Alicante

Day One
After flying to Alicante, we arrived at the apartment in Gran Alacant; a lovely spot, on a hill overlooking the sea and with views of Alicante city. The conditions were overcast but it was still bright and warm. It was getting on towards late afternoon but we thought we’d take a stroll down the hill to investigate the beach. It’s quite a steep hill and about 15 minute walk. Half way down the hill there was thunder and fork lightning lighting up the sky over Alicante and the mountains in the distance. The sky rapidly darkened and the winds got strong we lost sight of the hills due to rain in the distance.

We decided to abandon the beach investigation and it started raining. It was still warm but we went towards an area we knew had some bars and cafes so we could seek shelter and maybe get some food. Before we could find full shelter the rain got heavier. Once inside the hail storm started. Hail, thunder and a crack of lightning that was almost directly overhead. We’d never heard anything so loud. We sheltered in a Spanish bar with half a dozen old men playing bridge. The hail came down in large pieces – the size of golf balls. A local girl ran in, she’d been caught out and suffered a direct hit on her forehead from the hail and was in a bit of a state. The locals were obviously not used to this kind of weather. Later we heard on the news that they had measured rainfall of 38 litres per square metre in 1 ½ hours!

After about 45 minutes, the weather improved and we decided to venture out. The streets were flooded with at least six inches of water. The strong winds had ripped lots of vegetation from trees and shrubs. The streets were a mess and a lot of cars had dimpled roofs and bonnets from the impact of the hail.

We went to a tapas place in the Carabassi area of Gran Alacant. There were lads picking up the hail and throwing it at each other like snowballs – solid ice?! That would have hurt!!

After dinner, we went back to the apartment and then on to a bar at a place nearer the apartment. It was a bar run by ex-pat’s. A lot of Brits were there and everyone was still talking about the storm. By now it was about 10pm, a good four hours since the storm and there were still sizeable lumps of ice on the ground – the weather wasn’t cold, we were wearing shorts still.

Day Two
After looking at some local information, we had seen that a town about three miles south of Gran Alacante would be an interesting place to visit. Santa Pola was a big fishing port and had a ferry to Tabarca island. We went to Santa Pola by bus and had a wander round the local market which was right next to the bus station. It was mainly clothes and fake watches but we saw some nice artwork – shame it wouldn’t have fitted in the suitcase!

We then walked to the harbour and out along the pier. The beaches in Santa Pola were all sandy and there were lots of people enjoying a swim. On the rocks along the side of the pier there were people fishing for crabs and some people with harpoons for catching octopus. Andrew was really keen to do some snorkelling and the main mission of the day was to find some good quality snorkelling gear for him. We found a great little shop, selling lots of snorkelling, diving and fishing gear. The owner did not speak English but we muddled our way through it and both came away with snorkelling gear including fins.

The coastline at Santa Pola was a long stretch of sand with occasional cafes. We decided to look for some lunch but kept walking past places that served tapas and paella but were put off by the fact they also served a full English breakfast! It was a long walk and we found ourselves heading out of Santa Pola so we turned around and headed back. We went away from the beach, hoping to find the town centre but alas we really struggled. We eventually found a cafe bar, full of Spanish people (always a good sign) that didn’t do any English food and had delightful seafood paella.

We were slightly disappointed by the time we left Santa Pola; we hadn’t managed to find any form of town centre but we were planning to return later in the week to go to the island. On the bus journey back to Gran Alacant, we got off the bus at the bottom of the hill, at the GA Centre (Gran Alacant, out of town shopping centre). The GA centre has a supermarket, Aldi and Lidl and several other little shops and a selection of restaurants and bars. We went to the supermarket to get some food for breakfasts, chorizo and a few other bits and bobs – Andy found his favourite Maxibon ice cream and was happy! It was also the first time we had been able to find fresh milk. It was a long walk back up the hill, carrying the shopping and the snorkelling gear. Good exercise!

There was more thunder, lightning and rain this evening but no hail! We saw lots of cars damaged from the previous day’s storm and people had put lots of plastic tables and chairs out for rubbish collection; they had holes in them from where the hail had hit them. The streets were still strewn with leaves from the high winds.

Dinner this night was at the Patagonia steak house. Gran Alacant has quite a large population of South American people and this was an Argentian theme steakhouse. The steaks were wonderful. We them went across the court yard to a place called “Not Just Desserts” – a cafe run by Brits that served meals but specialised in good British desserts – the lemon meringue pie was heaven!

Day Three
This day was warm and with patchy cloud but we thought we’d go to our local beach and go snorkelling. We got to the beach and got some loungers. We both went snorkelling and Alana had an encounter with a jellyfish. After a swim we went back to the loungers...... soon it started clouding over and the winds got up, blowing sand up. Even the hardiest of British tourists retreated and we went back to the apartment. It started raining and kept raining for quite a while so we had a BBQ at the apartment for lunch and some wine – a nice full bodied red that we’d got from the local winery (4 Euros for 2 litres)!

