Spain
22 December, Notes from Jane
4th January. Christmas and New Year
12 January notes from Moira
13 January notes from Moira
13 January notes from Jane
16 January notes of Moira's New Year detour
Kitty's notes on Spain
Back to Italy
22 December
Moira is looking at the photos now. Some look quite good. I’m almost a film star!!!
We are now in Alicante in mid to southern Spanish Mediterranean. It is a beachside resort but looking very weary with it’s sixties multi-storeyed, square boxes. It’s the really ugly architecture of the period!
We are only here to literally rest our weary bones (for me that is) whilst we wait for Kitty, Bruce, Elke and Jurgen to arrive on Saturday afternoon. The age and cold weather are catching up on me.
It is mostly sunny, definitely no rain, but cold!
We had a reasonable flight from Florence last Sunday. Because it was a cheap deal with Sabena we had to fly to Brussels to get to Valencia!!! Our return journey is even more bizarre as we fly to Naples from Valencia via Brussels.
Fortunately there is a Diners club lounge at the airport and Moira and I had the lounge to ourselves. We were able to relax, look at the BBC news and indulge in free drinks and nibbles while waiting.
We left Florence at some ungodly hour, and saw sunrise over the Alps. The beautiful pink clouds and colours reflected off the snow almost made the early wake up worth while!!
Belgium and northern France were flat with intensive farming; very grey and miserable looking. It was 1oC on the tarmac!!!
We had an inauspicious start to Spain. Flying in over the city the area looked very dry and flat and not particularly exciting. It was Sunday afternoon, there was no tourist information, and we had no idea where we were in relation to Valencia City, and were unable to find a "hole in the wall".
We found someone who advised us to catch a bus into town to the railway station because there was a Tourist bureau there. We hopped on the bus hoping to show the driver our map and point to where we wanted to get off, but, well, he was a surly sort and dismissed us (you know how I would like that and I hoped his day continued badly!!!).
We managed to get ourselves to the station and our Spanish was returning by the minute, but found that the place was shut on Sundays!!!
We set off to find a hotel. It is scruffy but adequate, and also cheaper than Italy. I was not feeling enthusiastic about the place!
Our evening meal was a shocker so that did not help the feeling of "why am I here?".
The following morning we discovered the Central markets which were in a beautiful Art Deco style building, tiled, lots of wrought iron ornaments and enormous quantities of very interesting looking food. We rapidly gained enthusiasm again particularly at the thought of what we could cook over the Christmas period when we would have access to a kitchen. What a luxury!!!
Index...
January 4, 2001
Hi, Feliz y prospero año nuevo!!
I was going to send off the Christmas photos but the Post Office does not exist any more at the site marked on the tourist map!
I’m glad to know that my house survived the earth tremor the other day given that Darwin was the epicentre! The last one we had I slept through! Are we heading for one of those types of disasters now?
We had a very quiet but pleasant Christmas with Elke, Jurgen, Kitty, Bruce, Moira and myself in Altea. It is a hundred odd kilometres up the coast line from Alicante.
It has been great to catch up with everyone in this unexpected way. I was not going to Germany and who knew Kitty and Bruce would be so close to Italy!!
Elke and Jurgen drove down to collect us on the Sunday, Christmas Eve. That was great as we had been to the local markets and bought up large quantities of food for the Christmas break.
This area of Spain is almost all tourists. They are catered for in either high rise buildings close to the water (Benidorm) or "villas" by the thousands up the hillsides. Nearly all are owned by foreigners I gather. These villas are built in a style which seems to be a cross between Spanish and Mexican. They are all white stucco, wrought iron on windows, round turrets, funny little chimneys, arches, colourful tiles, bougainvilleas etc.
It was very quiet in the streets around our house. That was a pleasant change from noisy hotels. None of the foreigners seemed to be visiting over Christmas although we did notice an increase of people at New Year.
It was fantastic to be in a home again and Elke and Jurgen were very relaxed hosts. There was lots of sleep ins, and casual eating arrangements. It was fantastic and just what I needed. Maybe it made me a very dull guest though!!!!
