Walk to the top of Cruz de Juanar

It’s Sunday now and I’ve just realised how far behind I am on the blog.  Mind you, apart from our walk up the mountain, we haven’t done an awful lot except sit on the beach or sit in the van (it’s been raining for the last couple of days 😦 )

So on Tuesday it turned out to be a lovely day and we finally made it down to the beach.  There was enough wind for the waves to be rolling in quite nicely, but we positioned ourselves beside the breakwater and had a patch of calm water to paddle in (I got in up to my waist – it was rather cold…)

Calm waters (taken from the water!)
Cabopino Playa
The other side of the breakwater

We popped down the shop in the afternoon, forgetting that it was still a bank holiday and most were shut.  But we found a Supercor express open and got a few essentials (San Miguel, an Oreo cheesecake….)

On Wednesday we headed back to do our mountain walk.  It was another beautiful day and we made sure we had plenty of liquids and snacks.  I even remembered my hat!  Continue reading “Walk to the top of Cruz de Juanar”

Walk to the Miradors – del Cruzo & Macho Montana. Monday 27th Feb 2017

Today was my favourite day so far since we arrived at this location.  The day dawned bright, warm and sunny – perfect for a walk up into the mountains (on the trail that we found a few days ago in the rain).

We booted up, packed a drink, an apple and our wet coats and set off (via the bike shop to try to get a chain for Calv’s bike -no luck unfortunately).

It was busy up the mountain today, unlike last Thursday, because it’s a bank holiday over here.  It started off quite fresh, but we gradually shed our layers as it warmed up.

There are 2 viewpoints to walk to.  The first, del Cruzo, takes you off the main path on a loop (the viewpoint ‘entrance’ is shown in the main photo of this post – sloping steps, my favourite!) Continue reading “Walk to the Miradors – del Cruzo & Macho Montana. Monday 27th Feb 2017”

Friday 24th Feb 2017 – Sun at last?:)

I’ve woken up this morning, and for some reason gone back and looked back at a couple of my posts from last year – namely those in the Pyrenees, a spot we adored and will most definitely visit again. Day 10 – Thursday 9th June. The Pyrenees – wow! Day 11 – Friday 10th June 2015. Gavarnie.

These 2 posts really took me back and made me realise that I cannot wait to return!

Today sun is forecast, and so far it’s delivering, so, after popping a wash on and getting it out on the line we’re intending to spend some time down on the beach.  Calv is currently on the roof cleaning off the skylights.  The rain at times brings with it the desert sands and leaves a red tinge on everything – it’s quite bizarre.

Having seen cats on leads during our travels we thought we’d seen it all, but a couple of days ago Calv spotted this at a van, a British van, a couple of rows up from us:-

Yes – it really is a rabbit on a lead!  This lady is travelling with Continue reading “Friday 24th Feb 2017 – Sun at last?:)”

Thursday 23rd- a rainy day on the Costa del Sol

We knew it was going to rain today and had already decided to visit La Canada, a Centro Commercial near to Marbella.  Not that we’re really into shopping – we just wanted to have a look really.

The centre is situated at the point where the A7 and AP7 converge – you head onto the road towards Ojen and come straight to the entrance.  It’s very impressive, and new, and very much aimed at the British.  Having said that amongst the well known British High Street names there are plenty of Spanish stores.  It is a bit expensive though in some stores.

I did buy a top in H&M and we got a few bits in the, small but perfectly formed, M&S Food ‘Hall’ (Hall is pushing it a bit…)

Calv did have a couple of complaints though.  The workmanship (this is a recurring theme) and the fact that the female cleaner had no qualms about mopping around the urinals whilst they were in use!

We’d also decided to go on a little drive up into the mountains culminating, hopefully, in a visit to Mijas Pueblo, one of the whitewashed villages in the hills above the resorts.