In Gran Alacant, there is a “train” like an open air, old fashioned bus, it does a circuit of Grant Alacant and it is quite a good way of seeing the place. Once the rain stopped we thought we’d go and catch it. We went to the stop and waited.... and waited..... and waited. In the end we gave up and got a bus to Arenales del Sol, a small town/village near the beach. Since it was still wet, not many people were out and Arenales did seem quite run down – it seems to have grown purely due to tourism. There was almost nothing open (too early for dinner) so we walked back along the beach, all the way to beach at Gran Alacant then up the hill to the apartment. In Arenales there are a lot of buildings built right next to a lovely long sandy beach. There was a lot of debris on the beach, presumably washed up by the storm and a lot of erosion – we saw in several places, concrete paths, roads and structures that have collapsed due to erosion.

After we got changed, we got the bus back to the GA centre. It was still raining! For dinner we went to Tokyo sushi, an “eat all you can” Chinese buffet which also did sushi. All the tables were located next to a big conveyor belt which had dishes going past and you could take a plate of whatever you wanted. Excellent! After dinner, once again we waited for the bus back up the hill. The GA train wasn’t running due to the wet weather but the bus never turned up – we waited for 45 minutes, chatting to some nice Danish people. We then gave in a trekked back up the hill. It’s not a bad walk, just 20 minutes, and it was still warm, even at 11pm.

Day Four
About eight miles inland from Gran Alacant, is a city called Elche. Looking at some information, it looked like a fascinating place to visit, with a lot of history and palm groves. Elche was designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 2001 site due to its palm plantations. It is also famous for its shoe making industry

To get to Elche, we had to get the bus to Santa Pola and then another bus from Santa Pola to Elche. The wait between buses was 50 minutes so we took a walk into Santa Pola while waiting..... and we found the town centre! Since Santa Pola had grown up around fishing and then the tourism we were surprised that the centre was quite a distance from the sea front area – but nonetheless we had found it.

Once in Elche, we had a map that showed two different walks for tourists, exploring the history of Elche and the different aspects of the Palms which are very much part of Elche. We decided to merge both walks into one and Andrew was in charge of the map. There is a long history of the Virgin Mary being part of Elche’s history and there are some beautiful buildings. We went to the Basilica of Santa Maria in the heart of Elche. It was beautiful, inside and out and the views from the top of the tower were superb, extending over both the old parts of the city and the new parts which have grown up the other side of the river valley that runs through Elche. There are also some impressive bridges across this large creek.

There is also an old palace, lots of museums and many other old buildings, including some ancient Arabic baths. We couldn’t go round the Palacio de los Altamira because it was cordoned off due to some television filming. This was a shame but there were certainly no shortage of things to see.

We had lunch at a little Spanish cafe which served a set menu of tapas for two people. It was lovely food and in particular there was a dish of small white fish cooked in olive oil. If it wasn’t on a set menu we probably wouldn’t have tried it but it was delicious.

The palm groves are present in the entire history of Elche, and the irrigation systems developed to allow their cultivation is quite impressive. The poor quality, brackish water is perfect for the palms and there were hundreds of date palms even in the heart of the old city and citrus trees, almonds, pomegranates and figs were grown amongst them. The palms are grown and harvested for dates; we were able to try fresh dates which are very different from the sweet, sticky dried dates that we normally find. There is also locally produced drink called Datil – alcoholic liquor made from dates, 23% alcohol. The walking was fueled by a selection of fresh and naturally dried dates and a cake of dried figs with almonds. Delicious

We went to a botanical garden which had specimens of almost every type of palm tree in the world. They also had lots of different cacti from around the world – many of which grow all over the region due to the climate. Andrew fell in love with the koi in the ponds! It was a wonderful place.

After the botanical garden, we went to the palm museum and then around the plantation. It was fascinating, how they grow.

By the time we left Elche, it was 7.30 pm. We had walked miles but had really enjoyed the day. We got the bus back to Santa Pola then on to Gran Alacant. After cleaning up we were by now in the local routine of dinner being between 8 pm and 10 pm. We ate at ‘Claudia’s’, a grill house with an Eastern European theme run by a lady from Romania.

Day Five
When we got up, the weather looked like it promised good day and we had so far had no successful beach time! After breakfast, we went back to Gran Alacant beach. Even arriving just before 11 am it was lovely and warm. We both went for a swim but Andrew stayed out considerably longer, snorkelling and playing with his new toy – a waterproof digital camera! He was keeping an eye out and avoided the jellyfish this time.

