Spanish Paella

 Our first Paella, a must in the food department when traveling in Spain.  Many restaurants will only cook the dish for multiple people.  Such was the case in Old Town Malaga, where we toured after picking up our friend, Jane at the airport.  It's cook in a special Paella pan that looks like a cast iron skillet with 2 handles and seems to be a dish you do not order if you're pressed for time.  We noticed on several menu's it would indicated it might take 30 minutes once ordered.

 The first time we ordered it, we all 3 shared it and had too much food with the fact that we also order shared kabobs.  According to Wiki, Paella is a main dish of the mid 19th century from a lagoon in Valencia, Albufera (on the East coast of Spain).  It's an Valencia Rice Dish, a Catalan Dish. It can be fish, rabbit, duck or vegetables.  We ordered it twice in our travels, and saw it served many other times.  We noticed some difrferences.  Our first go round was difficult to eat, because all the seafood was still in it's shells.  You can see how wet, soupy the meal is.  Trying to hold onto a Lobster tail, snail, prawn etc to get the meat out was very difficult.  I ended up wearing some on my scarf and I believe Jane did as well.  I neglected to get the name of where we dined on that first day with Jane, as we were all pretty jacked up and talking a mile a minute.

The 2nd time it was order, was less oily, less soupy and the sea food was nicely already removed from the shells.  This was also made as a one person meal...though was too large for one person.  Jane ordered this the second time and said it was much nicer not fighting to get the meat out, better tasting and all together a better meal.  This was ordered in Marbella at a restaurant right next to Marriott's Marbella Beach Resort where we staying.  The restaurant, Merendero Cristina.  I'll blog more about it later...but the short story is, we ate there twice because it was soooooooo good.

**Suggestion, make sure you ask how it's prepared when you order Paella**

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Our Lady of Sorrows in Olde Town Marbella

 Olde Town Marbella is a quaint area of Marbella, the historic district that is a must see if you visit.  We walked, shopped, and ate and never tired of what there is to see.  This little blue shuttered area was a bit hard to see looking up to the 2nd floor, but you can click to enlarge and you'll see a religious symbol.

 Not to mention the most interesting and colorful and OLD Bourgainvillea Vine.  I covers almost 3 stories on this old house and look where the root is.

 Hornacina Virgen De Los Dolores.  Christian Faith was imposed on the city in teh XV century and many niches were made of Saints and Virgins on buildings, and balconies to bless the people and the city.  These are particularly common in areas with an Islamic past such as Marbella.  The house has been dated back to the 17th century.

 You can see the clay tiles on the roof, and there appears to be a pizza place on the top floor..or perhaps that's an old sign?  We couldn't tell.

Another sign talking about the many street niches and their importance.

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Marriott's Marbella Beach, Spain

 Welcome to Marriott's Marbella Beach Time Share in Marbella, Spain.  Hang you coat on the hook as you enter and pull up a chair.  The dining room is directly ahead and comfortably seats 6.  With a kitchen off to right in the picture.

 Off the kitchen is the utility room with laundry facilities.  Down the hall from the kitchen is the 2nd bedroom with 2 comfortable beds and full bath, which is to your left looking at the picture.

 Beyond the dining room is the living room and from there is the master suite.  Both bedroom are well appointment.  Love the details with Moorish style carvings, and bright colorful drapes and bedding.  Large closet on each side of the bed with a dresser across...more then ample storage.

 Looking into the bathroom from the master suite, you see the beautiful tile work which is apparent throughout the apartment complex.  In Spain, the time shares are called apartments instead of villas like other locations.

 Roomy, and comfortable living room with patio beyond.  This is probably the largest patio of any Marriott Time Share we've stayed in.  It was very nice!

 From our patio, we had a view of The Mediterranean, pretty flowers and pool and bar areas.

 We walked the beach and spotted some lovely flowers.

 Our Dear Friend, Jane and hubby.  While it wasn't swim suit weather in March-April when we were there, it was still very nice.

 More pretty flowers.

 One of the pool areas.

 View from our patio.

 And the other direction.

We were pleasantly surprised by a gift of a bottle of wine in our room upon checkin, along with a nice note thanking us for our membership level.

Marriott's Marbella Beach Time Shares are 1-2 and 3 bedroom units.  The two bedroom unit has 2 full baths, living room, dining room, patio, kitchen and laundry.  The 1 BR unit also had DR, LR, Kitchen, and laundry.  I didn't see a 3 BR, but the listing indicates the same.

  We found a regular coffee maker in the apartment as well as an Espresso Machine and the special coffee's to use with it, (though be aware, there is an additional charge for using those specials coffee's).  Another European difference was a bidet in the bathrooms.  Sounds like it would take extra time  to go to the bathroom using the commode and then the bidet...getting redressed etc.; but we had them here and in our accommodations in Barcelona as well.  Probably only seems strange to us Americans, which are not the majority of travelers we found staying here.  Additionally, we had nice cups and saucers in the kitchen, something not usually found in other timeshares.  In the states typically there will be large coffee mugs.  I rather liked having a nice cup and saucer.  Daily tidy service is also something we noticed here in Marbella Beach.  Normally, at time shares we take out our own trash, tidy the place, make the beds etc.  Service was a much higher level here at Marriott's Marbella Beach Club.