So we headed off towards Ojen on what turned out to be a really good road.  We stopped at a viewpoint above Ojen itself, which afforded rather lovely views, despite the murky conditions.

dsc_0001 Continue reading “Thursday 23rd- a rainy day on the Costa del Sol”

Gibraltar – Tuesday 21st February 2017

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I started this post last night while it was still fresh in my mind – unfortunately it had disappeared by the time I came to finish it.  Now I’ve got to remember everything all over again!

First to get us up-to-date.  We arrived here at Cabopino (Calahonda nearer to Marbella than Malaga) on Thursday.  The site is okay and we settled in quite quickly as we’re staying here for 3 weeks – it’s just a shame that it’s directly on the main Costa del Sol road.  Mind you it looks like it’s pretty impossible to avoid that if you want to be located near the beach.

It’s not particularly cycle friendly (mainly because of the location and reliance on the A7) although Calv has been out and about (and managed to snap his chain…)  He’s fixed it, of a fashion, but does need a new one.  He’s also identified some work arounds for cycling, so I will be going out at some point!

We’ve also been out for a couple of long walks.  There’s a boardwalk along the beach here, and also a bit past the port.  The one nearest to us is to protect the dunes mainly, but during the week we will be able to cycle along it.

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However, we quickly realised that in order to really appreciate a bit more of the area we would need a car, so on Monday we picked one up for 10 days.  What a painless process that was!  We were then able to go shopping without having to worry about how much we bought.  But we’re now very much into the habit of not buying what we don’t need, so didn’t spend that much anyway 🙂

In the afternoon we dropped down on the A7 to Marbella.  We tried a couple of times to find a road down to the beach with no luck, so decided to continue onto Puerto Banus.  This wasn’t at all what we were expecting.  As we wandered through the port we were accosted by scores of hawkers wandering around.  Calv’s comment was ‘It’s not Monaco is it?’ We were definitely in the right place as it was lined with designed stores!  I expect it’s different when the sun’s out.

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With the car we were able to go along the coast to visit Gibraltar, which is about 60 miles from where we’re staying.  Calv has never been and I’ve visited once about 10/11 years ago.

We returned to old habits and managed to get lost in the border town, La Linea de la Concepcion, having decided that we wouldn’t take the SatNav as “it couldn’t be that difficult to find”..  Not somewhere you want to get lost…  Anyway we pulled up Google maps and found our way to the big car park by the border.  It costs 1.80 per hour to a maximum of 14.40 per day (Euros that is).

We had no problems going through – this is a busy crossing!  Don’t forget your passports!

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We were inappropriately dress in shorts and t-shirt as the weather we looked at turned out to be lying to us.  Also we didn’t check the wind speed.  We should have checked the wind speed!  It was VERY windy.  Also the clouds, I think they call them the Levant, hung around for most of the day.  Luckily we walked a lot which kept us warm 🙂

So we took the bus over the runway and into the city centre.  After breakfast in ‘Little Rock’  in Casemate Square we wandered the main street of shops (which included M&S, Next, Dorothy Perkins & Monsoon) and saw the government buildings and also the courthouse, where barristers were milling outside and there was a camera crew outside – presumably waiting for a newsworthy verdict to come in.

When we came to the end of the street we turned round with the intention of going off up one of the little side streets, I fancied visiting the Victorian Police Station, but we didn’t actually make it there.

Instead we went up Bombhouse Lane and found the Gibraltar Museum.  We took a while to decide to go on in, because it sort of undersells itself.  There are archaeological remains in there together with some pretty well preserved Turkish Bath remains that existed in the house itself.  It cost just £2 each to visit and was well worth it.  Thoroughly recommend it. (No photography allowed though).

Look out for the red plaques on buildings as they give you historical information.  We then made our way along Lovers Lane and the bastions to find the cable car.  We could see it in the distance so just headed that way!  It costs just over £10 for a one way trip, just over £12 for a return or just over £20 (each) for a one way trip and a ticket to visit the attractions in the nature reserve, which entails walking back down.  We went for the last option.  Once at the top we went out onto the terrace of the café and were very nearly blown away, the wind was vicious up there!  But we saw our 1st macaques of the day 🙂

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Brooding
Calv thought you might have drunk in here Kathy?

