Spain means holidays... and lovely food!

I am Spanish, you all probably know by now. I have lived in Ireland for the past so many years and I love it! But I'm still Spanish and I really enjoy going back home when I get my summer holidays (and work allows me to, of course)

My parents own an apartment on the coast, near Valencia, where I used to spend all my school holidays, so for me, summer in Spain means...let's see: swimming in the Mediterranean, fresh fish and paella for lunch, long warm evenings walking along the beach (desperately licking a big ice cream, of course!) and then having dinner in our terrace just listening to the waves gently reaching the sand, early mornings going to buy churros for breakfast... I know, I know: stress all over! I still can't explain myself how I could survive - must be because I was younger and stronger!

(I loved to watch the day starting from the terrace)

Back home these days, I'm still very fond of those little "pleasures" from my childhood - call me masochistic if you wish, I deserve it:

- The walks along the beach in the early morning (I do that in Ireland as well! but with more clothes on :-))

- Swimming in the Mediterranean as much as possible (oh,what a sacrifice, specially for the kids!)

(these pictures were taken at 8 o'clock in the evening! The temperature of the water is perfect at that time and the sun is not so hard on the skin)

- A quick swim in the swimming pool right before lunch (why if we're not dirty?):

An ordeal from the morning till the evening!

And the food... horrible, horrible

Now, seriously talking about food, I find it much easier to reach our 5-a-day here, and specially much cheaper! For the past couple of weeks we have been having big fruit bowls for breakfast everyday: peaches (1 Eur/kg!), pineapples, cherries (big and juicy!), melon, watermelon....ummmh! for a very good price: music to my ears.

The variety of fruit is greater here, and the price does not go crazy. Everything seems to be shouting: buy me! I'm cheap, I'm ripe, I'm ready to eat and I want to be one of your 5-a-day!!! :-)

The fish is also much cheaper (why is fish in Ireland so expensive, being an island?): Octopus (best food ever! Just boiled with some potatoes and lots of paprika on top, ummmmm!), calamari, sole, hake...

When I arrived in Ireland I used to miss Spanish diet so much! Now, I've got used to the way Irish cook and eat and I've learnt to cook  with local products for not so much money and love it (following some fantastic blogs lately like Wholesome Ireland - totally recommend the recipes given there - healthy, tasty and cheap!). But food is something every single expat misses: thinking about meals from your own country means thinking about family gatherings, mum cooking for all of us to celebrate a special date.... means happy childhood, means good old days with no worries in our heads!

That is why Spain will always mean happiness for me