Winter Wonderland

We are all pretty excited about the snow here! Ok so I know that most people have had snow this week, some more than others, but although we live at the very northern extreme of England, we hardly ever have snow. Well at least not enough for a snow ball never mind a man. Therefore much excitement when we woke up to this......


Have a look around the rest of the garden....


Just around the corner...


And under the bushes...


Even shivering up against the wall...


Better retire inside for a cup of tea and a piece of cake...

Stone Walled

Sometimes walls just kind of creep up on you. We spent the day wandering around Barcelona, snooping into alleyways and marvelling at vistas. I thought you might like to see some of the walls that I found....




The streets are very narrow around here. The traffic police have to use scooters to get about.
Up towards the castle these bricks are used nearly everywhere.
But on the ground other things are embedded to add interest and texture, or sloppiness if it's wet!!!



Very clever though.
Old fashioned cobbles vie with arty bits on the Chinese restaurant exterior.
Combinations of brick and tile are also very popular.

Or you could go for the really over the top look......



I think I like this one though.....
Or maybe this...
Or even this..
Walls in a nutshell!

The Special Menu

Having never tried one of these types of menu, where you get...
A) What you are given. (Actually this is what we have at home).
B) lots of courses. (Not what we get at home).
We thought it was time to give it a go. And this is what we ate....


A pre starter of Sherry Bloody Mary with Parmesan Lollipop.



An extremely tasty Duck Ravioli, yes kids mushrooms were involved.



Fish, described as "typical Mediterranean" complete with silver guilder violet potato. The waiter was a bit sad that I had realised that it was indeed a potato.



Main course of Duck, easily the best course!


Never had pre-dessert before but here you are, yogurt mousse with red berries.



All rounded off by deconstructed tiramisu. Don't get me wrong dessert was nice but kind of disappointing. I thought it would finish on a bang but more like a banger.
All of the courses were tiny but we finished feeling we had had enough but were not totally stuffed which was good. Back to like it or lump it tomorrow though!!

A taste of Spain

Even when in Spain you have to think about food some of the time. How about a bite of lunch...


Just a little bit though. Or how about something sweet?


Or even some Tapas?


If that's all too much how about some food for the soul?


And of course you might need a rest after all of that.


The biggest settee ever?

Moto Gp the bits you don't see.

The brolly dolly all perfectly made up complete with brolly. What you don't expect is this....


Perhaps caught in one of those "sticky moments" ?

Actually managed to catch one of the racers on camera, he must have been going too slowly....


Valencia by night, absolutely spectacular ....






Off to sample Tapas at the Ginger Loft to be recommended to all visitors and has the advantage of the owner being from Aberdeen.....

Tracking About

More time exploring Valencia and of course a bit of shopping before heading off to the track.


What do you think...... The house could do with a new gate?


Or perhaps some more stone work around the front porch?


This is the view from our seats at the track big race tomorrow. Hopefully some better pictures of the actual people but they keep speeding past for some reason and are hard to capture on camera......Very loud as well someone needs to sort out some silencers.


This was the best I could do so not so great.
Off out to explore beach area and look for some dinner. No rush though as no one seems to start serving until about 8.30 pm.

Valencia food with a difference.

A visit to the food market in a foreign city usually comes up with a few surprises. Valencia didn't disappoint.


There were of course mushrooms some of which may have been a bit strange to us Brits, but, how many people would be prepared to venture forth and try out these Valencian specialities ?


Or for the even more adventurous ?


Have to admit to not trying out these but was perhaps more disturbed by the whole sheep's heads complete with eyes and the lungs, possibly of pigs but who knows.
We headed out to the Moto GP circuit where more (cooked) food was on offer and got completely ripped off by not being able to speak any Spanish. A learning curve. A quick trip to the market tomorrow for picnic goodies will be much better although I might give the noses a miss.