The house was situated up a hill overlooking the sea. They have a lovely, enclosed, sunroom that was great for breakfast. There is also plenty of outside area around the pool but it's too cold for swimming!
It is incredibly barren here, with some magnificent mountain ranges. The houses are just built straight up the sides down near the coast. Building and subdivisions are going on everywhere. Someone is making money!. Where they are not subdividing land it has been extensively terraced and cultivated with orange, cherry, peach and some other tree not yet identified. Moira is wondering about loquats.
The stone terrace walls are fantastic, we could only afford this sort of thing when there were convicts in Australia!!
Moira and I cooked a turkey breast in milk and tiramisu (mango). They were two of our courses at cooking class in Panzano. Kitty made a ragout and with Moira's roast potatoes, kumera and stuffing. We had a very successful meal!
Along with that we have been fed various German and Spanish Christmas cookies, beautiful German fruit teas, the local nougat, Turron, Natillas (which is a bit like custard) and Cuajada (sheep milk curd). Jurgen's specialty is horchata, a drink made from tiger nuts, which is a bit like soy milk, but nicer. To compensate for all this eating, Elke and Jurgen had walked us up a mountain the previous day (Penyon de Ifach). It is a rocky outcrop at the edge of the sea near Calpe, I think!!
Boxing Day is not a public holiday here so we were able to go out and explore the local markets at Altea. The stalls were along the waterfront. There were some nice little fluffy numbers for Marcia!
The place was full of Germans and English, and they even have their own German bakery. One day while at the supermarket Moira wondered aloud about which country we were visiting! We sat out in the sun and ate seafood tapas for a light snack. Just as well that was light because we then drove south to another "village" called Vila Joiosa, supposedly to wander through the village and look at the brightly painted houses there, but there they have a Valor Chocolateria!!
Valor is the best Spanish chocolate. Pure, hot chocolate, a little bit like unset chocolate mousse!!!! This is eaten with churros that are fried batter sticks (I think the batter is probably a bit like the Greek puffballs we have at home). You dip the churros into the hot chocolate - very rich!
Actually Christmas is a little different here. All the hype continues until the 6th January, Epiphany. At this time the children receive the presents brought by the Three Wise Men! So all that marketing push INCREASES after our Christmas. It seems funny to STILL be hearing Christmas carols after New Year. The children don't write to Santa about what they would like, but to the TWM, and they have a pageboy who collects the letters. The children sit on the Pageboy's knee for the Christmas photos when they deliver their letters.
Kitty and Bruce left for Barcelona on the Wednesday after Christmas for the Millenium boat race - maxi, maxi catamarans (???? - can't remember the terminology). Bruce had a press pass for an Australian boating magazine, so he had a foot in the door for some networking!!
Whilst they were off watching the capitalists at play we were taken up into the mountains behind Altea to Tarbena to dine at the communist restaurant there (communist turned capitalist, I think) - Le Pinet. We had an amusing and interesting meal. Dad would have liked him, a little Rabelaisian (??) in outlook and commentary.
The place is decorated with flags, memorabilia, photos etc from communist countries and leaders. Apparently his father was a communist and fought against Franco. The owner is minus a hand, coutesy of a bomb in the sand at the beach. It is not a war injury, but looks good until you read the newspaper clippings on the wall.
The kitchen is open to the restaurant and they have these enormous paella burners. They look like bloody big wok burners to those who don't know what a paella cooker looks like!!
We had a seafood gazpacho that Elke thought was going to be rice paella but turned out to be something similar but using wafer thin bread instead of rice or pasta.
I relaxed by helping Elke mark her English exam papers. Elke teaches English, Spanish and French to students aiming for university.
After reading through a few of them I decided I really should read their novel first, so read The Dead Poets Society.
Not being exposed to teenagers it was a VERY interesting experience to read their opinions, particularly when some did not really appear to have read the book!! It also makes me realise how much grammar I have forgotten over the years. I hope I instinctively get it right these days!
Moira left for Sevilla on Saturday. It seems it could have been a hellish bus ride as it took about 10 hours.
I stayed on to continue my very relaxed holiday. I was so relaxed it even crossed my mind that I might have had enough of travelling and would I return home!!!!! That thought did not last long! I just required a little space!!
