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.

El Tunel Del Port, Olympic Port, Barcelona

 El Tunel Del Port in Barcelona.  That's hubby looking European with his black.  When we toured we did not dress like Americans with sloppy t-shirts, tennis shoes etc.  We dressed nicely and conservatively.  Those were the guidelines we read about before we embarked on our 12 day tour of Spain.  It's a way to show respect I believe for where you are, and to represent our country in a nicer manner.  There were several times it seemed like we got better service then folks dressed like Americans who'd been working in the gardens...maybe my imagination, maybe not.

Our private tour guide in Barcelona, Patrick Ducher (look how well he and his group are rated HERE), walked us here...right to our table after speaking with the host/manager of El Tunel Del Port.  How's that for service?  We had toured half the day with Patrick and he asked if we'd like him to find us a spot for a late lunch.  The restaurant is right on the beach as you can see.  It has several rooms up and down, and an outside patio area.  Lunch was fantastic, but apparently I was too busy eating to remember to take pictures of the food.

You can see by the menu it's Port, theme and of course the olives which are served before every meal in Spain along with bread.

I did remember to take a photo when we were taking our coffee and desert.  We shared the desert because we were so pleasantly stuffed.

El Tunel Del Port (link is at the beginning of the post), was founded back in 1923 on Ample Street, but moved to Olympic port in 1992 after the close of The Barcelona Olympics.  This location is perfect with something for everyone.  You can stroll the beach, the shops before or after you eat and enjoy the sites of the Olympic Port.

Moll de Gregal, 12
Port Olympic
08005 Barcelona

I highly recommend this restaurant and hope to go back next trip to Barcelona.

**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.