There are multiple pools, both inside and out.  Hot bread available daily in the market place.  The market place here is much larger and better equipped then what we're used to.  There are multiple options of dining, also right at the resort.  The first time since staying in a timeshare with a full kitchen that we've not cooked meals in.  The food in Spain, truly part of the experience.

We loved our stay and hope to return.


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Don't Take a Julia Tour

Well this bus break down in a mountainous area was a bummer, but it's not the reason I do not recommend Julia Tours.  This was inconvenient and cost us about 1.5 hours of time, and we had to pay to use the bathroom facility here.

I've never had to pay to use a bathroom...but they were making some decent money on that venture.  But, as annoying as that was that's also NOT the reason I do not recommend Julia Tours.

We were picked up at our resort, Marriott's Marbella Beach before daylight.  We knew the departure time to be early and to be an estimate based on the tour description.  We were heading to Tangiers for the day, which meant a 2.5 hour bus drive, then a high speed ferry from Spain to Tangiers.    I do not recommend this tour or the Julia line for the following reasons:

• Very disorganized.  The guide, Pedro spent his time giving driving instructions to poor Paco, our driver instead of providing us with information beyond very limited tour information.  And when he gave instructions to Paco, he was anything but nice.  Very rude infact.  
• The tour could have been better to alter how people were picked up and transported to the port for departure on the ferry.
• Un-like all other tour buses I've been on, there were no toilet facilities which wasn't communicated, and should have been so folks could plan.
• Due to their poor organization, we were apparently running late, causes Pedro to be even more grumpy.
• Arriving at the port where he needed to take care of passports wasn't well done.  We sat on the bus while he went inside.  Then after his return he didn't return our passports; but waited until we were in the area to depart on the ferry...mass confusion there as there were many tour groups.  And he offered no one time to use the bathroom facilities there.  We could have been there, used the facilities while he took care of business with the passports to save time, AND or he could have passed them out on the bus which would also have saved time, been less chaotic and confusing.
• He was rude to many people in our tour group.  Treated people like they were kindergartners. 

The tour is not what it was suppose to be.  

• The description indicated you'd learn about how they make rugs...NOT That it was hardcore in your face SALES PROMOTION.  You were suppose to be able to shop in the bazarre, but they would NOT let you do that until you sat through the SALES PROMOTION.  Then there was insufficient time to actually look around at the bizarre.  Likewise at an apothecary shop, though there was a small bit of learning there it was primarily SALES.  With both situations our guide was not around and you felt at the mercy of these sales people.  
• Lunch was nice (I blogged here about it), but Pedro our guide didn't allow anyone time to eat the desert and use the bathroom.  Those who opted (like me) to rush to the bathroom had no time to eat desert as he was ushering people out the door.  Those who didn't jump to go to the bathroom got a bite or two of desert in; but that was it.  
• At each turn you felt the guide took us where he got kick backs from bringing the tourists through.
• The touts were VERY FORCEFUL, very numerous, and would not leave you alone.  Some of this should have been controlled by the tour guide/company.  It was a very uncomfortable and stressful situation.  They forced themselves between two people walking side by side, they were in front of you, behind you and beside you.  It was often hard to even walk.  AND you didn't dare stop and loose pace with the group for fear of being lost.

I've written a review of this tour company on Travel Adviser and can see many others have as well.  It has many poor ratings and very very few good ones.  AVOID JULIA TOUR Company and select another one instead.

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Fuengirola, Spain

This photo is from Wiki, though we passed this several times on the free way going to and from Malaga from Marbella, Spain; we never managed to have time to stop and tour.  It was on our list of places to see........and is still for the next time we get there.

Info is also from Wiki, though I hope to learn more fist hand when we do get to visit.

This is located in Fuengirola...today is F in our a-z travels.  However the name of the castle is Sohail Castle.  This area is very old with a huge long history.

• Originally a Phoenician Settlement
• Later occupied by The Romans and was known as Suel in the first century
  AD
• The castle was built by Abd-ar-Rahman, III in the mid 10th century.  
• The community of Suel was not mentioned at the beginning of middle ages.
• Centuries later it was known as Suhayl, during the Morrish era.  Al-Suhayli lived there 1114-1185(meaning man of Suhayl), he was one of the 7 saints of Marrakesh.
• Later a fire destroyed the village and people fled to nearby Mijas...another city we passed by often on the freeway.  This was the early middle ages and was then known as Font-Jirola by the Romans.
• By 1485 only the fortress remained and the area like others fell to The Christian Monarchs during the final phase of Reconquista (reconquest).
• An attempt to re-populate the area with 30 people failed and by 1511 it was listed as un-inhabited except for the fortress and the watch tower.
• In the 18th century after the danger of Turkish and Moorish Pirates past an Inn was opened for travelers.

