A little light exercise
The Hotel Terramar is 2.5km from the Church
Today was, once again, a local day. We decided following a light breakfast of coffee, (Café con Leche for Captain Clarke and a Cortado for me as I can’t take the quantity of milk in the Café con Leche), and a croissant, to take a little walk on the seafront. We haven’t really mentioned the seafront here in Sitges, but it is around 3km of sandy beaches with small coves within them. At the very far end of the beach to the south is the Hotel Terramar. Captain Clarke once stayed at this hotel but decided it was too far out of town. Today we walked to the hotel, just to remind ourselves how far it is. I can report it is exactly 2.5km from the church. On a warm day, as it was today, that feels like quite a long way!
Looking back along the beach from the Terramar
Having walked to the Terramar, we decided to get the little ‘train’ back to town, (you know the kind of thing, they have them in every holiday town nowadays – a tractor decorated to look like a steam train and a load of ‘carriages’ behind it), however this didn’t quite work to plan. It runs every half an hour and we arrived at the Terramar just as it had left for town again. So, for that reason, we decided to walk back again. Now, I appreciated that 5km is not that far, but for those of us that suffer with ‘statin legs’ it feels like quite a long way! At this juncture, it is virtually impossible to see the church in the distance, but I can assure you it is there! Although it is quite a long way, (for me!), we took the walk at a gentle pace and all was fine.
The church finally comes into view properly
I took some photographs along the way just to remind myself of how far it seems, (mostly in today’s gallery), but it was actually quite a pleasant walk. On the way back, Captain Clarke and I discussed the prospect of what to take for luncheon. We both agreed that what we would like was a ‘Pepito de Lomo’. A ‘Pepito de Lomo’ is a dish local to Catalunya which consists of a pork loin that is seasoned and fried, served in a ‘barra’, (a kind of Spanish version of a French baguette), which has been rubbed with tomato, (in the same way as ‘P’amb Oli’ that I mentioned previously), and then served with ‘alioli’, (garlic mayonnaise). It is a simple dish but when served well, it is quite delicious. On an aside, a quick word about ‘alioli’. There are various different spellings of the word, depending on where it is being described. The Catalan people spell it as ‘alioli’, (since we are in Catalunya, so am I), but the French spell it ‘aioli’, in southern Spain it is spelled, ‘ajoaceite’ or ‘ajaceite’, in all cases, however, it is basic garlic mayonnaise.
Arriving back at the steps to the church
Returning to our adventures, we decided that a ‘Pepito de Lomo’ would hit the spot after all that walking and proceeded to search out a suitable restaurant as we returned to the church, (which many regard as central to the town). Unfortunately, we struggled to find a restaurant that advertised these on the menu. We were accosted by one English lady who worked in one of the restaurants, (how distasteful to accost people on the street!), who insisted that we try her mussels in gorgonzola, (I do not recommend them!), and when we told her we were searching for a ‘Pepito de Lomo’ she finally said, “Oh! That’s pork isn’t it. Pigs feet!”. For the record no, it is not!
Now, I should mention at this point that there is a bit of an ongoing joke regarding Captain Clarke’s grasp of Spanish. He speaks excellent French – far better than mine and with a vocabulary that many would be glad of in English! However, I have often accused him, (usually accurately), of speaking Spanish without verbs. He has a great vocabulary, but rarely is heard to use a verb! When enquiring as to exactly which establishment used to be Café Monaco, he said to the waitress, “Café Monaco, estaba ou?”. He then turned to me and said, “You see, I do use verbs in Spanish sometimes!”. This was, of course, entirely true. He had correctly used the Spanish verb ‘estar’, (to be), and had correctly conjugated it to the past tense and third party, ‘estaba’. I’m afraid I did have to point out to him that although he had accurately conjugated the verb in Spanish, he had used the French ‘ou’ for where instead of the Spanish, ‘donde’. Ah well, he was nearly there!
