San Martí de Empúries Beach, L´Escala, Girona.

A very nice village:

A lot of restaurants to enjoy Spanish food:

A small but nice church:

We went here with Montse and Patxi, we had enjoyed a great beach day and ate so fine with few money.

Pals Beach.

A great day! :D

The building of the old casino at the Spa Thermas Pallares.

According of what people of the staff told me, it was a time when people even lost fortunes at this casino. Now it´s not a casino anymore, its facilities are used for: meeting rooms, game room with pool tables and ping-pong, cafeteria with terrace.

I really liked this building a lot. When you are there is so easy to imagine the ladies with fancy dresses and the gentlemen in top hats.

The terrace really invites to stay there a bit enjoying the sun.

I just felt they could use this space a bit more. I think they could do more activities there… like a dancing space in one of its rooms. Even to have art exhibitions. I also think they could give especial attention to the views from there, in front of it is the parking area and a hotel, I do think they could arrange a bit better the garden no matter if it keeps on being the parking entrance and to give a bit of attention to the part of the hotel that you can watch from the casino, to makeup it a bit. :D

This is an emblematic building of the Spa and it even identifies it. Here some of my photos:

Thermal Lake, Spa Termas Pallares.

Let´s give a look to their web´s explanation:

“THERMAL LAKE, THE ONLY ONE IN EUROPE


The hotels are surrounded by 68,000 square metres of parks and gardens, with a hidden thermal lake, which is unique in Europe and whose waters flow constantly at 32ºC due to the multiple thermal exsurgences on the bed.


With an average depth of 1.50 m and two peaceful islands on the interior, it is the ideal place for swimming at any time of the year, whilst your body enjoys the virtues of its mineral-medicinal waters.


BENEFICIAL EFFECTS FOR HEALTH


The temperature of the water means that the lake can be enjoyed at any time of the year. The enormous flow volume that comes from its multiple springs means that the water in the lake is renewed entirely every 32 hours. Furthermore, the Thermal Lake is considered as another treatment due to the effects that the mineral-medicinal water produces on our bodies.”

If you see it carefully it doesn´t really explain much about the water properties or why is supposed to be unique in Europe. I searched a bit in internet and I haven´t found those reasons. Anyway, the place is precious. The day I went was cold and no matter it was already 10 am, no one was there, I was there till 11 and came just few people, but they stayed on the sun beds. I swam a bitt. I was really excited with the idea of meeting this place, so not to swim wasn´t an option for me. I didn´t last long, because the sensation of water temperature, it wasn´t really warm enough.

I think the best is going there when it´s not so hot neither so cold. In my case at least, due I can´t manage to swim on it when it´s cold and I think that water when it´s summer time, would be so hot then.

I f you want to enter to the lake without staying at the hotels, you can do, it costs 20 euros per day, but you are not allowed to eat inside the lake space.

I like the lake a lot! :D

Here my video:

Termas Pallares: the Spa.

They have a lot of spa services, with prices starting from 25 Euros and on. About spa circuits, besides the Aquatherma that I talked about in a previous post, they also offer the termaspa with: aroma shower, warm hydromassage pool, toning pool, humid thermal bath, dry or finnish bath, cauldron, crosscurrent pool. This costs 50 Euros and last an hour and 15 min.

Rosa tried a massage with a cream with pearls. I was waiting her advice to decide to take an herbal massage or something, but finally I haven´t done it.

Something I liked a lot was that they also have a free doctor service. Sil had to go because cough problems and she was so kind, warm and professional.

The pity is that the Price of the room just includes one access to the Aquatherma, I asked if it was possible to exchange it and to have a termaspa instead, no matter if I should pay the difference of the price, but it wasn´t possible.