Elke, Jurgen and I had New Years eve together (Jurgen was very boisterous!!). On the TV, we watched the clock on the Madrid Town Hall belltower, with the rest of Spain, as it ran down to midnight. It was snowing in Madrid. As the clock struck each of the hours up to 12 we had to eat a grape with each stroke; another Spanish tradition.
Elke then moved us on to a German tradition that is peculiar to her region, which involved melting wax and throwing it into water to "forecast" our new year! Moira (and a few Cubans I have met this year) will be surprised to learn that everyone thought my forcast represented me dancing!!!!!!!!! Maybe it is dance therapy for me this year!!!!!!!!!
Kitty and Bruce returned from Barcelona on the Monday after a successful (?) trip. I'm going to ask Kitty and Elke to write something for our diary too as it makes it much more interesting getting all perspectives.
Today they all came down to the railway station at Altea to make sure I got on the train!!! Bruce was a bloody nuisance as every time you turned around the camera was there. Maybe he was getting a little tit-for-tat.
Jurgen thought I was mad to go by train back to Alicante but I was interested to see the scenery and every other day they seemed to be running people into town. Doing the run once with Jurgen to pick up Kitty and Bruce was enough! He reckoned it was very noisy, but I discovered that the noise was really the whingeing Poms I shared the carriage with rather than the train!!
The scenery WAS interesting! There were more tourist complexes and villas!!!! Some of the architecture was very interesting too, and was a bit like a cross between Gaudi and Arabic adobe. The weather was good.
Talking of weather, it has been glorious the last few days. Early on we had some evenings when the wind just howled around the house in quite an intimidating manner (not much rain with it, or damage) and there was the odd overcast day. Overall, it was a pleasant change. I hope it has improved in Italy, although Italy was so much better than England. Why do they live in England????
Tomorrow I take a bus to Granada and I must ring Moira to see what she wants to do next. I haven't spoken to her since she went to Sevilla.
I must away for some dinner. It is 2200 and I'm feeling a little hungry . Chinese I think!
Love to all. I will add to the Italian notes sometime!!
Jane
Index...
Moira 12th January
Hi everyone,
Just a note on where I am and what has been happening over the past few days post Christmas and New Year.
I hope everyone has had a Felice Navidad and a Felice ano nuevo (all in Spanish).
Jane and I enjoyed Cadiz that was supposed to be similar to Habana. There did not appear to be that much of a similarity to Habana but we did not walk in some of the non-tourist area of Habana.
One of the pictures on the site shows a large ship at the end of the street that was amazing, as there are very little places in Australia where the harbour is that deep such that you see ships that close.
Soon after we arrived we walked in the older city looking for accommodation.
That evening we had dinner in a bar in town and met an Italian traveller who had been to Jerez via Sanluca. It sounded very interesting so we decided to do that after moving to a typical Spanish hostel in the old town.
The hostel has an entrance with blue tiles along the walls and up the marble staircase. The owner was very proud of his house and showed us the roof that had reasonable views of that area.
We caught the bus to Sanluca and passed very few vineyards. Where do all the grapes come from to fill the large cellars we saw in both Sanluca and Jerez.
The tourist officer in Cadiz suggested we try Manzanilla and prawns, which we did in Sanluca.
After our meal we decided to take a walk up to the top of the hill and came across the council offices in a beautiful house taken from a copy of a castle that has Arabic influence. It is set in some lovely gardens and looks like a great environment in which to work.
From Sanluca we caught the bus to Jerez (just to try some sherry as Jane puts it!!!!) just in time to catch a beautiful sun set from the old fortress.
A brief wander through the town led us mainly through the shopping centre. After tasting a glass of sherry we caught the bus back to Cadiz.
The following day we made the attempt to get to Gibraltar with little assistance from the bus company and the tourist office in Cadiz.
We caught the bus to Algerceris just in time to miss the 11.00am ferry to Cuta (much to Jane's relief if we were also to take in Gibraltar).
The same bus company that took us to Algerceris provides a service to La Linea. From La Linea we walked into Gibraltar. Our walk was held up with a British Airways plane taking off. The entrance into Gibraltar requires crossing the airstrip.
