I like that I can pretty much depend upon receiving a box of chocolates, a sweet card (as well as cards from each of our boys, cards that he takes them to pick out for me) and being treated to a romantic dinner. There's usually a larger gift too, sometimes flowers or cologne, or perhaps something else I've mentioned wanting, but more often than not, it's a gift card to a spa, something he knows I really enjoy.
I know my man has very little time to devote to shopping, and let's face it, our choices here in Spain are limited. It's pretty much the NEX or the NEX. Take your pick. And by the way, NEX translated = Navy Exchange, for all you non-military types. It's our version of a mini, mini, mini Wal-Mart. Comprende?
Anyway... back to my Valentine's Day story.
My hubby had been traveling the week of Valentine's Day. He returned on Friday the 13th, the night before the big holiday. (Doesn't that seem a little wrong... that Valentine's Day, the day of love, was preceded by Friday the 13th?) The next morning, he got up and made breakfast for everyone, only my plate was a little more special...
I hope I'm not getting my husband in trouble with his buddies here. I'm not trying to make other husbands look bad by bragging on mine. Can I help it if my husband is a good guy? Why should I hide that?We exchanged gifts, and as irony would have it, we gave one another gifts cards to the same spa. He likes a massage every now and again, and since I had NO CLUE what else to give him, that seemed like the obvious choice. I gave him chocolates and a card, and he gave me chocolates and a card. He took the boys to get cards for me and I made him the special Smilebox photo slideshow I showed you a while back... simple and easy, but fun and he loved it, as I loved the cards from the boys, both thoughtful in their own right.
We made plans to go out to dinner at a restaurant we'd both been to with other people, but not together as a couple. We called a taxi so we could actually be comfortable in drinking some wine without being afraid of being pulled over for a breathalyzer on the way home. Little did we know, the restaurant in which we'd planned on dining is closed to the public on Saturday nights, as are several restaurants in town, so we were told. Evidently Saturday is a big group party night. Who knew? Well, we do now, but we didn't know then.
Of course the taxi had already left, and we had no idea where we were going to eat. We asked the nice folks in the original restaurant if they had any recommendations, and they gave us a couple. We ended up walking a few blocks to a hotel/apartment complex called La Espadaña Aparthotel, and the restaurant inside is called Los Olivos. Turns out this place was the perfect choice!
La Espadaña was really cute and clean, and at least a couple of the employees spoke English, so that was a bonus for us. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera, so the only photos I can share with you are internet photos of the outside...
Once inside the restaurant, we were seated right away as we were among the "early dinner crowd" at almost 9pm. The restaurant had a bar area with a separate small dining room off to the side. I looked around the room and noticed there were valentine decorations, which were a pleasant surprise, as I didn't expect to see these in Spain. There were red felt heart-shaped napkins rings with a small red acrylic bead in the center and multi-sized red crepe hearts hung from the ceiling throughout the room. Each table was adorned with a bud vase containing one long-stem red rose, baby's breath and a wooden red heart with a ladybug (lovebug) on a long pick. A beautiful floral arrangement of red, pink and white carnations with huge pink lilies and baby's breath sat in one corner of the room. It was all very pretty and tastefully done.
We were treated to nice background music, not too loud, not too faint... just right. It was nice to hear a familiar tune by Michael Bublé (Perfect for Valentine's Day, wouldn't you say?). Of course I would have chosen to skip Cher and the Dixie Chicks, but that's just me.
We opted for a bottle of Merlot, which was really good, and I'm not usually a red wine drinker. Dinner was served in courses... king prawns with a delicious sauce for starters, followed by a salad consisting of salad greens, pistachio and pine nuts and orange slices with a yogurt dressing. We were also served slices of cooked zucchini with a tasty meat sauce. I ordered sea bass with a shrimp & mushroom sauce and my hubby ordered a pork dish for the main entree. Served along with my seafood were a combination of sauteed onions with red and green peppers. Dessert was a delectable chocolate brownie with nuts, ice cream, whipped cream and a creamy sweet sauce drizzled over the top. Champagne topped off our meal and we were absolutely stuffed afterward.
We decided to walk along the boardwalk for a while after leaving the restaurant. We enjoyed clear skies and a relatively warm night as we strode hand in hand, talking about anything and everything. I wish we had more opportunities to do things like this together... to be totally relaxed, in no rush and having each other's full attention. We should celebrate Valentine's Day more often.
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