It´s a bit complicated for me to tell you if I would or not recommend the Termas Pallares Spa. The whole area is nice and close to it is the Monasterio de Piedra (I´ll talk about this place in other post), that place is precious and worth view. So, if you are going to Monasterio de Piedra and you want to stay at the area for several days, then it´s nice to go to this spa as well. Better if you stay at Gran Hotel Cascada. But, to do it as we did, that actually our aim was to have some relaxing days in a beautiful place and to enjoy the spa, no, that´s not something I would do again there. The reason is very simple: for me it means to travel from Madrid, 3 hours going and 3 hours coming back in a car. The prices of this spa are ok, I´m not saying they have so expensive prices, but as far as I already have in Madrid great options with cheaper prices, I don´t feel like needing to go to Termas Pallares for enjoying a relaxing weekend. Also is that I really didn´t like the detail of having included just hour and a half of one of their spa circuits and to have to pay extra for the robe and sandals.

But yes, I would go again, just in a travel where my priority would be to visit the Monasterio de Piedra, to enjoy a bit the whole Calatayud area and maybe to spend a night at Gran Hotel Cascada or at least to go to the Gastroteca to eat and to stay a bit at the thermal lake.

So! I´m still searching that marvelous place, out of Madrid, with spa, for going to enjoy a fantastic relaxing weekend time to time! :)

Grand Hotel Cascada, Termas Pallares Spa.

As part of the tourist complex of the Termas Pallares Spa, they have a five stars boutique hotel that is marvelous!

From their own site:

“Surrounded by 68,000 square metres of parks and lush gardens, including a hidden private thermal lake, this new boutique hotel near the city of Zaragoza offers guests the perfect place to escape and relax.

The 25 spacious rooms are both stylish and innovative and equipped with every modern convenience. The onsite gourmet restaurant is a must as are the soothing treatments of the Termas Pallares Spa. This is truly a place in which to escape the worries of today.”

We went to meet this hotel due they had very interesting tasting announced in different places of the spa.


As far as the county state where the spa is located is huge and they had placed this hotel far away from the road, you find a lot of peace there. The lady of the reception desk was so kind and really concerned about our welfare.

We went inside the bar and I liked a lot the atmosphere. With very comfortable coaches, calm music. Miriel was the one attending us, very kind and nice. We took the sushi tasting and some beverages. The surprise was that the one presenting us the sushi tasting was the chef, Juan José Morales Sanmartín (you can watch this at the video, but is in Spanish).



One of the things you still don´t know about me is that I had the very good luck of having a very well culinary culture from my childhood. A big part of this comes from the culture mixes that are in my blood, but also due my family was always a big fan of the good food. Of course that´s something I had taught to Sil as well… so, when she was just 10 y/o she already said her favorite food was sushi! :D And it still is. So, Sil had tasted sushi in a lot and different places all over the world (ok, of the part of the world she knows, we haven´t been in Japan already). For Sil the sushi that we tasted at the Gastroteca was the second best one of the world! For me it was the best one, but here the point is that she went to a great Japanese restaurant in Dallas where for her they have the best sushi all over the world, I haven´t been there already.

We were that delighted with the sushi experience that we were invited to go to the Italian tasting of the next day. Honestly it was ok but definitely the sushi one was quite better. Again the whole staff was great with us.

That day I felt with confidence enough as for asking them to please show me a room of that hotel and to visit the restaurant, the Gastroteca. I was really impressive about the kindness of everybody; talking with some of them I mentioned that and one person told me that actually they all are very happy with their job and the place, most of the workers are people of the village, of course there are also people from outside, but for the ones that belong to the village, they liked the spa before even thinking about working there. I´m quite sure that when a staff loves their work and is happy with the treat received by their bosses, you notice it and unwittingly they transmit it to customers. The result of this just can be a positive for everybody… but! I´m afraid there are just few companies that take this into account!

Giving a look to the Gastroteca I had the good luck that Juan José was there and he spent some minutes with me explaining me the style of the place and we even talk about his professional experience. You can see part of this talk at the video, but again it´s just in Spanish.

Part of what makes this hotel a charming place is that it´s located in front of the thermal lake. The hotel also has some thermal facilities and a natural thermal waterfall, but most of the treatments and spa facilities are at the other hotels… but they have a car that takes the clients of this hotel to the other ones.