Gibraltar is very English and it is interesting to be in Spain and find a place so English.
We caught the cable car up the rock and saw many monkeys.
We managed to catch the bus back to Cadiz that evening.
Wednesday we caught an overnight train (our most expensive hotel to date) via Cordoba and arrived in Valencia at the ungodly hour of 6.00am.
Our plane left at 2.00pm but ended up being 1 hour late. We arrived in Napoli at 10pm.
It was certainly a long day.
Will be seeing you all too soon.
Moira
Index...
Moira 13th January
Our time in Spain has been interesting.
We arrived in Valencia from Florence via Brussels which makes it a long trip but that is what happens when you buy a cheap ticket.
Our introduction to Spain was not great as we got a very disgruntled bus driver from the airport to the city centre.
Valencia is a very large town full of orange trees, but very few of them picked.
The main centre has some wonderful buildings that look as though they are competing with each other in decor. The result being the city's skyline looks like a wedding cake.
One of the buildings that we looked at was the Palace of the Marquise of Dos Aguas. It is now a Ceramic museum. The rooms showed some of the original decor that was totally overdone!!! If not overdone, it was very definitely ostentatious. Someone had too much money to spend! Imagine ceramic furniture?
We also saw the La Lonja. It was the commodity exchange. The wonder of this building is the high columns that support the arched brick roof. It also contained a staircase that we could not visit that looked like the spiral within a conical seashell.
We visited the markets which is constructed with wonderful lace, metal framework, glass and colourful tiles along the walls. There was the usual array of fruits, vegetables, meats of all cuts. There were also some little yellow balls which we are not too sure of its origin until reading an article in the paper, later on, that talked about cow's eggs containing BSE. I originally thought they may have been testicles. There was also the usual cheeses, olives, wines, dried fruits and some very interesting assortment of seafood.
Breakfast was at one of the many bars that serve coffee with either tostada served with extra virgin olive oil, butter and jam, egg and bacon or tortilla.
On some occasion people ordered a form of alcohol for breakfast.
It is very hard to get used to the smoking habits of the people in Europe. Especially when it comes to eating, you tend to notice how heavy and how many people smoke.
Lunch was generally what could be bought from the markets with some wine.
For the evening meals we tried Valencia Paella which has chicken and various other dishes of which Jane has more detail.
After spending a couple of days in Valencia we headed off to Alicante by train. The ride was quite interesting as the countryside reminded me very much of some of the Territory. We were forever coming across gum trees. The countryside looked very brown with smattering of green shrubs and the occasional gum.
Alicante is a seaside resort that looks very much a tourist town. On our first day we say a man chase some young boys who apparently stole his bag, a cyclist being hit by a car, a couple of guys trying to kite surf, a man trying to talk to the invisible person next him and some young travellers camped on the beach.
From our hotel we could hear the town hall tower clock chime Silent Night on the half-hour. It would have been fine but after a few bars, the song would be out of order. The only time it chimed perfectly was nine o'clock in the morning.
Elke and Jurgen came to pick us up after a few days and take us to their friend's house in Altea. It was a great break to be in a home again and be able to lounge around and read a few books, throw clothes in the washing machine, listen to your music and cook your own food. What simple pleasures one develops while travelling.
The house was situated on the hill so you had views over the ocean and the hillside.
We had a great Christmas dinner that is not celebrated in Spain as we do. The presents come on the 6th January. The three wise men deliver the presents to the children after writing to the kings three days beforehand.
We visited some of the little towns around Altea and tried various Spanish Tapis.
Moira
Index...
Jane 13th January
I am pleased that I did NOT acquire a digital camera to bring with us. What we have experienced at various Internet cafes around the world has been enough of an effort without down loading off a digital camera!!!!
We sent off another 6 rolls of film from Valencia, Spain yesterday. We have another 5 probably on the way from Naples tomorrow.
Moira decided that since I was not around to do the chore so she had better take a few photos. It was amazing to see. Every other moment out popped the camera. I am amazed!!!
Last e-mail I was in Alicante on my way to "finding" Moira.
