It's a hard life!

Taking these photos is not as easy as it looks.

With the camera set on a 10 second delay, I dashed back to my chair after I had pressed the shutter. I didn't have time to pose in the photo above.

The answer was to move the camera nearer so I wouldn't have to dash so far. Voila!

Another walk along the coastal path after lunch...

...and presumably the fisherman was going to come back after his lunch...

...or maybe he had joined the fish for their lunch!

Meanwhile, these palms had just had a trim this morning and looked very smart.

Lunch and a stroll.

Today we had lunch at El Caçador in Els Valentins which is 22 km inland from Vinaròs to the north west so it is just inside Cataluña.

I think we have been seriously influenced by Spanish cuisine. For starters Margaret had Salmorejo and I had paella.

This was followed by grilled tuna steak for Margaret and Secreto Iberíco for me. We just love these traditional dishes.

On returning to Vinaròs, we had a walk along the sea front...

...where the natural flowers and weeds are in full bloom.

I've got a feeling we are gradually becoming Spanish as not only do we enjoy the food but having a walk after lunch is another custom!

It's either that or having a siesta!

The XV Marcha por Caminos

 The very first entry on this blog was 8 years ago, on the 29 April 2007. It was the VII Marcha por Caminos. Now, 380 posts later, we are celebrating the XV Marcha, the main difference being we attended the meal after the walk rather than the walk itself.

The meal was held in the Polideportivo, the village Sports Hall which is still as unfinished as it was a couple of years ago. However, the meal was very good indeed and was the traditional Fideuà.

The "present" for everyone this year was a hat which will come in very handy in the summer months when head protection is essential. 

To see all the photos on Facebook, click HERE.

I´m getting quite good with the selfie stick! Another great day!

My favourite season at our favourite restaurant!

It's time for a visit to l'Antic Moli at Barri Castell. It's called "The Old Mill" but last year it was refurbished so now it should be called "The New Old Mill"!

As always the food is superb; it serves "Menú de Día" in another league!

Spring, with everything bursting into life, has to be my favourite season of the year.

The poppies are out...

...the river is in full flow...

...along what is usually a dried up riverbed...

...and the bees and insects are busy doing what has to be done!

Even the weeds are in full bloom!

A perfect afternoon for a stroll after a wonderful lunch.

The Rome videos

A couple of weeks after returning from our holiday in Rome I have finally finished editing and uploading the videos and photographs.

The video of "The Vatican Museum" can be seen HERE

The "Basilica of Saint Peter" video can be seen HERE

To see the video of "The Colosseum, The Palatine Hill and the 
Roman Forum" click HERE

"The Baths of Caracalla" video can be seen HERE

Click HERE to see the video of
"The Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II and The Castel Sant'Angelo".

and HERE to see the video of "Rome: the remainder of 

our cultural visit". 

To see a slideshow of all the photographs, click HERE

It has been great reliving the memories of a couple of weeks ago while I have been making these videos. We hope you enjoy them.

GOOGLEWHACKS!

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Peroni factitive

The birthday celebrations continue!

The celebrations continue one day later by having a meal with our friends Maria, Juan and Clara and with today being Good Friday we are abstaining from eating meat which gives us a good excuse to enjoy the delicious salmon!

After the splendid selection of aperitifs, including giant tiger prawns, the first course was salmon, tomato and cheese with a salsa verde. The dish is a wonderful mixture of textures and flavours!

Second course, baked salmon in orange and onion salsa. This is an incredible combination!

To follow, strawberries in cream - this simple duo cannot be beaten especially at this time of the year! We can honestly say that this meal was even better than the lovely meal we had at the Hotel Consolación yesterday!

Finally, the special birthday cake and chocolate truffles with, of course, a bottle of cava.

Another wonderful day with exceptional food and hospitality!

It's Margaret's Birthday!

Although the main birthday treat was a visit to Rome a few days ago, there had to be a celebration of this special day. So, we started by visiting 'El Salt', the nearby waterfall, which was still flowing copiously after 5 days of continuous rain last week, (while we were in Rome enjoying good weather.)

It's still better to have a friend take your photo than to use a selfie-stick!

From there we drove to lunch at the Hotel Consolación near Monroyo which adjoins an ermita.

It would appear that the hotel name was made by a Russian sign-writer.

The restaurant is very comfortable, relaxing and ambient.

We chose the 5 course menu with different breads,...

...creamy stuff in a small bowl,...

...a larger bowl of potato soup with a poached egg in it and truffles grated on top,...

...a sardine, red pepper and other stuff on crispy bread,...

...local roast lamb with dauphinoise potatoes...

...followed by pumpkin with orange sorbet on crumble. This is a sort of un-elaborated version of the traditional calabazin empanadas or casquetas. Quite delicious!

This is what to do if you have a surplus of candelabras.

No sheep were harmed in the making of these wall decorations.

Margaret relaxes near the swimming pool, it was a beautiful afternoon.

Margaret relaxes on a chair in the garden.

Margaret relaxes on an ornamental double bed.

The views of the ermita and surrounding buildings..

...made for interesting architectural shapes as we walked around them.

The original dates over the door. This was the entrance to the hotel/restaurant. 

The ermita was number 69.

Inside the ermita...

...it is most ornate...

...with a decorative dome,...

...beautiful figurines and statues...  

...and intricate plasterwork. Not bad for an ermita a long way from Saint Peter's Basilica which we had visited just a few days ago.

The celebrations continued when we got back home. A thoroughly enjoyable day!