Yes, I liked a lot this hotel, the restaurant and the people that work there. I just have to say it´s expensive, but I do recommend it. :D

Termas Pallares Spa: the Aquatherma.

The Spa facilities are distributed among the buildings of the 2 hotels. The place is really big and one of the spaces they have is the Aquatherma, a place with jets, Jacuzzis… would be better if I copy the explanation from their web! :D

From the web of Termas Pallares:

“A large interior space where you can submerge into the thermal water and enjoy all its properties, with all types of leisure and relaxation installations: hydromassage chairs and beds, templarium, caldarium, frigidarium, flexible hoses, rain mist, waterfalls, heated loungers and flotation tanks.

Built over the old bath gallery of the Termas Hotel, original elements dating from 1863, such as the 7-ton marble baths and the authentic water outlets, have been rescued. Thus, the facility is been totally and continuously renovated.

Decorated entirely with marble mosaic and meticulously illuminated, the Aquatherma recalls the old Roman baths and it is, therefore, the perfect complement to the Spa's whole balneotherapeutic offer.”

This time I haven´t take pictures because it was complicated to be taking care of the camera.

For going to the spa area you should wear a bathing cap, sandals, robe and towels. If you don´t have your own stuff, you have to pay extra for using the hotel ones… even for the robe! That wondered me a lot due normal in hotels with spa is they to give you robe and sandals as part of what you are already paying due the room. Well, in this one you already know you have to take with you your own stuff, you can´t even take out of the room the towels.

In general people walk in robe at the facilities, for being at the two buildings is ok as far as there´s a gateway for going from one to the other, it´s a bit more complex when you want to go to the thermal lake (I´ll talk about it in another post) and it´s winter. Any way people go to the lake just in robe, but I wouldn´t! :D

The use of the Aquatherma is included at the price of the hotel, but in our case, going 2 nights, we had just one entrance in total. The Aquatherma has fixed times of use, you can stay there an hour and a half, and each group should enter and go out all together. The place is ok, just that when I went there were a lot of people, I can´t tell if that was due the dates.

I felt the lockers area a bit sloppy. In theory you can lock them with a key, but most of them didn´t have it so people just left their belongings there without closing the lockers. In my case, as far as the only one thing to left there was the robe, no problem, but we saw a man that had left the room key at the pocket of the robe.

When he went to pick up the robe, another guy had taken it out. The person in charge of the Aquatherma had to ask people to please check out if they had a key at their pocket… yes, I was glad about not taking with me the camera!

Do I would recommend the Aquatherma? Well, this time I prefer to evaluate the whole spa, but I´ll do it in my next post.

(To be continued.)

Hotels Termas and Parque. Termas Pallarés Spa.

The first thing you see at the entrance of Alhama de Aragón, going from the road to Zaragoza, is the Termas Pallares Spa and you have no way to pass it without noticing, because they have 2 buildings at each side of the street, linked by a walkway with the name of the place.



The hotel has a private parking big enough. The reception is not really well indicated, but there is always someone at the parking area that welcomes and indicates you where to go.

At the reception desk gave us the wrong rooms, I mean, the room that should be for Rosa due the reserve code, they gave it to me and vice versa, but that was something we released about just due the name at the envelops of the welcome letter.

I honestly don´t remember if at the reception desk they told us again the prices of the reservation, you see, that´s something I use not to check once at the reception desk when I had a reserve code, to check out the welcome letter neither. But seems from now on this is something I´ll do, among other things, because in the letter of welcome from Termas Pallares, they gave us a coupon of 30 Euros for a future stay if made within six months and also reports of its new loyalty system if you recommend the spa; as well as give you the name of the Director of Operations as contact in case you have any problem not resolved satisfactorily.

