seats and settled in to watch the game. The players came out and began to practice and warm up. We watched them do several different drills before the start of the game.

Players warming up before the game.

We had good seats and could enjoy a close up view of the game.

View from our seats of the basketball game

We watched the game go back and forth with a close score throughout the game. There were only a few points between the teams with only a minute and a half left in the game.

Scoreboard with only minute and a half remaining

We watched on the edge of our seat as the home team of Alicante won the game by one point. It was a very enjoyable experience and an impressive game.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Sunday in Benidorm

We went to Benidorm and Polop on Sunday to explore the “Car Boot Sales” which is a traditional used goods sale. We started off early and enjoyed the drive to Polop which is located not far from Benidorm in the  mountains.

View of the “Sleeping Lion” mountain near Polop
Boot Sale in Polop

The people buy a space for five euros and they lay out their items for sale. There are four or five streets full of people selling every type of item imaginable.

view of part of the street in Polop

We walked along the main street looking at different items. They had some Spanish dolls for sale wearing the tradition Spanish dress.

Some dolls for sale in Polop

Some of the items were interesting and others were very common and considered junk by some people.

Used items on display and for sale in Polop
Shelley walking along the street in Polop

They had areas set up for food and drinks. There was even a bar area for people to have a cold beer and a truck selling roasted chickens.

Roasted chickens for sale on the street in Polop

We walked around for about an hour looking at the displayed items.

We found it interesting but did not buy anything.

We then headed to Benidorm where each Sunday they have a large sale of antiques and other used items. There was a permanent pavilions set up where people would sell antiques or other collectables. We walked through the different rows of items checking it out.

Shelley and Felipe looking at some of the items for sale in Benidorm

We came across a vender who was selling millitary items. There were some very interesting items for sale, including WWII books, photos uniforms, etc.

Military uniforms and WWII paraphernalia for sale in Benidorm
WWII books and photos for sale in Benidorm

We headed into the main enclosed pavilion and looked at the antiques. They had a large variety of antique furniture, paintings and other items which were quite interesting.

Some of the antiques on display in Benidorm
antiques on sale in Benidorm

It was an enjoyable day and very interesting looking at items from the European culture.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Life is too short to wait for adventure!