The Fireplace.  The being the key word.  There is only this one fireplace in all of La Alhambra. La Alhambra is in Granada Spain. This was built/added by Fernando of Aragon (King of Sicily) when he brought his bride, Isabel heirness to the Crown of Castile to Alhambra on their honeymoon.  Though I found very little about this fireplace during my research, the auto guide we had told this story.  Isabel was born 1451 and died in 1504.  Fernando was born 1452 and died 1516.  He became King of Sicily in 1468 and married Isabel in 1469.  Isabel became Queen of Castile and Aragon in 1474 with Fernando co-ruler.  We toured Al Alhambra on a very cool spring day (late March 2014).  We were cold, and wondered how anyone kept warm there those many many years ago.  In my research I learned that Isabel and Fernando lived in The Alhambra after the conquest of the city.   They did some re-decorating, but left The Palace un-altererd.

Columbus discovered America remember in 1492...as a point of reference.  There will be far more to blog about with regards to Al Alhambra; but...thought I'd put the little tidbit about the fireplace in today.

**REMINDER, please leave the url to your actual blog post, NOT your google+ page, NOT your blogger profile/dashboard page. Use the name and url option, or leave a hyperlink. **After the close of April's A-Z, I plan to continue to write a post a day in the month of May using again the A-B-C's as my guide. My focus for the month of May will be Spain.

Casa del Corregidor, Marbella, Spain part II

 Did you see yesterday's post?  If not scroll back it's part I to this one.  Casa del Corregidor, historic AND a wonderful place to fill your belly.  I'm continuing to blog in a-z style for the month of May all about my recent trip to Spain.  So today is D=Dinner.  Our first meal here at Casa del Corregidor in the square of Olde Town Marbella, Spain was tapas style.  Certainly not portion sizes, but we ordered items that we could all share in.  There were 3 of us.  Round 1 was a fresh fish platter and veggies.  The fish were grilled and quite tasty.  I'm not one to ever order fish; but did enjoy most of these.  There were about 4 different fishes on the platter.  Only one seemed oily or stronger to me, but both Jane and hubby enjoyed it; as would most folks who like fish.

 Another round was an awesome beef kabob, again grilled with luscious fresh vegetables.

 We enjoyed wine, as you can see; and a delicious and pretty flan....something they are noted for.

 While we ate outside, as did everyone else; the inside of the restaurant is very cute.  Small and intimate.

 The far wall is a wine rack!  Wonder how long it would take to try everything, lol

 Outside, sidewalk cafe's are made very comfortable with heaters even on days with damp cool weather.

 That's me on the left with our dear friend, Jane who joined us for this marvelous adventure of traveling in Spain.

 This makes my mouth water.....my best meal of the entire trip.  Beef Stroganoff.  I couldn't eat it all, but I sure tried.  This was our 2nd visit to Casa del Corregidor.

 Jane had the paella with all kinds of wonderful seafood.  We had paella elsewhere earlier in the trip; but this was better.  See the pan......right there on the table.

A seafood sampler.....No one leaves here hungry and definitely a place to return too.

We truly do plan to return to Spain, and while we will try new places...........we also plan to return to our favorites........this is at the top of the list!

Tomorrow's post will be the reflection of this years A-Z challenge

**REMINDER, please leave the url to your actual blog post, NOT your google+ page, NOT your blogger profile/dashboard page. Use the name and url option, or leave a hyperlink. **After the close of April's A-Z, I plan to continue to write a post a day in the month of May using again the A-B-C's as my guide. My focus for the month of May will be Spain.

Casa del Corregidor, Marbella Spain

 Casa del Corregidor built in 1552 is one of the oldest stately houses in Marbella, Spain.  While this picture looks like a power washing or painting is needed

 This part is quite beautiful.  Click to enlarge and see the details on the 2nd and 3rd floors.  These area's are not open to the public.  The bottom level is a restaurant.  Were we ate 2 scrumptious meals, because one just wasn't enough........more on that tomorrow in part two of this post...D for dinner.  The building has a blend of 3 types of architecture, Gothis, Renaissance, and Mudejar.

 The historic sign tells us the house was that of The Chief Magistrate.

Another shot on a different day, light was a bit better.  Please click to enlarge and look at the balcony area in.

A building 462 years old....in the Olde Town Marbella.  We loved it there.  Put this on your list, as an historic spot, and pop in tomorrow ......come hungry the food is superb!

**REMINDER, please leave the url to your actual blog post, NOT your google+ page, NOT your blogger profile/dashboard page. Use the name and url option, or leave a hyperlink. **After the close of April's A-Z, I plan to continue to write a post a day in the month of May using again the A-B-C's as my guide. My focus for the month of May will be Spain.