The buildings are designed according to the style of the time were built in 1863. The decor of the rooms and halls of both buildings have a mix of styles, but always old. Here some pictures for you to see:

The two hotels share common facilities such as cinema, gym, lounge, restaurant. From all this, I emphasize the cinema, with enough seats in early 1900 style. We didn´t watch any movie, but they scheduled at least one film a day. This seemed an excellent detail especially thinking of the children who can´t (and shouldn´t) go to the spa, so, the hotel for them could be a bit boring, but they have planed things for them.

They also have a kids park and a Paddle field.

The restaurant surprised me with a great breakfast buffet that included eggs in different styles; this is not easy to find in Spain where people don´t have the custom of eating eggs at breakfast time. We had just the breakfast included, but you also can contract it with the dinner included. The first day we went to give a look to the lunch menu there, but it was 27 Euros per person, so we decided to go to explore the village and we found the restaurant Karlos that offers you a great menu that has nothing to envy the restaurant food, for just 14 Euros, but I´ll talk a bit deeper about that restaurant in another post.

What can I tell about the rooms? Very clean, all the needed facilities, well attended. Just that this wasn´t a hotel that made a “click” on me. Telling this in another way, all very ok, but if I should decide to recommend or not the hotel just based on the rooms, no, this won´t be a place I would recommend.

I haven´t seen the rooms at the Termas Hotel, but seems the ones at Parque Hotel are better due they remodeled them not so far away.

Here my video of the place:



(To be continued.)

Reserving. Termas Pallares Spa.

I usually check several places including the official web of the hotel I want to go previous doing the reserve. This is because sometimes you can find better deals in other webs. In this case, after checking in several places, the best price I found was this one at their own web:

It was an option for doing the reserve online, but it didn´t gave the prices for single rooms and I wasn´t sure if Sil will go or not, so I called them. It was so terrible! Several calls at different times but just the answer machine talking. I left a message with my contact details, but nobody called me back. After 2 days trying, I called late at night and wondering, I finally talked with a person.

After knowing that the price of a single room would be very expensive, I decided that no matter whom, but we´ll find someone to share the room with Rosa. :D

I made the reserve at that same call; I had to give the complete info of each person. The person at the other side of the phone gave me a reserve code for each room. I really didn´t thought that having the reserve codes I should ask about a confirmation mail, so I haven´t ask for it. Afterwards I noticed that this person hasn´t asked my email address, but again, having the reserve codes, I didn´t give it importance.

Few days before the date, Sil was in a hurry due a lot of homework and we considered the option of her staying at home, so I called again to ask what would happen in case afterwards the room for Rosa should be a single instead of a double one, but again, I called several times, at different hours, Curro tried too, we left messages, but nobody answered neither called us back.

Finally, Sil went with us! :D

(To be continued.)

Temas Pallarés Spa. Introduction.

Rosa, one of the friends that shared with us the travel to Canaima, came to stay few days at home. Of course we went together to my favorite places in Madrid and surroundings (at least the ones we had enough time to go). Taking advantage of her stay and Easter, we went to the Balneario Termas Pallares that I had long wanted to meet.

The place is quite huge, they have:

Tree hotels:

- Hotel Termas 3 stars.
- Hotel Parque 3 stars and remodeled not long ago (but I don´t know exactly when)
- Gran Hotel Cascada, 5 stars hotel –boutique.

A thermal lake.
A park.
The Spa area is part of the 3 hotels.
Two restaurants:

- El Balneario.
- La Gastroteca del Balneario.

Two bars-cafeterias, one of them with summer terrace.
Games salon.
Small cinema.
Tennis and Paddle fields.
Small park for children.

With that many things to experience, even had being there just 2 nights, there´s a lot to tell! So it will take me several posts. As far as I´ll be a bit busy on the next days, I can´t promise to place them following one to the other, but anyway I´ll talk about all what we experienced at this place, including both: nice and not nice things.

(To be continued.)

Perito Moreno seen from the forest. My photos.

This picture was taken after doing minitreking in Perito Moreno. When you go back to the refuge, you walk in a forest that is amazing. Was a pity not to have more time (and more forces!)for walking there a bit more. The views to the glacier from the forest are priceless!!