We then headed off to explore.  We lost our map early on; no idea how but Calv thinks the wind snatched it out of my hand and I was so busy trying to stay on my feet that I didn’t notice!  Anyway this, eventually, meant that we missed St Michael’s Cave as we thought we’d gone the wrong way – as it turned out we were just too impatient!  So we turned back too early and headed on down towards the other side of the rock to see the attractions that I didn’t see the 1st time I visited, namely, The Siege Tunnels, WWII Tunnels and the Moorish Castle.  It’s rather a long walk, even though we shortened it a little by walking down a closed road (our rationale being that it was only closed to cars as it was easy to walk around the barrier).  It did mean we didn’t have to play chicken with the taxis for a while.  Which was nice.. 🙂

We visited both the Siege Tunnels and the Moorish Castle and I was impressed with both.  I didn’t realise how ignorant I was of the history of Gibraltar before coming here today.  I now know, for instance, that Spain itself has only held the Rock for 33 years in the last 800 or so, and the Siege tunnel was built to wait out the 3 year siege laid by the Spanish with French reinforcements.

The tunnels are a mine of information which really brings the history to life.  It’s worth carrying on to the end, even though it’s like walking down a wind tunnel.  Calv thought it would be funny to tell people that there was a nice café at the end…

The inside of the castle was unexpected.  For instance the ceilings inside are domed and I found out that the King had a suite of rooms which included a heated shower!  Whilst interesting there’s little to see in there and so the visit is short, although the top of the tower does provide an excellent viewpoint of the runway to watch take-offs and landings.

On leaving the castle you’re on the last stretch back down to the main drag.  I spotted some ‘Castle Steps’ on the right of the road and persuaded Calv that this was probably a quicker way to go.  He wasn’t too convinced that I wasn’t going to get us lost again but, although there were a lot of steps, it brought us out opposite Peacocks in the Main Street.  We were thinking of stopping somewhere for a cup of tea and a slice of cake but were so tired that we headed straight back to the car.

On leaving the car park we stayed on the coast road and spotted the Aire, that we’d been told about, on the Eastern side of the peninsula.  The wind was still really high and I took this video of the waves – it doesn’t really show just how rough the water was though. (The video is at the beginning of the post as it keeps putting it there and I’m getting cross now…!)

We decided to pay the toll on the way back (a total of 5.10Euros) back to Marbella, but much quicker.  As it was quite late and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast (and had walked about 8 miles since) we ended up in McDonalds.  And we had McFlurrys…  I doubt we’ll be doing that again for a while!

Today (Wednesday) we are both aching all over, so we walked over to the beach and the port to make sure we didn’t seize up completely.  Calv managed to get in a bit of beachcombing as well 🙂  (We also found where we’ll be watching the rugby on Saturday).

Cheers 🙂  See you again soon x

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Feb 14th – Onwards to Granada to visit the Alhambra Palace

There is definitely something about this touring lark that keeps you young. We’ve moved on from Balerma and are now at a Cat 2 site in Suspiro del Moro, just south of Granada.

On the bar at Suspiro del Moro
View from Suspiro del Moro

 

We were on our own here for a little while until another couple arrived with their caravan. They’re Swiss and chose to pitch up directly next to us (safety in numbers?!)

We’re both visiting the Alhambra tomorrow so have agreed to share a taxi there in the morning. I went in with Marie (for that is the lady’s name) to make sure we had the same timed tickets for the Alhambra (you are given times to visit..; we have to be up in time to get our taxi at 8.30am!!), and theirs cost 5euros each less than ours as they’re over 65. In fact she told us that she’s 80! We’ve met so many people of this sort of age and the main thing they have in common is that they look so much younger! Clearly we need to find a way to keep doing this J

Calv went out on his bike this afternoon and came back energised. It turns out he overtook a group of cyclists on a steep incline, and 1 of them made sure to catch him up (to see what bike he had, or how he was so fit!!) – unfortunately he couldn’t understand what the guy said to him, but he did think he looked fed up. So he overtook him again and went on his way. I did ask him to put my mind at rest – “You didn’t smirk at them as you went past did you? Please say you didn’t!” I remain unconvinced…(mainly due to the fact that he can’t rule it out).