By 1.30 pm, it was getting hot we headed back to the apartment for a relaxing lunch with a glass of wine! Very civilised! After the siesta, we managed to get the tour of Gran Alacant on the little train. It was larger than we had realised and every urbanisation had its own good selection of little shops, bars and restaurants. We got off the train at the GA centre to top up on a few bits of food and water. It was gone 3pm by now but Alana was suffering a bit with the heat – until now we had managed very well.

For dinner, Alana had bought lots of fresh fish from the supermarket. Three types for less than 2 Euros, sardines, squid and whitebait. Andrew had a real treat!

Day Six
This day, we went to the city of Alicante, only 10 miles north it is a bustling city with a big port and a spectacular castle. Like the whole region and Elche, there are a lot of historical buildings as well as a very modern city, much busier than Elche.

We went to a water museum, detailing how they obtain, store and transport water in the hot, dry climate. Quite an engineering feat! Before a modern system, they had hollowed two huge chambers in the hill/mountain rock near the castle which stored water. After these were no longer needed they were used as air raid shelters in the war.

Lunch was some more Spanish food at a restaurant, where Andrew was introduced to gazpacho and we both tried a desert which was a Spanish version of a crème caramel – Crema Catalun. Delicious!

On the way back to the bus station, we went into the amphitheatre where the bull fighting takes place. There was a museum section which had pictures, information and costumes of some of the most famous Matadors (bull fighters) in Spain. Some of the capes were torn and had blood on them. The heads of some big bulls had been stuffed and mounted on walls. The heaviest one we saw was 570 kg. It was quite grotesque but when we sneaked a peak at the actual amphitheatre which was impressive and you can imagine the atmosphere at a big event – whether a modern bullfight or a historical gladiator fight.

The central, indoor market of Alicante is in an impressive building, the Mercado Central de Abastos. We found a little bakery, selling delicious chocolates and Spanish style pastries, we purchased a couple of items, including Manchegos – they didn’t last long. The Alicante and Elche region is also known for its nougat. We bought some Alicante nougat with almonds which is hard and some marzipan with candied fruit in it. Elche produces its own nougat with almonds which is soft.

Dinner was tapas at Cafe Hispania, run by a retired builder and his wife, both from Belgium; they took early retirement to Spain and were very nice people. They had truly immersed themselves in Spanish life. They introduced us to honey schnapps; stronger than other schnapps but very nice; the sweet honey and after taste was reminiscent of Oban whisky which has honey tones.

Day Seven
One our last full day in Spain, we got a prompt start, getting the bus to Santa Pola. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to browse the Saturday market which had lots of fresh fruit and veg and looked more interesting than the weekday market. Our destination was the harbour and the ferry to Tabarca Island. The ferry was a catamaran and had a glass bottom – when we approached the island, the boat slowed and we were able to view the seaweed, corals and lots of fish. The island is less than a mile long and 400 metres wide. The beaches were all shingle and rocks with lots of interesting rock pools but the currents meant we couldn’t investigate safely. Some of the small beaches where “spongy” underfoot – due to a significant depth of seaweed that had been washed up and was gradually building up and rotting down. At the northern most end of the island was a cemetery and in the centre, what looked like either a small fort or old prison! There weren’t really any trees but instead this central building was surrounded by an orchard of cacti!

The island is permanently inhabited but is very small and obviously relies on fishing and tourism. After the walk round we returned to the main beach, where there were quite a few people and a couple of boats moored. We donned snorkelling gear and went for a long paddle! It was fantastic – so many different fish. Through the thick seaweed we couldn’t see much else but it was good nonetheless.

After a good swim, we had a final lunch, the seafood restaurant was and you could buy dishes of lobster by the kilo – tempting but expensive. A wide selection of seafood was consumed however before heading back to the harbour and back to the mainland.

Dinner was a matter of using up bits of food in the apartment, also giving us the time to pack. Andrew wasn’t disappointed with Alana serving up Spanish style chorizo in red wine and some other delights!

Day Eight
Sadly, a week had passed and we had to return home. All in all, we really enjoyed a much needed break in Gran Alacant. When talking about it, we decided that Elche was definitely our favourite place and we had a wonderful day. The only thing that Elche didn’t have was the beach, but if you live there it was only half an hour’s drive to the coast. The palms and gardens were wonderful and a great place to walk or sit to enjoy a picnic during the siesta time. The opportunity to eat as much seafood as we wanted was great – it was just a matter of finding the right places and steering clear of the English breakfast, burger and chips establishments!

We would like to go back at some point and discover more of Alicante, Elche and venture down to Torrevieja.

Despite being mid-September, it was still hot and sunny. We were careful with sun and heat and coped well but agreed that we weren’t sure if either of us could cope in high summer – particularly Alana!

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