El Ancla: Saying Goodbye to Mallorca with Chill Out. Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

After eating in Ca´s Busso, we went to the Marriott Club Son Antem Hotel, we had some promotional tickets to the Spa… but! We should be there before an specific time and we didn´t knew that, so, this should wait till our next visit!:D

We anyway gave a look to the place and you see… I had been in other Marriott hotels and, for example, the JW of Egypt seems to me to be the best hotel in Egypt, but this Marriott in Mallorca… well… I felt it so plastic… Cris told me that actually the cafetería is very nice, but I haven´t seen it, I just seen the Spa area and part of the gardens plus a small golf camp, and none of them made “click” to me. But we´ll see what I think next time I go there.



Going out fo the Marriott, Pochola led us to a very nice place: El Ancla in Ca´n Pastilla. You see, I do think sometimes what you first think is a bad luck what you really have is good luck, because if we would stay at the Marriot Spa as planned, we would lost to met this nice place but also a great sunset:



El Ancla is a pretty place for take something to drink… that also includes a good tea selection. It has 3 main different areas, very nice them all. I highly recommend this place.





I saw a group playing Jenqa, but I can´t tell you if they have games to lend you or if it was of the group.

After being at El Ancla we went to the airport and back to Madrid… THANK YOU SO MUCH CLUB SCRABBALEAR + FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Ca´s Busso: the Best Restaurant of Mallorcan Food in Mallorca. Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

Ok, this time the one that says so isn´t me but my friends of the Scrabbalear Club: in Ca´s Busso you get the best Mallorcan food of the island. Right now I just can confirm this due my experience in 3 places (Celler Sa Premsa, Ca N´antuna and this one), yes, definitely this was the best one. But you see… if I have to go to each restaurant to confirm it, I can sacrifice myself! XP

Its situated at the side of a road in Llucmajor, for us it was so easy to get there, but you see, Cris was driving and she knows it quite well, but searching info about the restaurant in internet, seems it´s not that easy to find, so better you to go with a GPS or well written the indications.





This is a countryside restaurant, for going with time to enjoy the Mallorcan food. It´s big, but it´s usually full, so better you to do a reserve. It has a restaurant and terrace areas. We were lucky, the weather was nice, so we ate at the terrace, covered by a ranch-style structure, with antique lamps hanging at various points. The views from the terrace are the countryside and the road.



The food was quite nice. Excellent relation between quality and price, in our case it was a bit less than 20 Euros per person and we even leftover a lot of Brut Rice! A real pity! It was so delicious! Here some examples of what they have at the menu and of what we had ordered:





And the restaurant info: Ca´s Busso: Carretera Cabo Blanco, Km 24, Llucmajor phone: 971123002

(To be continued.)

Walking in… Carrer de la Torre, Mallorca, Spain. Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

After our unsuccessfull seeking of the phantom dog, P Chris showed us a charming little corner of Mallorca: the end of Carrer de la Torre. This is a small cliff overlooking the sea, obviously with a tower. From there you have great views of the beach, Cala Pi and Cabrera Island.

It seems that the tower of the cliff was built due pirate attacks at that area. Now the cove has a lot of visitors, no matter you have to climb a lot of steps to go out of there. The cliff has a lot of visitors as well, no wonder, you have great views and also the tower gives it a special touch. It´s also an area where most ships dock, so it's tempting to go and spend a while watching the creek, views, docked boats and tower.



(To be continued.)

Fornalutx: a postcard village. Walking in… Fornalutx, Mallorca, Spain. Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

After the great lunch we had at Ca N´Antuna, we went to walk in Fornalutx. It´s a very nice village with narrow streets and many steps… better you watch it by your own!:






Here a bit of info about Fornalutx, from the web Mallorcaweb:

“Situated in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana, in a spectacular valley that starts from the Puig Major and descends towards Soller, Fornalutx can be found, considered to be one of the most singular villages on Mallorca. Because of its extraordinary beauty and enviable state of conservation, Fornalutx has received different prizes and recognition. In 1983 it was awarded by the the Mallorcan Tourism Board the Silver Plaque for the defence and maintenance of the village. The same year the General Secretary for Tourism gave it the Second National Price for Towns embellished and maintained in Spain. And in 1985 it received the Premi Alzina from the GOB.