Calv’s take on this is that the bloke was thinking;_ “Some fat old guy, wearing jean shorts, on a mountain bike with off road tyres and paniers on the back, has just flown past me. What’s going on? I’m wearing lycra and everything…”

Wednesday 15th February – The Alhambra Palace

After just 6 hours sleep I managed to get up in time for our taxi to The Alhambra Palace. Granada looks like a lovely city. Even in the outskirts it seems very much more ‘up together’ than some other Spanish cities. There’s a new hospital, a big new shopping centre, football stadium and lots of building (that hasn’t been abandoned…)

Shortly before arriving we saw residences built into the mountain that were clearly still being lived in. Their façade and a couple of feet of the house are in front of the hill with the rest of the house dug into the hill! We could also see many more examples from various towers once inside the Alhambra.

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It turns out that Marie and her husband, Martin, had to pay an additional 5 Euros for their tickets as, being Swiss and therefore not in the EU, they weren’t entitled to their pensioner discount!…

Once inside we started making our way around the complex. This is composed of some beautiful gardens and buildings, up to 800 years old, and also archaeological digs of Roman remains dotted around the place. Whilst there are moments of awe I’m afraid I found the overall feel to be fairly soulless – which really disappointed me. Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazing place and we were both glad we went, however we probably wouldn’t visit again.

When I go to historical monuments I like to be able to see information about each area I’m looking at – it helps to bring the building to life for me. At the Alhambra you can buy audioguides (I’m not so keen on these; Calv does like them but felt it was far too big an area to walk around listening to something (he would get bored!)) However there are very few signs throughout the complex, but where they were helped my understanding of what I was looking at.

My favourite area was the Parador – we had been told about this by the couple who had been coming to Spain for 57 years. They told us that when they first came they could stay there for £1 a night and that it’s now £180 a night! We were able to look at a small section of the old convent, and on the strength of this I told Calv that if he brought me to stay there for even 1 night he could get away with almost anything for at least a week!!

Then Prince Carlos V Palacio where you walk into a large square building:

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And find yourself in this space:

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I was NOT expecting that!! And I loved it – this was my WOW moment. (And free to visit – you don’t need a ticket for either this or the church next door).

The Alcazaba included roman baths and also a tall tower from which the views were amazing.

The Alhambra Palace
The Alhambra
The Alhambra Palace

The Nasrid Palace is where you are given a particular time to visit – so we were expecting great things. Whilst it was amazing in parts, there was very little variety as you walked from room to room, apart from the odd slightly different features – such as the holes in ceilings shaped as stars, and the different tiling throughout. Again, I feel that it could have been brought to life by providing information about the rooms you were in – for instance the 1st room we entered had, what I thought, was a minstrels gallery in it – however it turned out to be just the bannisters! What was it there for?!

Ceilings in the Nasrid Palace, Alhambra

It’s also a shame that there are so few facilities provided and the customer service staff appear to be less than enamoured with their jobs (this is not in the least bit unusual unfortunately).

There is a row of shops selling the usual things plus a workshop making marquety inlaid boxes and tables – here you can buy clocks, boxes containing backgammon, chess, poker and full games compendiums. You could dress up and have your photo taken (photos cost 50Euros though, so Calv tells me), and there was pottery for sale.

Water is a theme throughout the complex. Apparently there was a complicated system devised to supply water and there are numerous fountains and ponds. Everywhere you go you can either hear or see water gurgling away.

