An Afternoon In Almeria, Spain - Culture, Food & Hidden Gems

Last month the event at a cultural center we planned on visiting, meant for clothes and book swaps was cancelled due to bad weather. I didn't love it because I have so much to get rid of and hoped that this way things would get a second life without me having to spent hours on taking pictures, dealing with low-ball offers as well as packaging and shipping. I only took out the really good stuff to list online and the rest went into big bags sorted between girls, women's and men's clothes.

I had no idea if there would be anything for us there but either way, I was happy to part with a full moving box of clothes easily as I still have lots of items left to sell or give away. Turns out kids grow really fast, lol. We've never been to this cultural center where the event was held so I had no clue the walk from the parking spot to the center would contain a very steep walk up but also show us a totally different area than we've ever seen in the city. We don't like this big city too much but in the past year we are discovering more and more hidden spots that change our mind at least a bit.

Here you can see one of the many locks on the gate in the middle of the square. I yet have to check what it's about but haven't found time to do so.

We still would not want to live in the center of this city but I'm always very grateful to find these cute hidden gems and realizing that we live here, well not in that city but within a short drive. The cultural center itself was located near the castle, which I've only seen from very far up until this weekend, but the best thing was that that steep walk up made us pass several (little and bigger) restaurants with the best ambiance!

We drove to the city of Almeria to discover this hidden gem of a cultural center and then discover on the spot that this was located right next to the Alcazaba of Almeria. Although our daughter had a school trip there last month, we never saw it any closer than from the highway when driving to the city. The walk from our parking spot in the middle of the center (we got really lucky to find one of the few spots) turned out to be filled with cute hidden streets filled with ambience!

At the cultural center, we got to speak English as the girl organizing the event spoke perfectly English and this spot is usually filled with a mix of expats and locals who meet up for events held there as well as the musical events they often have. I read about these many times but yet we never ended up there, now I know we will for sure check it out!

The rooftop terrace was packed with people, and no places left in the shade but from downstairs where the clothing and book trading held place we could hear the music as well as enjoy the coolness of the space at the same time.

Sadly, in the hour we sat there, there weren't many people visiting yet, so we ended up leaving the stuff and hoping to have some lunch at one of the places in that street. We managed to take home one book, a sweater and shirt for our daughter as well as two shirts for my boyfriend.

I let the girl know that I really missed these type of initiatives since leaving our home country where we even had a trading store where one could earn points by bringing unused second hand items and take home stuff in trade for points. It was a great system. Meanwhile, we got hungry, in my case, being pregnant let's call it "hangry" lol.

We asked if she had any tips for some food nearby and told us that the food is really good at the Moroccan restaurant a little down the street. They already had me convinced when I saw they had falafel, so that's where we ended up sitting.

Although there was a terrace as well and a patio, we sat inside because it was nice and cool as well as there was a very cute cat sleeping on a chair and my daughter insisted we had to stay there so she could pet her when she woke up. We are weak when it comes to cats, so we agreed, haha.

Not long after a beautiful other cat walked in and kindly accepted all the petting offered by us three while we waited for our food to arrive. I swear I never had a falafel this good and I had no idea that a falafel could be this light without the garlic being too much for my stomach to handle. The combination of homemade curry (I think) sauce was amazing. I ordered a second round because I knew I'd regret it otherwise.

The second round was even better because it had parsley as a garnish instead of the salad that I didn't fancy much. But the falafel and sauce were mouth watering! If you ever visit the Alcazaba in Almeria, go there, I promise you will not regret it!

My boyfriend ordered kebab and it was HUGE compared to the average rolls you normally order at kebab places. This one contained much better and fresher ingredients for sure, he never had any issues from eating it, and he said it was really good.

Our daughter went for a chocolate lunch and had a homemade cake (sorry the picture is really bad so I'll leave it to your imagination) as well as a chocolate milkshake which I didn't capture.

Meeting someone friendly in the cultural center who values giving items a second or even third life just as we do, being able to speak a bit of English (this is mostly appreciated by my boyfriend, haha) and finding some cute little streets as well as extremely good food on a premium location of the city made me realise and speak out loud how grateful I am to live here.

It's easy to get stuck in the traffic annoyance of the big city or the parking issues you face when visiting an event, but what makes it all worth it in the end is these moments of gratitude and realization what is good out there and those precious memories made with your loved ones.

We walked back to the car not with many items as we hoped but a filled stomach and I kept saying HOW good that falafel was for two days in a row. I was and am, grateful for that afternoon.

Then we noticed the flowers just before stepping back into the car and I had to capture nature's beauty to finish this great afternoon.

All pictures above are mine, taken with my phone...

[//]:# ([//]:# (!worldmappin 36.83993 lat -2.46990 long Cultural center in Almeria where locals and expats get together to organize and visit events of all sorts. d3scr))