It was the best of reviews, it was the worst of reviews.

 Let’s face it, for most of History the sea has been a thundering nuisance. When not flooding you or allowing raiders of all the nations to carry off your cattle, it has been the abode of fishermen and the smells their industry creates. The only thing that could be said for it was you could get rid of those sort of misfits who could manage an honest day’s farming  off to work on it and it kept CS Forester in gainful employment. At some point it was discovered to be good for you in a cheap and healthy way and so the migration to the coast began.   What would Cleethorpes be without this I wonder.





We are wandering alongside many long, narrow, fields which are making there way towards a somewhat gritty coast.  It is probably that which makes this are the abode if fincas, holiday homes and deep suburbia.  Once we reach a collection of houses a fair number of swimming pools can be seen.



We will brush the edge of La Serratella,   This is the entire English wiki page entry for it. ‘La Serratella[2] is a municipality located in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain.  The Spanish entry is much longer and indicates 113 people live there.  There is not a lot else to say. It belonged to someone once and then someone else took it over but what happened afterwards is hidden from us.  It has a website which is minimalistic and mostly consists of a suggestion box.  https://www.laserratella.es/ 



We won’t go into the village - it’s St James’ day, they may be busy, but instead head along the road, a field away from the sea, to La Ratla.  The link to the Facebook page is broken.   Three months ago these two reviews were posted.


Mont Tena ‘Great homemade food and good service, we will return, thank you’


Norah Fadrique ‘Preheated and terrible food. The supposedly "fried" fish from the previous day and four anchovies, two mullets and another fish, not to mention that it was cold. And the other two mediocre "tapas" too... in short, an unforgettable experience... but very disastrous!’  Norah must have been so upset by the experience as this is their only ever review.





Generally it gets 4.2 stars from 269 reviews.  Alfredo reckoned ‘Without a doubt, the best paellas on the Valencian coast. They discovered it for us and what a discovery it was. Every time we come, if we can, we escape to eat a "true" paella.’



As ever, you are urged to go to make up your own mind.  We must push on.


















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Mini Pieces of Supposed tuna

Image
  Pina de Ebro has something for everyone who enjoys the architecture of Spanish pueblos.  It has the tiny lanes, on which houses have been rebuilt for generations without a care for the needs of the modern motorist.  We have the pathways which have been tiled over but once were dirt tracks.  We have the modern suburban developments of low rise houses and 80s hopefully aspiring shacks.  First all, however, we have a park. One thing we noticed, especially with a small boy in tow, was the number of parks with interesting play equipment.  This is because, in Spain, people seem to like children.  This does make them a semi-public property and people feel free to indulge them with sweetmeats and pass comments. ‘I think sucking thumbs makes children look ugly’ said one elderly woman.’ My Spanish for ‘well desiccated prune face, no one asked you’ deserted me.  The play equipment is in the Plaza Pilarin Artigas.  Honestly I’ve looked and was giving u...
Read more