The history of Fornalutx starts over 1000 years ago, when it was an Arab property. The population of the area started after the Catalan conquest and the present church was finished in 1639. Until 1813 it depended on the Parish of Soller and in 1837 it became an independent municipality.

The charms of Fornalutx are uncountable. The stone streets and steps of the old centre, carefully adorned with many pots and plants; the ancient stone houses and the doorways wide open; the lush vegetation on the mountain terraces and the orchards where the famous oranges are grown... The architectural group and the scenery are so interesting, that it is even difficult to appreciate it completely. It is important to take note of the eves of the houses to see the painted tiles, of "Arab tiles", an ancient tradition that is explained on the web "Teules de moro a la vall de Sóller i Fornalutx ".

… To cope with the numerous visits that Fornalutx receives regularly, the village has a varied and select offer for tourist accommodation and restaurants.”

The place is really pretty. I do recommend to visit it.

After walking we went to drink something to the Café de la Plaza, relaxed, that day the village was almost empty, so we were alone at the square, talking… till the wind came to worried us! The weather expectation for that day was cloudy and raining, so, we decided to better go back to Pochola´s home… that doesn´t meant it was for resting! But! That will be part of my next post! :D





(To be continued.)

Ca N´Antuna: Dreamed Views! Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

We went out Sóller to Fornalutx. Pochola have done a reserve at the restaurant Ca N´Antuna.



As I mentioned, we were very lucky with the weather that weekend. While in the peninsula were storms, we enjoyed the blue skies and almost no wind. We were able to give us the pleasure of eating at the restaurant terrace which has fabulous views out to Fornalutx.



Again we tasted the delicious Mallorcan food, but it was fun seeing them to have name of plates bearing the word soup and then the plate is quite dry ... and rice plates that seem as soups! :D



We tried a little of everything and I liked it a lot, but the Majorcan at the table agreed that it wasn´t the best place to eat the best food Mallorcan, but clearly, the views of the place gave it an extra for which to go. I totally agree! As if I had been sitting there and then I'd got a burger from Mc Donalds! I would have been delighted! (No, I'm no fan of those burgers or that particular spot, that´s why I say this). But not bad either. Except that there are better places to go to eat Mallorcan food, I agree ... but those views!!! :D





Joana and Nuria gave us a demonstration of what appears to be an unofficial sport at Sóller: shot-effect seed of Sóller! ;P



(To be continued.)

Can Bell Esguard or Ses Torretes.Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

After visiting the exhibitions at the train station of Sóller, we continued walking around the city. Johana mentioned us a house with a different style and we went to watch it.



Soller train station.

Along the way we enjoyed the streets and again the view county yards in different houses like in Mallorca, leaving their doors open so that passersby will enjoy the view:



As we approached Bell Can Esguard, curiosity grew because the building is large and appears to be abandoned. We only could see it from outside and envy the view to be taken from inside.



I was intrigued with the history of the house, so I searched online, but sadly I found very little in Balears Cultural Tour:

“…where you will discover on top of a small mound the house of Can Bell Esguard, an unusual, unique building, which is surprising both in terms of its construction and its history; unlike the customary practice in Sóller, this house was built on the instructions of a French immigrant who settled in the town at the end of the 19th century. Can Bell Esguard was originally a fortified mill, renovated in 1898. Of note are the medieval and Mudejar decorative features, as well as the chrome plated ceramics and the turrets, which are commonly known as Ses Torretes.”

So, it mentions a surprising history, but no idea which one is it! :/

We finished our visit to Sóller walking thru it streets, going to the parking, we´ll have lunch in another place.



