The nearest towns from where we’re staying in Spain are Benissa (inland) and Calpe and Moraira on the coast. Moraira is by far the prettiest and one of the most unspoilt towns on this part of the Costa Blanca.  Backed by mountains it offers some dramatic and often stunning views all along the coastal roads and with a choice of two routes from here we’ve taken to always driving along what we’ve come to call the ‘scenic route’. I always like going down to Moraira. There are lovely cafes, a great paella restaurant and some interesting little shops.

This morning on the way in we stopped at Algas cafe just outside Moraira for coffee which, as you can see from the photo above, has a wonderful location. The coffee was good and so were the tostadas we ordered, mine a simple tomato one and a typical Spanish breakfast choice. Jonathan and Lyndsey had Serrano ham with theirs too and it was all delicious. There was a nice sea breeze so Baby Gale was happy too, protected in the shade of one of the large umbrellas. The view out is beautiful and we happily sat there for a while.

That’s me above when I was there with Linda a couple of mornings ago. It’s been a regular haunt when I visit, either for morning coffee or early evening drinks.

Now The Single Gourmet Traveller can’t come to Spain without having a paella at least once. I just love paella. And Raco de l’Arros in Moraira is one of the best places to go. Family run it’s an authentic place serving a good choice of paella. The Spanish only eat rice at lunchtime; they think it’s not good for one’s digestion to eat rice at night. Lunchtime suited us fine as with Baby Gale it’s too difficult to go out at night. He obligingly slept through the meal and then woke in time to say hello to friendly staff and admire the colourful wall tiles. We ordered a meat and a seafood paella

It was fabulous. Such a deep, gorgeous flavour; tender prawns, langoustines, mussels and white fish. Linda and George told us the Spanish like their paella quite dry here but it was still nicely moist.

Jonathan chose a classic Valencian paella with rabbit, chicken and vegetables which was very good too. There was excellent house wine and some nice simple desserts. It was a lovely outing.

Another favourite place in the town is the shop Hendrika & Co., an interior design-gift ship. I discovered this last year and by chance the lovely Dutch owner, Rita, is a follower of my blog as I discovered when I asked to take photos. I paid a return visit on Monday with Linda and couldn’t resist buying a couple of small things.

Moraira is an ideal place for me: good restaurants, nice cafes and shops and a lovely walk along the seafront from the marina at one end to the beach at the other with some nice shaded ‘park’ areas in which to cool off.

Of course it can be very busy in high season so, much as I like a trip down to Moraira, it’s always lovely to return to the quiet and tranquillity of the house and have a swim in the pool.