Karen Wright: Tapas or not tapas, that is the question

"Sitting in the sunshine with a lovely view, it was just marvellous."

I am now one week into my trip to Spain and am really getting the feel of the place. Sometimes a week is not quite long enough to properly unwind, find your way around and get into the swing of things in a new environment, but I am away for 12 days and that is just perfect.

Of course, I would love to be away even longer but work commitments are calling to me and I know I must return home and get stuck in and get organised for a very busy February.

Back to the here and now though.

I am sitting in our hotel room in Benidorm as I write this column.

We have just returned from a full day trip up into the mountains to a wonderful village called Guadalest.

It is hard to believe that the hustle and bustle of Benidorm is just a half hour’s drive away from this haven of peace and beauty.

I also, finally, managed to order a few plates of tapas for lunch.

I ordered the ubiquitous patatas bravas plus a portion of Russian salad, a slice of tortilla, a few meatballs and of course a plate of chips!

To stay totally in the groove I chose sangria to wash it all down with - sitting in the sunshine with a lovely view, it was just marvellous.

On the return journey to our hotel we called in at a roadside shop that caught my eye.

Oh my, I was in my element.

The shop was rammed with wonderful local ingredients and also some fabulous ceramics.

I couldn’t resist spending a few euros and bought some colourful tapas dishes, some massive oranges and some paella spices.

I can hardly wait to get home to Wakefield and recreate my tapas lunch using my new dishes to serve it on.

Also, I bought the spices so I need to cook paella too.

Watch out for next week’s column – it’s just going to have to be Spanish themed!