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.

Barcelona

 You've heard the term Bird's Eye View?  This guy arrived on our window ledge to welcome us to the city...at least that what it seemed he was saying..........that or open the window, it's wet out here!  We were in the older historic downtown area of the city, making it a wonderful location to get out and about.  If you click to enlarge the picture, you can get a feel for how old many of the buildings are.

You can also see how dark and gloomy it was on our arrival, though the next day was beautiful, and the 2nd day even nicer.  Look how the city spreads out, how full, how heavily populated it is.  Off in the distance (though we could walk it) is the famous Sagrada Familia.  Do click to enlarge and see the spires and the construction cranes.  We stayed at The Renaissance, formerly known as The Diplomatic Hotel.  The rooms were a bit pricey and small; but the location was awesome and we truly enjoyed our stay there.
Barcelona, my B for May (status post April A-Z)

There will be many posts about Barcelona with specific focuses, this is a bullet point list of things observed during our too short stay of 3 nights and 2 days.

• Stay longer, there is much to see
• People in Barcelona eat dinner quite late, many restaurants aren't even opened til 8 pm
• The city is packed with history
• Traffic is HORRIBLE, leave the driving to someone else.  Parking is in short supply, lots of folks walk, ride bikes and scoots; as well as use public transportation
• The Olympics were there in 1992, a good place to tour
• There are many Cathedrals to visit, as well as Churches, and Basilica's.  
• Art is Everywhere in many forms
• BE WARE OF THE PICK POCKETS.  Barcelona is considered, even by the locals, to be worst city int he world for pick pockets.  NEVER leave your belongings un-attended.  Men should not put wallets in the back pockets, and women should always put their purses across their body...not just hanging from their shoulders, AND the purse should be in front of you.  NEVER wear a backpack, you can't see them in action.
• The airport is HUGE, give yourself plenty of time to find your way
• Check the price of high speed trains if you want to travel elsewhere and compare to flying.  It may be a better option
• It's a busy port city
• Barcelona has been voted best beach city, multiple times.
• World Book Day, April 23rd, started in Barcelona (St. George's Day) 
• Catalonia flags far and away out number flags of Spain.  Catalonians want independence from Spain, speak their own language which is closer to French and Portuguese then Spanish.  The people in Barcelona refer to themselves as Catalonians, not Spaniards.   
• Rock n Roll is far more popular in Barcelona then The Flamenco.
• The city was formed from a military grid...a planned city.
• There are 5 streets with the name La Rambla

**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. I've been planning and almost have every letter thought out.

Arc de Triomf, Triumphal Arch Catalonia

As promised, it's May and I'm starting my blogging about Spain, in alphabetical order...of course.  Arc de Triomf (Triumphal Arch) built for the 1888 World's Fair Entrance.  This photo taken from a distance shows you how wide the promenade is.

The arch was used again in 1929 during the 2nd World's Fair held in Barcelona (Catalonia), as well as The Olympics in later years.  It's built to resemble similar arches in Rome by Joseph Vilasecai Casanovas.  The expansive promenade is perfect place to walk, run, ride bikes, and stroll with a baby carriage.  The sun was warm, bringing everyone out locals and tourists.  It covers an 118 hectares (291.58 acres and is within walking distance to Parc de la Ciutudella on Passeig de Lluis.

The details of color, and sculptures is breathtaking.  Look how small the people walking nearby look....Please click to enlarge so you can fully appreciate this beautiful site.

**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.