CHICA DE MAZARRÓN

One of my main reason for moving to Spain was my love of everything sunny and my absolute hatred of being cold.  The freezing UK winters and constant greyness, literally left me feeling SAD!  SAD lamps, fluffy blankets, central heating, open fires, red wine and my ability to hibernate were what got me through the winters but they did not make me happy and I often found myself emerging in late spring/early summer, if you can even call it that, two stone heavier, miserable and lonely! Here in the region of Murcia I am not going to say my hatred of winter has completely left me but it is a million times better spending the winters here. Early morning and evenings can be pretty chilly and the villa's are definitely better designed for summer than winter but chuck me a fluffy blanket and bright sunny day and I'm happy. In comparison to frosty mornings and scraping the car windows, the temperatures here is the Murcia region are pretty warm. With the minimum temperature b...

  It's that time of year again and the added hour in bed is little consolation for the harsh reality that winter is well and truly setting in.  As the clocks fall back an hour tomorrow morning at 3am, the shorted day light hours are creeping up on us.  With much discussion in Spain over the years about abolishing the time change, many had hoped that this would be the last time the change is made but this has been the case for the last two years now.  In 2018, the President of the EU Commission announced his plan to abolish the changing of the clocks, after conducting an online survey which showed Europeans were in favour of remaining in "summer time" permanently - this however has now been put back to 2021 to allow for decisions to be made about what time zone Europe decides to stick in.  Depending on the above decision, the last time change could potentially take place next March or next October... Watch this space and in the mean time, enjoy your extra hour in...

  Alhama de Murcia bars and venues have been hit hard by the live music ban but last night I experienced a great evening which still stuck to the music rules, offered great hygiene and social distancing measures and an extraordinary, live and exclusive performance from Los Duques .  In collaboration with The Condado Club , Los Duques performed a two hour set of their very best rock covers and shared their experience of 10 years of performing together, through the power of technology.  With their large function room, large and well placed tables the venue offered a perfect environment for some safe toe-tapping entertainment and a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Using a live stream and projector system Los Duques were fantastic at engaging with their audience from afar, an audience I might add that created a great buzz and all whilst abiding by the current restrictions in place.  With table service and food a plenty, Audrey and her team kept their guests happy and Los Du...

  This is a restaurant, and more specifically waitress, that I feel deserves a very special mention from my travels in Altea. On Saturday evening, having looked at several restaurants and menus along the paseo we decided to eat at the lovely Vamos a comer, with it's stunning sea views and what a great decision that was. On the bustling paseo this little restaurant has a comfortable, well laid out terrace which over looks the sea and has a beautifully lit evening ambiance. With a vast menu choice, awesome selection of cocktails, wines and beers this is a great spot for dinner or drinks at any time of the day or night. We decided to have starters, mains and deserts in different places this evening and Vamos a comer was our choice of mains. We had mussels and fish and chips and were not left disappointed.  The food was very reasonably priced, exceptional quality and the portion sizes were perfect. At the best of times my friend and I are not the easiest of diners with one of...

  So, this time last week I was in Altea having a catch up with friends I hadn't seen since before lockdown.  Having driven up to Altea straight from work on a Friday evening, rather than cooking we decided ordered take out and not worry about cooking so we could all have a glass of wine and a proper good catch up.  We drove into Altea Town and parked up, took a short pleasant stroll along the paseo and headed in the direction of my friends favourite Thai restaurant, Siam Beach. There is ample parking, that can get quite busy during the height of summer, but just a few hundred yards from the outside terrace with beautiful sea views. This was the perfect place to order our food and enjoy that glass of wine. This is a friendly, family run business and the owner and his wife (the chef) are honest, friendly hardworking people.  Our English waitress was very polite, engaging and helpful but when Oscar spotted my friends he made a beeline for them and rattled off their reg...

