Friday, May 25, 2018

Opera

Last week we needed to drive to Finestrat, a large commercial centre about 40 minutes away on the motorway. Our friends needed to go to so we clubbed together, then decided to return home on the normal road which takes in Altea. 
We booked a lovely little restaurant for lunch called Opera. Everything has a musical theme including the menu, my salad was Ravel. Inside the bar is constructed from an old piano with lots of instruments adorning the walls. With sea views its charming.
They do the most amazing salads, such a wide variety of leaves, melon, pineapple, grapes, our friends were a little skeptical of รก salad´ but soon changed their minds.
I know its a bit sad to snap meals but......

 Goats cheese
 Prawns
 The dishes were deep and the photos don´t really do them justice



Even the coffees were served with flair
Worked out with meals, wine, soft drinks and coffee for 15 euros a head
Not bad.

We have an old Spanish rose in the courtyard, gnarled trunks, twisting and twinning around each other, most of it has unfortunately died, but it is such a feature and the furries use it as a scratching post and climbing frame to reach the roof

We now have another interested party involved, as you can see Felix and Monster are making their inspections
A couple of years ago we started to hear chomping and then wood dust started to fall, a serious amount too.
Its happened again this year, chomp chomp
This is what it is

Apparently it is a Spanish blue bee and they are making nests and burrows in the trunk,  judging by the noise and mess they must be making lots of tunnels.
They are quite large and make a noisy buzz when they fly
We had masonry bees at the farm but they were tiny in comparison.
They are not interested in us, but it´s worth ducking when they are flying around.

Have a good weekend, hope the weather is kind for the bank holiday
take care
xcx

8 comments:

  1. We have what we call Burrow Bee's and they eat wood and make a mess and are a real nuisance. I wonder if that's what killed the plant? We have problems with our wood deck and are constantly plugging up their holes to keep them out. Lunch looks and sounds wonderful. How fun to find a special little place like that. I always take pictures of food out...it always looks so pretty. Just the way all my meals at home do, LOL
    Sandy's Space

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    1. Amazing how much mess they make. We´ve had a bettle of some sort chomping from the inside out and needed to replace a door surround. It´s a lovely little treat to visit opera, hell to park in the summer though lol xcx

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  2. Those salads look amazing, goat's cheese for me please, and the restaurant sounds lovely, I love a theme like that. How nice to overlook the sea too. Felix and Monster look very interested in that Spanish blue bee, something I've never heard of before. Not sure I'd fancy one of those buzzing around me.

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    1. They are so filling no one had room for dessert even though choux buns with Belgian chocolate was on offer. The cheese was warm light and fluffy and far too much. The bees are so big it is a wonder they can fly xcx

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  3. Those meals are definitely snap worthy. I love seeing pictures of food and how clever people are making it look like a piece of art.... That bee is huge - sweet picture of the cats looking at it...
    Hugz

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    1. I know what you mean, I´m sure with some effort even baked beans could look arty lol. Felix spends alot of his time chasing bugs, he will just have to learn the hard way about wasps! xcx

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  4. Making blog rounds, thought I'd say hi and hope all is well with you.
    Sandy's Space

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    1. Hi, thanks for popping in, great to see you, all is good over here xcx

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