Actually, second time around Alicante was a little more pleasing. There seemed to be more people around and it made all the difference, and it was sunnier too.
The foreigners seemed to have turned up between Christmas and New Year but also there was an amnesty for illegal immigrants. There was always a large queue outside the "Office for Foreigners", just around the corner from the hotel. They were mainly North Africans and Africans. Kitty said Barcelona was the same.
Between the two visits, they had stopped the bells at the Ayudamento (council chambers) ringing Silent Night. That was a blessing because they had managed to get something wrong with the tune a very loud and discordant override seemed to occur at nearly every hour except the 0800 hours chime.
Catching a bus here is something else! No one, including the information booth at the bus station, ever seems to know where you should go to catch your bus. Elke had told me they were very unhelpful when they dropped Moira there for her trip to Sevilla, and she is a Spanish speaker! I had the same trouble too. I have decided the best strategy is to wander around and speak directly with the drivers. They seem to have a much better idea which bus is which!!!
At the Alicante bus station I overheard a man asking someone about the Granada bus so watched carefully where he went (it was NOT where I had been sent). The fellow probably thought I was "tailing" him as I moved around, at a discrete distance, of course, and finally found my bus. I was a little disturbed when he got off before the bus started!!!!!!!!!!!! Think he must have been putting someone else on and I had just not noticed that detail!! Anyway ended up in the correct city.
The towns here are very deceiving. When you drive in to a town they often appear to be fairly ugly with high-rise blocks, unimaginative but functional, I guess. You later discover in the centre an amazing old and beautiful village centre hidden away having narrow winding streets, beautiful tiles, tabernacles, wrought iron and quaint bars etc.
The trip over to Granada was interesting. It was all wide open rolling plains full of irrigated olive trees and wheat fields. It looked very wealthy agricultural land, although I discovered from Claudia that this is not normal. The area has a low rainfall and is usually suffering from drought!
Coming across the Sierra Nevada I could see snow on the hilltop and was dreading the cold. I need not have worried; Granada was a pleasant temperature.
Around Baza it looked a bit like a moonscape and people live in houses built into the ground. They are troglodytes, I believe.
The road has improved since I last hitched through here in 1978 with the mad, bad and dangerous taxi driver.
Granada was even more interesting than I remembered. It really is a beautiful town with lots of Moorish influence in the design of the old buildings. Plenty of tourist kitsch. Despite that, places like the old silk market (Alcaiceria) and the caravanserai (Corral del Carbon) were just so beautiful with the tiles, inscriptions, sculptures and designs. The Alhambra and the Generalife had me run out of words for admiration of the place. I also ran out of film too, but prepare for some fabulous photos!!!!
This was the second visit for me and despite the incredible hoards of visitors this time the place remains magical. Everywhere there is flowing water and waterfalls, but are so sophisticated that the flow of water is at a rate that the sound would not override that of the birds in the gardens.
They had canal systems around the hill collecting and channelling for all this system.
There was always a breeze and a view.
The Nazrid Palace is exquisite with incredibly beautiful designs, tiling, engravings etc.
I was in Granada for Epiphany when the Three Wise Men arrive in town at dusk, and the children had already been given their presents a little earlier on.
This is something else. It was like a carnival with floats, music, Roman centurions, clowns, chooks, dancers. There were many, many floats, and of course they carried The Three Wise Men. Well, I did not recognise them!!!!!!!! Towards the end I asked a fellow standing by who told me that they had already been!!! I gather they were on three separate floats. There seemed to be an enormous number of floats with people in various assortments of what they thought were Arabic dress. There were lots of people with blacked up faces too. I guess the wise men must have been hidden in amongst the Egyptian Pharaoh bits!!
Whilst the parade was passing the people on the floats were throwing lollies. In Granada 20 tons of lollies were thrown!! This presented an amazing scene as adults and children alike scrambled and pushed their way into collecting them. At the end, people had bags of lollies. One packet that landed in my face was a fruit drop that contained vitamin C!!!!!
If this exhibition were anything to go by I would think they should be adding fluoride to the lollies as well as all the other vitamins!! Could not believe the behaviour of the adults.