  After my drive home from a super busy day, and a couple of days of eating out, I found myself hungry and in no mood for cooking. What to do... Ordering take out was the perfect solution and Bistro Bulgaria Camposol offered just what was needed! With their diverse menu it took me longer to decide what to have than it did for their chef to prepare it.  Quite ridiculous really, considering I usually revert to my favourite dish there and am never left disappointed.  I usually opt for the mixed sach, although I have tried several of their dishes but can not fault the quality, flavour or portion sizes.  A generous portion of peppers, onion, carrot, spicy sausage, chicken, pork and chips is not for the faint-hearted and when served in the restaurants comes served on a sizzling platter.  They offer a menú del diá/noches and also a complex menu of salads, hot & cold starters, traditional Bulgarian dishes, burgers, fish dishes, kebabs and a g...

This weekend Chica de Mazarrón was in need of a bit of escapism, some R&R and a bit of head space for some new blog research and planning.  I am lucky enough to have friends living in Altea, Alicante, so I decided to head there for a catch up with them and to use their beautiful home as my base for a bit of blog exploring.  Setting off from Mazarrón Town on Friday afternoon it took me an hour and 50 minutes to get to my destination of Altea, a beautiful coastal town in the Province of Alicante, on the Costa Blanca. Protected by the Serra de Bernía, Altea attracts a strong tourist trade due to the uniquely warm micro-climate. The town itself is a perfect balance of old town traditional pebbled streets, lined with character filled whitewash houses, bustling squares of restaurants and shops and the palm lined seafront and harbour. During my stay my hosts helped me cram in an array of experiences and I would highly recommend any residents of Mazarrón to take a weekend out ther...

Red days here in Spain are basically the same as Bank Holidays back in the UK and they are called red days as it was traditional to mark them in red on the calendar. The thing I really like here is that Sundays and Red Days have really stuck with their true values and continue to be very much about families spending time together.  The supermarkets generally do close and give their staff time off and the only places you will often find open are the restaurants and bars, which allow families to go out and enjoy the food, culture and sunshine that Spain has to offer.  Other important elements to the red days here in Spain are religion, history and generally having fun and the summer fiestas are legendary and something to be experienced.  Red days are a little different here, in the sense that there are some which are observed nationally and others which are experienced regionally - for example the Region of Murcia day is celebrated on the 9th of June and San José day is cel...

  Just a quick recommendation for a wonderful, local cleaner. Diana Kraan recently set up her own business, Home Sweep Home.  A reliable, professional and reasonably priced cleaning service covering Bolnuevo, Isla Plana, El Puerto, noCountry Club, Mazarrón, Camposol & Condado.  As well as home and office cleans Diana offers a very friendly, efficient service including regular/weekly cleaning, end of stay cleaning, deep/Spring cleaning, window cleaning and ironing.   If you are looking for a trustworthy and reliable cleaner then I highly recommend Diana. I can't praise Diana highly enough, her time keeping is impeccable, her cleaning flawless, she speaks fluently in Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish and is fully legal and insured.  Please contact her by email at dianakran2008@gmail.com for more information or a quote.

So this week Chica de Mazarrón has been a little quiet....  This is mainly because the day job has been a little demanding and partly that nobody told me blogging would be quite so time consuming 😂 This weekend however, Chica de Mazarrón is off on tour for some much needed R&R, a bit of content planning and some exploring for a few 'Chica de Mazarrón on Tour' blogs! Watch this space for some reviews and blogs, from slightly further afield, on some beautiful places within a short drive of Mazarrón.  Happy weekend and un saludo Chica de Mazarrón xx

  CONDADO CLUB - CONDADO DE ALHAMA Just over a month ago I wrote a blog called  The Vista Bar - the end of an era  but if you missed it, click the link above to catch up.  That blog was written as Audrey, and her team, decided a new challenge was on the cards and whilst still in it's infancy the upcoming adventure was in full on planning mode but absolutely top secret. At the time of writing the closing blog, I swore to track Audrey and her team down and here is my take on developments since the transition began at the end of August. As the month has progressed little rumours have spread across Camposol, Condado and the surrounding area and last week there was the official announcement I'd been waiting for... Audrey has taken over The Condado Club, on Condado de Alhama, with the backing of Claire Evans.  Gary Hall has moved across with her also and they have the support of a very strong and well established team, who all the regulars will be familiar with. ...