It's my birthday today, and tonight I am going to enjoy one of our favourite Spanish past times.going out for Tapas!

Our village apparently has about 49 different bars and restaurants, that is according to my friend here. So far we have found about half that number.

It took us a little while before we attempted to order Tapas.

The menus are all in Spanish and we were never too sure what we were ordering.

Now however, we are pleased to say we know the best places to go, and understand the menus, and the food is fabulous.

I love fish, as does our youngest son Nick, whereas Greg and Ben love meat, so by ordering the small portions of a number of different dishes we all share and get to try lots of different tastes.

My parents are over at the moment as well, so for the first time in four years we are going out together.

The place we will haunt this evening is actually a Pizzaria, but they have a varied menu. It is a small room, which in the winter months soon fills up.

In the summer however, they have lots of extra tables all set up outside.

They start to put them out about ten in the morning and use up parking spaces on the road. Every time a car moves, a little waiter appears from nowhere and places a table in the vacant space; by evening you are lucky to park anywhere near.

The traffic cruises by as you eat, and often drivers will stop by a table and have a quick chat with someone sat eating.

The traffic piles up behind them, but nobody seems to mind, and they all wait patiently until the conversation comes to an end.

So tonight I think I will start with Pulpo, a gorgeous dish of octopus warmed in olive oil and sprinkled with paprika.then I may have Magra in Salsa, a tasty dish of casseroled pork in a garlicky tomato sauce.

You get lots of French bread to mop up all the flavours and lovely crispy cubed, fried potatoes. They also do a fab pizza with a fried egg in the centre, and another dish of fried pork loin with a very garlicky cream sauce.

Oh and I almost forgot, I think I will also have some red wine, no I correct myself..

I will definitely have some red wine. After all what is the point of living in Spain if you don't like wine!