The Guideless Traveller: Espana: Days 40-44 (El Campello & Valencia)

Day 40:
Monday, 15th August, 2016 is a holiday called Assumption. Assumption day is a national holiday here so Scott had the day off from school. Since this is a holiday we have never heard of, I had to google it! It is the day that it has been assumed that the Virgin Mary went to heaven. That is cool and all but I have always been told not to assume so I am a little conflicted. 😉
Today we decided to try something new for lunch. We walked along the promenade to a restaurant called Restaurante Mistral. I'm glad we gave this place a shot because it was pretty delicious! Although this will be our last time trying to order shrimp anywhere. Most places we have been, 9 times out of 10, the shrimps come with the full gear...meaning: head, eyeballs, antennas, legs, everything. It doesn't matter what the menu says. We thought maybe if it says gambas, it means without the head?!?...no, we have tried many menu listings already: prawns, shrimp, gambas, camarón, langostino and everything has come the way we do not want it. I have no problem with a whole fish one my plate, I actually prefer that, and I have no problem with the "peel and eat shrimp," it's the head portion of a shrimp I don't like and Scott feels the same. With the shrimps we ordered at Restaurante Mistral, we just sucked it up and went for it. We were getting our hands dirty and doing tons of work for very little meat. So after about 3 or 4 each, we threw in the towel and decided to wait for our fishes to arrive.

Azpilicueta Crianza de Rioja 2013 at Restaurante Mistral

Gambas at Mistral

Lubina (seabass) at Mistral

Lenguado (sole) at Mistral

This evening I really wanted il Cuore di Napoli for dinner but was disappointed to see when we got there, they were closed. I'm guessing because of the holiday?....Restaurante Hong Kong was open and they are just one restaurant over. Actually, they are the former occupants of where il Cuore di Napoli is but in May, Napoli came in when Hong Kong moved to a larger space one door over. I got my usual Arroz Frito Ping Ping Pang Pang and tried a bottle of cava.

Castell Llord Cava at Restaurante Hong Kong

I don't know if I liked the cava or not because I was in a funk for a few reasons...1) I wanted to eat at Napoli and they are closed, 2) this old couple at the restaurant next door are chain smokers (you can see the lady in the photo above, behind our bottle) and had about a dozen cigarettes between the 2 of them or 3) I am mad that these two restaurants (Hong Kong and the crappy one in between with the chain smokers) are doing more business on a regular basis than Napoli.

Day 41:
For lunch we got to go to il Cuore di Napoli! Cynthia started talking to us about my tattoo and showing one she has representing her sign, an Aries, then Scott asked when her birthday was because he is an Aries too. Turns out her birthday is the same as Scott's! That type of stuff trips me out! We enjoyed our time (and sangria) here yet again...

Sangria, gone. At il Cuore di Napoli

Scott has been waiting for an envelope to arrive from the states but we have to have everything mailed to the rental office which is about a 20 minute walk from home so after lunch, we decided to stop and have a drink somewhere and pick up the envelope. We also decided to make a reservation at this tapas place I have been wanting to try ever since I had that great glass of red wine there, Bar Merfin. Turns out it is right next door to the rental office.

Pit stop at Natalie's Bar for glasses of red wine

Me having fun at Natalie's Bar

We made a reservation at Bar Merfin for 9pm but before we left to have siesta, I took a pic of the menu so I could take the time to disect it! It took me over an hour because not everything is black and white and I had to use different resources to get definitions of everything.

Bar Merfin tapas menu

We went in there with a plan and already want to come back to try more! About 4 different tapas were the perfect amount for the two of us.

The Invisible Man Rioja at Bar Merfin

Best snacky snack at Bar Merfin but once we ate everything we liked, we were left with corn nuts. After 10 years, I just now discover Scott is not a fan of corn nuts either...

Pincho de Tortilla at Bar Merfin...unlike some Torilla Espanola, this one is served cold.

Busy nights siempre at Bar Merfin

Patatas Bravas at Bar Merfin. Delicious.

Tortita de Platanos (little banana pancakes) at Bar Merfin...my favorite!

Costillas agridulces (sweet & sour ribs) at Bar Merfin...delicious! Meat fell off the bone and sauce was perfect. I like the bread on the side too...great for dipping 😉

Espresso at Bar Merfin

Day 42:
I basically got no sleep last night so today I could not even fathom going out for lunch. I had a major headache and just felt shitty so I asked Scott to pick up food on his way back from school. I figure it would be the perfect time to try the other Doner Kebab place he has been wanting to try. It was really good!
I will now tell you why I did not sleep since there is more to it than just my insomnia this time....first off, I usually relax in the living room with my crossword puzzle until about 1am every night and then I go to the bedroom and bring Coco with me. It is already 2am by the time I get to sleep. I am woken up at 3:30am to Coco wanting to get out of bed, I let her down, then she wants back up so I pick her up and lie back down. She sits on my chest (she sometimes likes to do this when she is nervous or unsure or if she just wants to see something). She just sat there staring so of course neither of us could go to sleep because Scott was wondering what was wrong with Coco and well, I cannot sleep comfortably with a dog on my chest. So I get up and go to the living room because now I am awake and I am hungry. I start snacking on some pretzels and all of a sudden I hear what sounded like a collision coming from the bedroom. So I go back in there to see what is going on and I find Scott naked, standing up with his boxers around his ankles. He said he felt something crawling and I was just laughing hysterically (and I am laughing just thinking about it now 😂)!!! I had to take him seriously so I start shaking out the sheets and all of a sudden I reveal a HUGE bug in our bed. I squeal and run off and Scott goes to the bathroom to get toilet paper to kill it. He gets back to the room yelling, "where did it go???" Oh my goodness, we lost this huge foreign freaky looking bug and it is somewhere in our bed. So we practically tear the room apart for the next 20 minutes to find this thing because there is no way any of us are going to sleep knowing this creepy crawler is roaming around! Finally, I find it again and we start killing it. More like murdering it. It actually took a while but we did it. After that, neither one of us wanted to sleep in the bed so Coco, Scott and I crashed (or tried to) on the couch.