Water feature in the Alhambra

Our allotted time for our visit in total was 8.30am to 2pm. We left at 1.40pm! We jumped in a taxi to go back to the van (luckily we remembered where we were staying!) With a mile and a half to go we came to a dead stop. Nobody knew why; there were police up ahead blocking the road. Although we were having a nice chat with our young driver after 10 minutes we decided to go the rest of the way on foot (back up the hill that Calv had overtaken the cyclist on yesterday). Just after crossing the road that was closed off by the police we found out what the hold-up was – another cycling race (I saw Team Sky go through..) that clearly none of the drivers knew anything about!

Marie & Martin weren’t yet back by the time we arrived (about 4pm), in fact they were another hour or more behind us. They were so shattered after their day out they had to stay an extra night before moving onto Cordoba.

We did have some new neighbours though.

Balermo – near Roquetas de Mar Almerimar

On Saturday it was time to move on again.  We know that we have to leave a bit earlier to be sure of getting a spot at our chosen site.  So we were ready to go by about 9.30am!  We said goodbye to our lovely neighbours, Alistair and Sheila (still touring with Alistair turning 78 this week..) and set off on 1 of our longest trips yet.

However, we’d decided to use the motorway all the way (including the toll sections) and Calv said the drive was really easy, he barely noticed that he’d done it!  I would like to say how much it cost but I couldn’t see the cost before we had to pull away 😦  I think it might have been 7.50.

We were heading for Balermo, the Mar Azul to be precise.  The drive  here showed a sea of plastic, which just got more and more pronounced the further we went.  Even the campsite is surrounded by plastic greenhouses – it’s really not very attractive..

We had a choice of spots on arrival and were very happy with the site.  It’s apparently been here for about 3 years and they seem to have actually looked at what campers want!  The bar’s a bit expensive though – compared to what we’ve been used to anyway!  But sitting in the bar chatting with another couple meant we didn’t manage to go to the supermarket.  Which meant that we had to wait until Monday to go shopping as there was nothing (except a couple strange shops…) open on Sunday when we cycled into town.

We did go in search of an open Spar though in Balermo.  Whilst we love the campsite we hated the town.  Not a nice feel about it,  narrow, scruffy streets, impatient drivers.  Just not nice.  In the afternoon we decided to cycle to the marina at Almerimar, 10km down the coast.  This was a fairly easy ride, apart from the headwind, half of it on a fairly straight, but fast, road and the rest on a cycle path.  We then found a pub, the Stumble Inn, that was showing the rugby!  I’d had to watch England v Wales on my tablet,  which kept freezing while it caught up.  But I did see England beat Wales 🙂

At the marina in Almerimar

As we’ll be in Marbella by the time of the next match so I don’t think we’ll have any trouble finding somewhere to watch.

There was also a cycle race past the campsite, Clasica de Almeria : I cannot believe the entourage involved in these races!!

Sunday night was characterized by a storm, giving us high winds and rain.  The high winds, whilst somewhat muted continued through today (Monday).  We didn’t sleep too well (in fact Calv has just gone to bed (at 8pm) as he can’t stay awake any longer!)

There is a Consum on the outskirts of town which is actually ok.  We managed to get 50Euros worth of shopping home on our bikes!  We always forget that we don’t have a car with us 🙂

We walked over to look at the beach before lunch.  The beaches on this stretch of coast are not brilliant.  They are deemed to be ‘recommended’ but this refers to the water quality not the actually sand quality.

The beach opposite Mar Azul, Balerma

In the afternoon we decided, despite the wind, to head to the castle that we’d seen on the way to Almerimar yesterday, Castello del Guardia Viaje.  So, off we went.  The wind was brutal – I was hanging on to my handlebars for dearlife just to keep my wheels pointed in the right direction.  Every now and then there was a gust of wind that pushed me slightly off the straight and narrow for a second.  Whatever direction we were cycling in the wind seemed to be against us! Cycling up the hill to the castle was brutal, not helped when Calv rode past me with a stupid smirk on his face – he thinks he’s so funny (he’s not – don’t side with him…)

Castillo del Guardia Viaje, towards Almerimar (closed on Mondays..)

