I picked up this poster off Facebook.

It is not often that I write about restaurants in Almerimar. However our lunch yesterday was excellent. We went to Defonitina & Uva.

We had shared starters of wok vegetables with chicken & a big plate of patatas bravas. Followed by two gourmet burgers (pronounce the t in gourmet when you ask for it). Plus a very nice bottle of red wine. Not cheap but very good.

We also went for a walk along the prom yesterday and it was pretty windy. However it is much, much, much worse today. Blowing a gale out there at the moment.

Spotted the article here on the Eye on Spain site. Will have to look out for some of these.

A lot of them can be bought in supermarkets here and in El Ejido.

A reader Kenneth P sent this information a couple of days ago. He received it from the administrators for his urbanisation.....

"Buenas tardes vecinos,

Hoy se ha procedido en Almerimar al cambio de las frecuencias de la televisión(dividendo digital).

Si no ven los canales de tv deben resintonizar su televisor.

Si aún así siguen teniendo problemas, llamen a la Administración para solucionarlo.

Igualmente, también les avisamos que en estos días habrá fallos hasta que no terminen con dicho cambio.

Un saludo"

From Google translate:

Good afternoon neighbors,
 
Today, Almerimar has changed the television frequencies (digital dividend).

If you do not see TV channels you must re-tune your TV.

If you still have problems, call the Administration to solve it.

Likewise, we also warn you that these days there will be failures until they finish with that change.

Greetings

Just a quick update about the couple of groups being organised to play cards in Almerimar. One regularly and one on an ad-hoc basis.

The progressive whist group is having it's 3rd regular Tuesday afternoon event later today. The events are organised via an Almerimar Progressive Whist WhatsApp group I set up.

The WhatsApp group I set up for experienced bridge players has now showed a bit of progress. A group of 4 people organised their own ad-hoc get together in Almerimar late last week. There are probably not enough people here to have regular events scheduled. However hopefully groups of 4 players will choose to meet from time to time on an ad-hoc basis.

We were out and about in the marina late this morning. After which we had lunch in the golf clubhouse.

We had a very nice meal. Not cheap but very enjoyable. They do a menu del día lunch on Monday to Friday for 15 euros including a drink.

Today we had a goats cheese salad and wok vegetables as shared starters. Followed by very good burgers each. They normally come with chips. However Jacqui swapped the chips for some salad.

We washed it all down with a couple of beers to start. Plus a bottle of house red ribera del duero.

Very enjoyable indeed.

Take a look here to a  trip back in time for Almerimar Today.

This example is from 2009. There are many more archives of the site there that I did not know existed until today.

The waybackmachine looks like an awesome site.

I now know that you can get passport photos taken in Almerimar. In the photography shop in Porto Fino. On the left as you turn in to the port at the golf clubhouse roundabout. 5 euros for 8 photos.

That has saved us a trip to El Ejido.

This article was first published in November 2019.

UPDATED 9 JANUARY 2020: We are running our first trial event this coming Tuesday afternoon (14 January). So far we have 14 people interested in taking part. Please get in touch soon if you are interested in taking part this coming Tuesday. Or in subsequent events. We will then add you to the Almerimar Progressive Whist Whatsap group.

This idea came about following a discussion between members of the El Ejido Bowls Club. (Watch out for some advertising about the bowls club on here soon - as the EEBC committee is looking for more people to try out playing short mat bowl in a venue close to Almerimar.)

There is already a Whatsapp group for people in Almerimar who want to play bridge here on ad-hoc occasions. As yet, the group has not yet organised the first game together. However people in the group are now saying when they are in town. To see whether there is a group of 4 or more experienced players who want to play together here in the near future.

The latest suggestion is for a progressive whist group in Almerimar. So a progressive whist Whatsapp group is being set up.

We plan to play on Tuesday afternoons starting in January 2020. On Tuesdays throughout the year when enough people say they are interested in playing.

The venue will be the pensioners club at the back of Porto Fino. We will play in the afternoon for a couple of hours (with a break half way through). So perhaps starting at a time to be agreed between 16:00 or 17:00. Finishing at no later than 19:30 (as we have been told that is the latest that the centre shuts).

The timing is likely to be a bit flexible at first as we will all be learning the format of the event. Our guess is that the speed of play will improve once the group has met a few times.

It is likely that we will have our first trial event on Thursday 14 January 2020. Where some members of the bowls club will show us how progressive whist events are run.

The progressive part of the name is about moving between tables on the afternoon we play whist. Each table has 4 players and you move from one table to the next. When you have finished playing a game.

We do not need exact 4s to play. We need at least 8 players. We can cope with 1 or 2 extra from exact groups of 4. In this case everyone drops out occasionally during the event. However 3 extra players is awkward to handle. So 8, 9 10, 12, 13, 14, 16 players on an afternoon is ok. 11 or 15 players is not OK.

Entry into an event will be on a first come first served basis.

It does not have to be the same people each week. There is just a winner on the day of the event. So it would not be a commitment to play every week. We would  run an event if 8+ people say they want to play that week (and someone offers to organise the event - the organisation each week is likely to be a floating responsibility - not the same person each week).

There would be a small entry fee of something like 1 euro a person. With a prize being given to the winner(s) on the day.

If you are interested in taking part in progressive whist events in Almerimar please get in touch. We will then add you to the Whatsapp group.