On the Sunday I bussed over to Cordoba where I was met by Moira and Claudia (yes, still managing to find Moira!!).
We wandered around the Mesquita which was a mosque until someone thought it should be a cathedral instead and proceeded to build a Gothic-renaissance style building within the structure!!!
The courtyard was full of "orange" trees, probably originally the washing area for the mosque.
From Valencia right through Andalucia you find orange-mandarin as the street trees. Trees. I am not sure quite what type of citrus they are. The fruit and orange blossom perfume are very attractive.
I was wondering why the trees always had fruit on them. Moira tells me it is because they are bitter and are normally only used for pickling olives.
After the Mesquita we wandered the old Jewish quarter which was full of Japanese tourist!! There were narrow winding streets with limed houses, beautiful tiles, wrought iron and courtyards. So much beautiful ceramics around here! I have resisted the temptation again because of the backpack!!
After an evening with Claudia, Emilio and their two blond headed Spanish children, Fabian and Vivian we headed off to Cadiz the following day. That is another interesting Spanish town with more interesting history attached to it. It was founded by Hercules no less!! Our Aussie history is so short in comparison. Apparently Havana in Cuba was based on the design of this city although I could not see it.
I found the people here a little more open and friendly and wonder if it is more of the old “foreigner fatigue”. Cadiz seems to be more of a Spanish tourist town than one for foreigners, unless they are en-route to the Canary islands.
I particularly like the breakfast habit here cafe con leche and toasted baguette soaked in olive oil (even more so if the oil has had garlic and chilli soaking in it too)! Moira now has an article saying that although the Greek men are the most overweight group in Europe they still have the lowest level of coronary heart disease and dementia in the elderly. Therefore I will be continuing with the olive oil habit on my return home!
I gather that Moira wrote to you this morning detailing our travels to San Lucar, Jerez and Gibraltar, so won't go on with it other than to say that another trip to this part of the world will be on the agenda in the next few years, so start saving!
Ricci tells me that my frequent flier points have me well over the free return Europe airfare that is a great bonus to this year of self-indulgence!
Index...
16 January, Notes of Spain from Moira
On the 30th of December, and with the assistance of Elke and Jurgen, I left Alicante by bus to Ethia (Ecia) which arrived at 9.30 in the evening.
Along the way were some barren areas that had large windmills that are obviously used for generating power.
As I went further sound there were more of the obvious olive trees.
Claudia, Emilio, Fabi and Vivi were waiting for me to take us to a country club to celebrate New Years Eve in Spanish style. In their VW camper which has two large double beds, toilet, kitchen and spacey driver's seats (although I did not attempt to drive the camper especially through the narrow village streets). The journey continued for another 3.5 hrs after 12 hrs on the bus. You can imagine how tired I was so I slept very well when we pulled up close to the town we were visiting.
An early rise with two little children and we moved onto Benalup (sounds Western Australian). New Years eve was spent with 3 related families with children and Claudia and Emilo's little family.
We had a Spanish breakfast of sweet tortillas, sherry and coffee.
After breakfast we climbed the hills behind the town and saw some cave drawings which date 3000 to 5000 BC.
After a Spanish Tapis style lunch we visited a local sculptor who has built and designed his home with some rooms added to fit in his wood sculptors. Apparently his initial job was a cork inspector (is the only term I can think of). The Spanish have a special name for his position in that he picks which tree in whatever area is used to collect cork.
Not far from this area is the largest cork forest in the world.
Spanish style New Years Eve requires three important ingredients, champagne, 12 grapes, and red under wear. I managed to bring 2 of the three not knowing that there was a third but was promptly provided with the third that required wearing for the evening.
After a late dinner, we had a game of celebrity that was a test for my Spanish. I was Crocodile Dundee.
Later everyone gathers around the TV to watch the town clock of Madrid strike midnight. For each strike of the bell one grape must be consumed.
On New Year’s day we visited Terifa where you can see the African coastline. Also around this area are three types of windmills for power generation. It is along this coastline that many refugees escape Africa and try to swim to Italy.