A glass of Rose and a Gin and Tonic
Back to our search for the illusive ‘Pepito de Lomo’. On our way from San Sebastian into town we had regularly passed a tapas bar called ‘Glamour’, (rather an oxymoron as this is a bar with no inside tables and a few tables and chairs on the pavement). Being a tapas bar and clearly run by locals, we decided that this would be the place to get a ‘Pepito’. We duly sat down and the waiter eventually appeared. We asked him if it was possible to get a ‘Pepito de Lomo’, but he looked at us as if we had crawled out from under a rock. We were eventually offered a menu, which we took. What was the second item on the menu? A Pepito de Lomo!! So we asked again for the very same as we had asked for before and, low and behold, our order was taken, (along with a glass of rosé for myself and a gin and tonic for Captain Clarke). After some time the long awaited Pepito finally arrived. It had absolutely no flavour what-so-ever and did not even benefit from some lovely alioli. We caught the waiter’s eye and asked him about the alioli – he turned went back to the kitchen and returned two minutes later with a plastic squeezy bottle of alioli. It was horrible!
The promenade at San Sebastian
In fact, the whole experience was horrible. The waiter was churlish and unhelpful, the rosé wine was dreadful, (far worse than you ever got in the Chicken Shack), and the Pepito was awful. We ate our lunch with no great pleasure and asked for the bill. He charged us €9.50 each for the Pepito! That is outrageous by any standards, but for that?! On returning to our hotel, I felt the only right thing to do was give the place a review on Trip Advisor. Now, I often write reviews on Trip Advisor and I always look for a positive, even if the general experience is not as great as it could be. On this occasion, however, it was the first time I have ever written a review which was entitled, ‘Disgusting’! Needless to say, we will not be returning to that particular establishment. There are so many fantastic places to eat in Sitges and this, I’m afraid, is definitely not one of them!
The Bacardi Museum!
Later in the afternoon we decided to take another stroll into town. There is just so much to see and so many people to watch, that it is always a pleasure. There is one place that we have never visited, although we know that our Georgious friend loved it when she was here, and that is in the photograph here. It is the Bacardi museum! (Or more accurately, the ‘House of Bacardi’) Personally, I can’t bear the stuff, but Georgious loves it! Apparently, you pay a small fee to go into the facility and are given a short history of Bacardi, (nope, she wasn’t interested in that!), before finally being taken to a cocktail bar where you get to make, and drink, two cocktails. Our Georgious friend loved that part! It was such a shame that when they came to Sitges for two weeks on their annual holiday, the apartment they stayed in was both dire in terms of fit-out and also so close to all the nightclubs that it completely ruined their holiday. It actually had the word ‘hell’ graffitied on the wall outside when they stayed there, although now the wall has been freshly painted. One positive point for those obsessed with ‘Pokemon Go’ – there is now a ‘Pokéstop’ right outside the apartment!
Café Roy in Sitges town
Having had a stroll around town we decided to take a small libation in an establishment called ‘Café Roy’. We have been there many times – it was almost opposite Café Monaco when that was still there – and I feel sure that Georgious and S will remember we used it as a meeting point when S and I were on short shopping spree! S&M will also remember us sitting on the street tables watching the world go by, (and usually commenting on many of those brave enough to pass us!). Sitges is such a wonderful place and, spend an hour here and you will see all kinds of life and all kinds of people. It isn’t exclusively anything, children, families, singles, couples, old, young, abled, disabled, anyone and everyone is welcomed in Sitges. That says a lot for a place and is a very good reason for coming back again and again. We have actually been coming to Sitges for 21 years and have quite literally arrived by Plane, Train and Automobile!
Enjoying a good steak at the Buenos Aires Restaurant
Having enjoyed a aperatif at Café Roy, we returned to San Sebastian where we were already agreed we would go to the restaurant ‘Buenos Aires’ for a steak. The restaurant has been around for a few years now and serves an excellent steak. It is owned by the same people as the Ragazzi Italian which is next door and where I had the superb ‘Penne Arrabiata’ on the night of our arrival and also the Usaka Sushi Bar which is next door to that. I understand that they also have branches in Barcelona and in Amstelveen in The Netherlands which leads me to conclude it is probably Dutch owned. The food is good, it is not the cheapest restaurant in Sitges, but it is still good value. Our principal reason for eating here on this occasion is that the 49th International Film Festival begins tomorrow in San Sebastian and we reason that everything is going to be packed! I have to be honest and say that the Bearnaise Sauce came straight out of a packet, but it was a good packet, so that’s OK. Tomorrow, rain is forecast, so we have made no plans as yet. We will find something to do – there is always something in Sitges to interest you. Its RudyMenTerry!
We loved the Buenos Airies restaurant……I’m quite partial to fine steak!
Cafe Monaco we recall had ‘interesting’ toilets…. and M can’t quite recall a pink thong, but does remember dancing with a rather burley chap dressed as Little Bo Peep’!