(To be continued.)

Walking in… Sóller, Mallorca, Spain. Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

As I mentioned, this time we went to Sóller in a car and we enjoyed a lot the views. Once I Sóller, we left the cars in a parking and walk in the streets. Sóller is a nice, warm and full of life village. It was Saturday morning and we headed to the square that was full of people walking or sitting in the various terraces. There we joined a Pochola´s friend, Johana and her daughter Nuria, who are from Soller and made us guides. Xisco also arrived, with his wife Eva and Marta, his older daughter.

Even when the road trip is nice, the best way to go to Sóller is by train This was the way we done with Sil in 2004. It is longer, but with spectacular views. The train itself is old and of wood, that gives a magical touch to the tour.

The train leaves you at the midst of Sóller, which is small, so you can easly do the visit on foot. Then you can take a tram to the port. I was watching the train on the web and they have packages that include the train from Palma to Soller, the tram to the port and a boat trip, all for between 35 and 42 euros (depending on the hours when you take the train). I think it can be a very good idea for the next trip! : D

Continuing the story of our experience of 27 February, we really had a great time. Johana and Nuria were excellent guides. We spent a while walking along Carrer de Sa Lluna, a pedestrian street of shops, picturesque spot where Curro and I bought shoes, handmade, called porqueras. We were delighted them! : D

Here a video of part of our tour:



Again I was surprised about so many people leaving doors and windows open so that passersby can see the courtyards and in some places even the living room of their homes. Of course it shows that Soller is a very safe place! : D

Walking along the Carrer de Sa Lluna we found a lady who had the windows of his house open. It was a house at street level windows and fairly large, albeit with bars. We drew attention for a dog that was there, watching the street and we approached ... the lady came to talk to us ... a little better look at it in the video! : D



(To be continued).

Going from Palma to Soller. Visiting the Scrabble Club Scrabbalear!

On Saturday 27th. we woke up more or less early, got ready and went down to take breakfast, Pochola had bought nice things for our breakfast.

Cris picked up Curro and me. Topo and Sil went with Pochola. We went to Soller, the day was so nice, good weather. We enjoyed the road, with cherry and almond blossom, blue sky and a pleasant chat.




(To be continued.)

Almenara de Catalucia: the Icing on the Cake! Saint Valentine´s 2010 Special Weekend: Final Part.

The restaurant we reserved for lunch time on Sunday 14th. Was Almenara de Catalucia.

Once there Ana María greeted me as if she'd known me a lifetime, that wondered me due we had seen each other just in our first visit there on November. She explained me they had seen my post at my blog and Willy was willing to talk to me. Nice! Hehehe.

We were there a bit early, so we took a snack at the bar. Willy came very excited about the post. I told him I just had been honest. (This is the way it is).

The restaurant was full. We taste new things: octopus, grilled vegetables, rice with mushrooms and shrimp… Mother of God! A delight! As dessert: chocolate cake and a crepe.

I should confess that week, as far as I had car and time, had gone several times to Almenara. This meal is a vice! I insist, after all is good not to have this restaurant close to home! Otherwise I´ll endorse my salary to Willy! ;P

Here some pics:



On Wednesdays Willy has “cocido madrileño”… O H M Y G O D!! I could bet there´s no better one. Curro had tested cocido madrileño of “la Daniela”, that is famous as the best cocido madrileño in Madrid and he told me the savor is very alike, but you can note Almenara´s one has better quality ingredients. Otoh: at La Daniela it costs 21,755 euros, in Almenara 10 euros and we think Almenara´s one is bigger, but in La Daniela they give you more for free if you want.

So! I am about to proclaim myself the No. 1 fan of Almenara! Actually once, eating a risotto, crossed my mind that God exists! And he should be training Willy as his official chef! I only hope that he won´t call him for sooo long for the job! ;P

An especial mention to Ana María and Stefan, the waitress, which even having the restaurant full, always have a smile for you.



Yeap! It was a great weekend! :D