Hi Sarah & Mark.
Welcome to Spain!
I'm sure you'll love it here. Although you've arrived on the back-end of summer so you're not going to see a lot of sun for a while.
A lot of my friends live in La Duquesa and absolutely love it. Although I prefer a more traditional spanish area, to improve my spanish - La Duquesa's a bit too english for me :D
But I recommend Ciao Italian Restaurant, good options for vegetarians too, if you're that way inclined.
Alex