After all that effort we found out that the castle was closed on Mondays!!

I had made a stew in the morning and this was bubbling away in the slow cooker.  It was pretty good, even if I do say so myself 🙂

We’re moving on again tomorrow, towards Granada, saying goodbye to some more special neighbours who have been doing this for 57 years and are still touring, and still with their bikes on the back of their van 🙂

On Wednesday we’ll be visiting the Alhambra Palace 🙂

 

 

Day ??? (Who knows!) – Moving on from Alicante to ?? (Isla Plana – near Cartegena)

Everything happens for a reason. Or so Calv likes to say. Well today this was proved beyond doubt!

We had our first failure today, in that we got to our first choice of campsite and it was full. It was a big site too, at La Manga de Mar Menor. Actually this is the 1st time that we’ve highlighted more than 1 (3 to be exact) as we know that there’s now more chance of sites being full (as we head further South). And to be fair this was only our 1st choice because it was the 1st one we got to.

However, it was out of the way and we wish we’d rung in the morning to save us an extra 40 miles driving… I had thought that being situated right at the end of a peninsula with few roads going in (as shown on our map anyway…) and a sea lagoon on its doorstep it would be a little slice of heaven with very little going on. Haha – there were high rise hotels built along the sandbar that created the lagoon and a fair bit of traffic. So not my little bit of paradise then!

There was a slight complication though when we were told it was full in that there were 2 other vans there who were told the same thing. Were we all headed for the same site next? Were there any spaces there? If so was there just the 1?! So we ditched the plans to stop for a cuppa, Calv jumped in the driving seat and we were off – it was like Wacky Racers!! The old Talbot that was already there before us also got away first, but we easily overhauled him within a mile or so. The newer Carthago looked like he could have had us, but, luckily, he went in the other direction J

Anyway, my point is that we headed towards the 2nd site (which in reality WAS my 1st choice…) and, having skirted Cartagena, we started climbing through a mountain range – hard driving, following an already hard drive with high side winds all the way – lots of switchbacks and hairpins; it was a bit like being back in the Pyrenees except that we were in the van instead of the little C1!

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But the views!! Just amazing and as we emerged from the mountains, the final descent revealed the sea sparkling just up ahead and we knew then –‘Everything happens for a reason’ J

The drive here saw the landscape change from one of groves and groves of orange trees to groves and groves of lemon trees, and finally to acres of agriculture (we don’t know really but it looks like cabbages and leeks – much is hidden in poly tunnels and greenhouses). Where we have landed, Isla Plana, just south of Cartagena, is no exception. (It’s now Thursday evening and we’ve been on a bike ride alongside some of the polytunnels – filled with hundreds of thousands of tomatoes in various stages of ripedness).

There’s not much going on here but it is beautiful and the site had 4 spots left. It was a bit of a squeeze getting in to our chosen spot – not particularly helped by the German man who emerged to point out that we couldn’t leave it with the nose sticking out into the road (really? really??!).

Los Madriles outdoor pool

Normally when people emerge it’s to assist a fellow camper, but he came out to tell us off before we’d even finished manoeuvring– anyway Calv managed to get in sideways instead. Everyone who walks past keeps staring – I don’t think they can believe it’s in like that!! Even our neighbours were impressed that we had a van you could park sideways J

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But we do have a seaview, and a good steep walk to the toilets, supermarket, reception, bar and swimming pools!

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We have an indoor and outdoor pool, both open. The outdoor pool is thermal and we’re thinking of going in later. It won’t be so warm today (we had about 20 degrees again yesterday), maybe 18 (we’re hoping!) We’ll also ride back towards the mountains we came through and maybe up a little to one of the viewing spots (we went out yesterday down to the beach and the ‘town’ – very tiny!)