I wish I had taken a picture of the thing but this was my best sketch afterwards.

This afternoon one of my Marijuana plants popped through the soil and I feel like a proud mother! LoL...I am also still nervous that I am going to mess it up because like I have said before, I do not have a green thumb.

Marijuana plant #1

Day 43:
Today we headed over to Max Restaurante Pizzeria and part of me picked this place because I thought Scott matched the decor....

Scott matches Max!

Sangria at Max

Patatas Bravas at Max

Macaroni pesto at Max...not as good as usual but maybe because it's a different noodle (and a little too much pesto sauce this time)

Lasagna at Max

Tomorrow we are going on another road trip so today we packed and planned a little. For dinner we really wanted something low key and quick so I suggested il Cuore di Napoli but when we got there, it was closed. Odd. We walked around trying to find something else and there is a Cerveceria that is always busy right near our place but we did not have reservation and they did not have any open tables. I suggested our last effort be either Club Nautico or the place next to it. We ended up at Club Nautico! We got a seat closest to the front (toward boats/marina) and there are always tons of cats roaming this area. The restaurant has signs up asking to please not feed or give them water because many people can be allergic and the cats will hang around ...well, some parents really do not care nor do they pay attention to these signs because 2 little girls kept grabbing bread from their table and fed the cats the entire time. The parents carried on, chatting with their friends, smoking their cigarettes and drinking their cerveza. There are obviously no babysitting services here and even if there were, parents feel it is easier to bring kids along and let them run around instead...hey, it is not like they are bothering them! I am just glad we were not at the table next to them. Anyways, the food and drink were very enjoyable here. We especially liked the patatas bravas and the ceviche. Meanwhile, Coco enjoyed her time around the cats....

Cats outside Club Nautico Restaurante

Coco wants friends

Roger de Flor Brut Cava at Club Nautico

Patatas Bravas at Club Nautico (a favorite)

Gambas (shrimp) croquettas at Club Nautico

Lubina (seabass) ceviche at Club Nautico

Puerto El Campello: to the very left is Restaurante Club Nautico. This is a view from our apartment balcony!

Day 44:
Scott took the second part of his school day off so we could get going on our road trip. He came back with the rental car, a Smart Car and off we went!

Road Trip ready!

Our first stop would be Valencia for the night. On our ride, I researched some restaurants close to where we are staying. It will be our second time staying at Hotel Hospes Palau de la Mar but because of our timing getting there, we wont make it in time for the hotel restaurant, Ampar. It is around 3:30 or 4pm so most restaurants will actually be closed...
We checked in, and love our room so much better this time! It is actually right next door the room we stayed in last time but significantly different. This room has a lot more space, a couch and a bathtub!

Superior Room #109 at Hospes Palau de la Mar, Valencia

Bathroom/bathtub at Hospes Palau de la Mar in Valencia

Room at Hospes Palau de la Mar in Valencia

Balcony view at Hospes Palau de la Mar

View of balcony at Hospes Palau de la Mar

We decided to walk to the place I researched and Google Maps said it was open but when we got there, they were closed. There are many places along this street and this area but so many were not serving again until dinner! We finally found one and got some specialized service. The owner must have known what our luck had been, or he is just genuinely that nice. He took his time, helped us through the tapas menu and got us a pitcher of sangria. This place is called Oliveira and I guarentee we will be back!

Sangria at Oliveira (muy bueno!)

Pan y tomate a la Oliveira

Patatas bravas at Oliveira

Quinoa Ensalada at Oliveira (favorite dish of the day!)

Fried pollo at Oliveira

Bacalao (cod) at Oliveira

Chopitos! (Shots on the house) at Oliveira

On our way back to the hotel, we contacted our friend, Donny, to meet up with later in the evening and then we walked through the park on the way back to the hotel. Jardi del Turia runs through a lot of the city and may be called different parks or gardens along the way but I believe at one time all of this used to be a river.

Scott and Coco in Jardi del Turia in Valencia

Pont del Mar

Us in Jardi del Turia in Valencia

Pont del Mar, Valencia

Coco and me on Pont del Mar in Valencia

On Pont del Mar overlooking Jardi del Turia

We went back to the hotel and I enjoyed a bubble bath as we watched the Olympics and the competition was something called either fast walking or slow running....basically, you cannot have both feet come off the ground at one time. Possibly my favorite odd sport. We also read (and watched clips) on some tomato throwing festival they have in a town somewhat close by but it happens on a Wednesday I believe. It is something like the last Wednesday of August. The event sounds cool but then looks terrible. A huge dump truck of tomatoes comes in, dumps tomatoes and everyone starts throwing at no one in particular. The event if throwing, lasts for about 1 hour and of course there is drinking involved. If you are claustrophobic, this is not the event for you. We ended up going down to the beach Playa Malvarossa for a bit this evening, shopped at one of my favorite shops, Natura, and met up with our friend and made it back to the hotel in time to eat at the hotels restaurant, Ampar.