Tag Archives: Retirement abroad

Spain

Tour of a 309 year old winery

Friends of ours contacted us and wanted to go to a winery called Casa CesiliaĀ 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 MarĆ­a Magdalena” church before going to the winery.

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The Santuario de Santa MarĆ­a 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 MarĆ­a 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 MarĆ­a 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. Ā 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 MarĆ­a Magdalena church.

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Giant vat at the entrance to the Winery

TheĀ Casa CesiliaĀ 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 barrelĀ 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,Ā 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. Ā 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. Ā 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 “abanicoĀ de mana” which is SpanishĀ 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,Ā Ā Gramona, JuvĆ© & 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.Ā We then headed home by taxi with our wine glasses in hand.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

The week of the Hogueras de San Juan Fiesta

This week has been very busy and exciting for anyone living or visiting Alicante. The fiesta Hogueras de San Juan is a week-long fiesta with music, fogueres, dances, food and fun. We have been trying to take in as much of the fiesta as possible.

The street parties were set up in almost every neighbourhood. The block parties were fenced in and most of them had an ornate gate made for the fiesta. Below are a few of the “gates” for the block party entrances.

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Entrance to one of the block parties
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Entrance to block party
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Entrance to block party

We headed out each day to take part in some of the fiesta activities. We have put together some of the highlights of the week activities below.

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Fogueres of the 2016 Alicante fiesta

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Images of Fiesta in Alicante
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Fogueres and crowds of the fiesta

There were block partiesĀ every night and music until the early morning hours. Fireworks and firecrackers were a continues activity. Ā  People were gathered in large crowds enjoying the fiesta and the different events. We came across numerous bands that would walk throughout the city playing music. The video below is an example of Ā only one of the talented groups wandering through the city playing music.

https://youtu.be/FdP4tqoQ3Vo

We saw amazing fogueres and displays that were both artistic and creative. There were parades that took place all week. We attended some of the parades and enjoyed seeing the traditional clothing and listening to the music. They even had a “Nanos y Gegants” parade, which was very enjoyable. People put on large paper-mache heads Ā and walk through the streets. There are main characters which are very large approximately 18 feet high that promenade through the streets. They stop along the way and dance and twirl to music.

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Large head parade
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18 feet high characters in the parade

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People sing and walk along the parade and encourage other people to take part. It was neat to watch them in the parade.

https://youtu.be/8YkKQUirs4E

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Fogueres festival

We continue to walk throughout the city looking at the fogueresĀ that are on display in different barrios. On Tuesday, we headed to another area of the city to scout out theĀ fogueres.

Our first stop was at the local park area which is north of us. We arrived to see a massive foguere on display in the centre of the park.

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Foguere in park 3 storeys high

There was an interesting theme to this foguere. The characters were representing the people involved in the making of the festival in some way. Ā As we looked at the foguereĀ you could see that they were making light of certain organisations involved in the festival.

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The main organisers of the festival were characterised.

They made fun of the bomberos (Firefighters) with caricatures representing them. Note the enforcement bombero with the measuring tape.

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Bombero with measuring tape making sure the distance is right

Then there is the physically fit bombero setting off fireworks.

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Bomberos the Alicante foguere

They also had caricatures of the music with fireworks.

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Caricatures of the fireworks in the festival

There was also the history of the Alicante region done through fogueres. They started with man discovering fire and working up through time to the future of the Foguere festival.

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Foguere of discovery of fire by man
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History of Lucerum Romans who lived in Alicante
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Moores live in Alicante and build the Castillo of Santa Barbara
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Fireworks tradition is started in Alicante
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Future of fireworks in Alicante

The fogueres were very well done and had an excellent theme.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Starting to tour the fogueres

The fogueres are now being constructed and the judging starts in a few days. We went to the tourism bureau and picked up a map with all the locations of the Fogueres. There are 89 fogueresĀ in total this year. Ray mapped out a plan and we are going to try to see all of them.

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Ray with map of the fogueres

Monday morning we headed out to see the fogueres. Each location has both a children’s foguere and an adult foguere for that particular neighbourhood. The first barrioĀ we came to was Jose Antonio. This barrio has been doing the fogueres for sixty years. They celebrated by incorporating the 60 year anniversary into their foguere.

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Front view of the foguere which isĀ approximately 3 storeys high
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The base of the foguere has the 60 anniversary noted
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Back side of the foguere with all-seeing eye

The Children’s foguere was also impressive with several key features including a dragon and witches brew.

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Childrens foguere in the Barrio Jose Antonio

The rear side of the foguere was also well done with a pumpkin, books and little creatures.

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Monday we walked and saw a total of 19 different barrios. The fogueres at each one of them was very unique. The amount of work and dedication it takes to do these fogueres is truly an amazing thing. The colours are extremely vibrant and the details of the figures in the fogueresĀ are extremely well done.

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foguere in Alicante waterfront area
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Three storeys high foguere in centre of street intersection

Some of the fogueresĀ had a specific theme or had a sarcastic message.

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A foguere with advertising built into the theme with some sarcasm

The sign roughly translates to “how to put together your SwedishĀ hoguera.”

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Foguere illustrating the cuts of government money

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Some of the fogueres were extremely ornate and very large using a crane to lower pieces of them onto other pieces.

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crane being used to create a foguere

Below are just some of the unique fogueres we saw on Monday. We will do a “foguere page” at a later time in the blog of all the unique and beautiful fogueres. Note the details of the tattoo on the main character.

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3 storey high foguere with very ornate design
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Dragon tattoo on the back of the character
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Fooguere in centre of theĀ main street
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A floating Foguere on a raft in Marina. The huge foguere will be burnt in the marina.

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We saw over forty different fogueres on Moday and were completely amazed at the amount of detail and work went into each one of them. Ray even managed to get into the spirit of the event when he worked his way into a photo shoot.

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Ray with people in the foguere festival

It was a long day walking around Alicante, looking at some of the Fogueres. The day was very interesting and the fogueres are amazing pieces of art.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”