España Dia 5

After 2 days of excursions, we decided to just take it easy today at the resort. We slept-in and then had some fresh fruit for breakfast that we bought from the roadside fruit stand the other day.

Around noon we took part in Paella and Sangria class taught by Jose and Rozel. Paella is a traditional Spanish dish with rice, meat, and vegetables. It can be just about anything you want, but Jose made ours with peppers, zucchini, squid, prawns, chicken, clams, mussels, and king prawns. It takes about 1/2 hour to make and is quite delicious. We'll send you the recipe when we get back home.

Rozel showed us how to make the traditional Spanish drink Sangria. Basically, soak finely chopped apples, oranges, and peaches overnight in orange liquor and rum(about an 1/8 of an iced tea pitcher).

Next pour in a bottle of red table wine. She said not to use expensive wine because you won't taste it, so don't waste it. After that, you add one glassful of fresh lemon juice, stir, and you are done. It is supposed to be served chilled, but not on ice. It is also acceptable to add a can of 7-Up to dilute the alcohol some. We've tried both ways and they are very tasty.

Now, it's time to eat and drink our wonderful creations!

After Paella and Sangria class, it was off to the beach. The wind was calmer today and it was the warmest day so far, so the cold water felt great. It wasn't as hazy today either, so in the picture below you can see Gibraltar in the distance(middle-right).

We left the beach around 4pm to go back to our room and watch the USA fútbol game. We get a lot of channels here on the tv with a variety of languages. There are 5 BBC channels (english), 2 German channels, and about 30 Spanish channels. Surely we thought one of them would have the game on. Wrong. The England game (which was on at the same time) occupied almost all the channels with sports except one, which was showing tennis). Big thanks to Allie's mom for getting on Skype with us, and turn the computer to face the TV so we could watch the game while she went to Costco...thanks mom.

Then we went to the town of Benahavis for dinner. Benahavis by the way is in the Guiness Book of World Records for most restaurants per square kilometer. We decided this would make a great place for dinner, plus it was only a 10 minute drive.

Very narrow and hilly streets in Benahavis.

We ate dinner at Amigos, a cute little restaurant with Spanish and English menus (importante).

We had variedad de las carnes y pescado skewer for dinner. In other words, a meat platter of chicken, lamb, pork, and sausage and also salmon and cod skewers.

Benahavis is a terrific little mountain town with a lot of charm and very friendly people. Although we are noticing a trend at dinner. It is nearly impossible to get la cuenta (the bill). They never bring it. You always have to ask for it. I guess they don't want to rush you.

Another great day in Espana! El mercado, massages, y Gibraltar manana!