A beautiful day at Isla Plana

** Okay Thursday update – the temperature today was easily 24/25 again with full sun all day. We have sat outside the van, swum in the outdoor pool (followed by a bit more sunbathing) and then ridden the other way along the coast, up a mountain to look at the tower that we spotted yesterday. (And we have both, definitely, caught the sun – as in “should have put some suncream on….!”

Swimming pool at Los Madriles

The tower was part way up, yet another, mountain and then the entrance was halfway up the tower itself, followed by some steep, and very narrow, spiral stone stairs up to the top! It was used to protect the coast from pirates J

Out for a ride towards La Azohia (I think that’s what it’s called!
From our mountain bike ride looking back towards the campsite

We are definitely going to stay a 3rd night here and just relax – or maybe try to cycle up into the mountains to one of the viewpoints – wish me luck!

From Benidorm to Alicante – About 40 miles distant, but hundreds of miles apart!

Separated by 40 miles of land but so very different!  A completely different feel to Alicante (and El Campello where we are actually staying).

Saturday and Sunday in Benidorm proceeded much as expected.  We did very little,  went for a couple of swims, walked a little, went to watch the rugby on Saturday in a bar where even the San Miguel was only 1.50 euros per bottle!..So later on Saturday evening was spent singing and dancing along to music in the van (some of you may have seen the video!)

Sunday evening we walked along to the Benidorm Palace to see The Rat Pack.  A very enjoyable show but a little disappointing that the main event only lasted for 20 minutes more than the support act….  Glad we went though 🙂

We knew we would have to pay for any electric that we used over 4kwt per day at the campsite – we weren’t expecting over 23euros!  In the UK campsites aren’t allowed to actually make money out of the electric; we’re guessing the same rules don’t apply here…

So, whilst we’ve enjoyed our time in Benidorm, we’re not sorry to be moving on now.  We’ve just headed a little way down the coast to El Campello, just outside of Alicante.  It’s probably not even 40 miles (it took less than an hour).  Some lovely views along the way (and also the usual impatient Spanish drivers!)

Once again we managed to get into our chosen site, albeit in the ‘winter camping area’, which turns out to be really rather pleasant.  We met another British couple coming the other way (around Spain & Portugal that is) who gave us some interesting information about Lisbon.

We set off down to the seafront for a bike ride and found a tramline!  It turns out the tram goes direct into Alicante for 1.45 euros each – bonus.  (It also goes back to Benidorm and beyond – who knew?  Not us evidently!)  Rather a lovely aspect along this seafront and much more chilled than Benidorm; also with a few statues thrown in.

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A feature of the beaches over here is the volleyball nets and basketball nets etc. that are provided all along the beach.  Also a lot of outdoor gym equipment is available.  There’s a cycle path along almost the length of the seafront too.  All very pleasant 🙂

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I’d made a chilli for tea, which was okay but I’d forgotten to look for the fat content of the mince when we bought it…. I won’t make that mistake again!

Today we caught the tram into Alicante and walked 169m up to the castle (even the steps were steeply sloping).  We made it anyway 🙂  (There is the option to take a lift all the way up – you only have to pay (2.70 euros) if you go from the very bottom, otherwise it’s free). The castle is really amazing, there’s a lot of it and it costs nothing.  The lift takes you all the way back down to the beach, which is handy – last time I came here (with Lou about 11 years ago – I think) we pretty much walked back down the side of the mountain – in our flip flops!!

Walking up to Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante (from the very bottom….)

We had lunch, and a sangria, at a bar by the beach, and then wandered a little more.  Unfortunately my heel was hurting again by now so we needed to head back to the tram – which we had to find first!  Needless to say we did so and headed back to sit in the sun by the van (we’ve had 25 degrees today – bikini weather).

We’d also found a bloke’s wallet on our way out in the morning; we tried to contact him but ended up handing it to a policeman at the gate to the castle!  Hope he gets it back.

We’re moving on tomorrow and hoping to stay close to Cartagena – it looks like it could be worth visiting 🙂