The story here on the Eye On Spain site provides some hostory about the tradition of eating 12 grapes at the end of the year. An interesting read.

The article here on the Diario de Almería site describes plans for a modernisation of the Almería football stadium. The aim is to have the stadium open again by September 2020. My guess is that some preparation work might be done during this season. However I guess that the bulk of the work will be done in summer 2020.

The original stadium can be seen in the bottom half of the photo above. At the moment there are temporary stands on the running track behind the goals. It looks like these will be removed. With the new roof covering what was the running track when the stadium was used for the Mediterranean games in 2005. The idea is to keep the sun off the people in the stands.

A lot of fans had hoped that the pitch would be lowered. However this work is not being proposed as it would take too long.

Read More for a Google translation of the article.

I found this really useful article about cuts of meat in Spain. From the Eye on Spain website.

Following Hannah's recent request for places to go for New Year's Eve. Rob from La Envía has been in touch about their event. Plus their golf competition. Plus details of their Christmas Eve buffet dinner.

Just a couple of bits and pieces about water in Almerimar....

We are just back from England where we were representing El Ejido Bowls Club in an international short mat bowls competition. While we were there I had to scrape the ice off the windows of a car for the first time in 15 years.

On our return here it was pouring with rain overnight. Plus it continued throughout this morning. Thank goodness it appears to be clearing up a bit now.

The other water related thing is the pressure of the cold water supply in our apartment. During the few days we were appear it appears that there has been a change in the water supply. The cold water supply to our apartment is now gushing out of the taps really strongly. It was so strong it was splashing out of the sinks. So we had to turn down the main supply into the apartment.

I have no idea why the water pressure has changed. If anyone has any idea please can you let me know.

There is an interesting article here on the Olive Press site. About 90 km/h speed cameras on motorways in Spain not allowing for the fact that you can go faster if you are overtaking.

Here is a quote from the article:

"An Automovilistas Europeos Asociados (AEA) statement said cameras on motorways were fining ‘anyone’ travelling above the speed limit without acknowledging a driver overtaking is permitted to speed up to 109km/h in this situation."

I was looking at various Spanish websites and spotted the article here on the Diario de Almería website.

The article contains photos and information about film locations used in the province of Almería. It is worth having a look at the article to see the photos.

Read More for a Google translation of the article.

This idea came about following a discussion between members of the El Ejido Bowls Club. (Watch out for some advertising about the bowls club on here soon - as the EEBC committee is looking for more people to try out playing short mat bowl in a venue close to Almerimar.)

There is already a Whatsapp group for people in Almerimar who want to play bridge here on ad-hoc occasions. As yet, the group has not yet organised the first game together. However people in the group are now saying when they are in town. To see whether there is a group of 4 or more experienced players who want to play together here in the near future.

The latest suggestion is for a progressive whist group in Almerimar. So a progressive whist Whatsapp group is being set up.

We plan to play on Tuesday afternoons starting in January 2020. On Tuesdays throughout the year when enough people say they are interested in playing.

The venue will be the pensioners club at the back of Porto Fino. We will play in the afternoon for a couple of hours (with a break half way through). So perhaps starting at a time to be agreed between 16:00 or 17:00. Finishing at no later than 19:30 (as we have been told that is the latest that the centre shuts).

The timing is likely to be a bit flexible at first as we will all be learning the format of the event. Our guess is that the speed of play will improve once the group has met a few times.

It is likely that we will have our first trial event on Thursday 14 January 2020. Where some members of the bowls club will show us how progressive whist events are run.

The progressive part of the name is about moving between tables on the afternoon we play whist. Each table has 4 players and you move from one table to the next. When you have finished playing a game.

We do not need exact 4s to play. We need at least 8 players. We can cope with 1 or 2 extra from exact groups of 4. In this case everyone drops out occasionally during the event. However 3 extra players is awkward to handle. So 8, 9 10, 12, 13, 14, 16 players on an afternoon is ok. 11 or 15 players is not OK.

Entry into an event will be on a first come first served basis.

It does not have to be the same people each week. There is just a winner on the day of the event. So it would not be a commitment to play every week. We would  run an event if 8+ people say they want to play that week (and someone offers to organise the event - the organisation each week is likely to be a floating responsibility - not the same person each week).

There would be a small entry fee of something like 1 euro a person. With a prize being given to the winner(s) on the day.

If you are interested in taking part in progressive whist events in Almerimar please get in touch. We will then add you to the Whatsapp group.

It is now getting pretty chilly here later in the afternoon. So our fleeces are being seen regularly. Also it is a lot colder overnight. So we now have our heavy duvet out of storage.

Sadly, it looks like we are due for quite a bit of rain on Friday. In which case we may have to cancel the regular Friday golf competition this week.

Also, the golf course is probably the best I have seen it for a good number of years. It is great fun and difficult to play now. Particularly the fast and hard new greens.

Earlier this week Jacqui and I went to Nerja. To meet up with some of her family who had flown over to Spain. We were walking around Nerja and spotted a bar called CKs. I then remembered that CK's in Almerimar closed a long time ago. With the owners moving closer to the Costa del Sol. I have completely forgotten that they had moved to Nerja.

I have been asked to advertise this item for sale for one of the readers. If you are interested in purchasing it please get in touch with me. I will then put you in touch with the owners.....

"I wonder if it is possible to sell a travel cot with a mattress (11cm thick) and two sets of sheets on Almerimar Today? 40 Euros, barely used."