Claudia and Emilo's flat in La Puebla de Cazalla is one of the typical types of homes in the town. The flat is elevated and is reach by a white marble staircase that Claudia says is difficult to keep clean.
They follow very German tradition of wearing house shoes.
The flat has an internal garden that is covered and a roof top area that is used for drying clothes.
Emilo's parents have recently returned to Spain after spending 30 years in Germany. They have bought Emilo's grandmother’s place and have done extensive renovations that look wonderful but not typically Spanish such as a sloping roof and an attic.
While staying with Claudia, we visited Seville, Cordoba and went housing hunting in Malaga.
We entered Seville via Ave de Palama where Christopher Colombus lived. I was surprise how large and wealthy the homes were. Another impressive sight is the Plaza Square that was built in the 1926 Epxo. The building is full of beautiful mosaics, stone and wood carvings on the ceiling and doors (photos to come).
Another amazing building is the Alcazar with its rich blend of Moorish and Gothic architecture.
More to come
Index...
Kitty’s report on Althea and its environs
Our first impressions of Alicante as we flew in were that it seemed to be a mixture of Tennant Creek and the Gold Coast. Tennant Creek because of the rugged scenery and the Gold Coast because of the great expanse of high rise buildings along the coast except for the rundown Sante Barbara Cathedral. The ocean was blue as, but flat. No surf at all. The sand was yellowish like the rugged surrounding terrain. Although it was sunny, the beaches were deserted. Maybe it was too cool or it was siesta . The city was surrounded by rugged barren hills, which changed to a purplish colour around dusk. We didn’t go into the city of Alicante during our stay in Spain so we could not comment on it.
It was quite chaotic at the Alicante airport when we landed. Most of the people were non-Spanish Europeans and Brits. The decor of the airport was nothing unique so we could have been anywhere in the world. Elke and Jeurgen were waiting for us at the airport. They had already exchanged keys with Ricardo, their Spanish friend who gave us the use of his house in Altea. So we 4 adults and bulk luggage piled into Ricardo’s VW Golf and headed for Altea, 50 km further along the coast. Except for the hills in the distance, the scenery en route was rather uninteresting and the houses rather shabby. The freeway seemed devoid of billboards except for the famous black bull representing a famous Spanish brandy. Apparently billboards were banned in Spain a few years ago because the authorities felt they distracted drivers, thus causing road accidents. They must have been amazing sights!
An hour later we arrived at Ricardo’s villa on the hill overlooking Altea. Here we spent the Christmas holidays. The architecture of the villas in this area were similar to the grand Mexican haciendas and homes in new Mexico and Arizona, cream or pale peach stucco buildings with terracotta tiled rooves and trimmed with coloured tiles and heavy wooden frames and doors. The black wrought iron trimmings over the windows weren’t just for effect. They were also a security tool. High walls with security fixtures surrounded most of the villas. These mansions were predominantly owned by non Spanish folk who stayed in their home countries for the festive season. So the villas were deserted and a mecca for thieves. Most of the villas had swimming pools in gardens full of Australian native plants or plants found in tropical Australia including eucalyptus trees, wattles, bottle brushes, Casuarina pines and bouganvillia.
Ricardo’s villa seemed like a palace. It had a decent sized pool but unfortunately it was to cool to use and there was an outdoor paella kitchen – Spanish answer to BBQs. Inside, the villa was decorated with earthy colours, tiles and lots of heavy wood. It was beautifully furnished. Our Spanish hosts left us a huge supply of food and wine including an array of delicious home-made Spanish Christmas treats such as terrone, a type of nutty, tangy nougat. There were loads of juicy oranges and mandarins, deep orange in colour and quite flavoursome compared to their Ozzie counterparts.
During our first afternoon in Altea we went for a walk to the beach – full of pebbles and calf-deep in dry seaweed – not at all inviting. We spent the time skipping pebbles over the waves. The guys were more successful of course. The beach was about a half hour’s walk across a busy highway from the house. The only indications in Altea that it was Christmas were the coloured Christmas lights brightening the streets at night. Otherwise few Christmas decorations were apparent. It seemed that Christmas day celebrations are fairly low key in Spain.
Jane and Moira arrived the next day loaded up with a produce they purchased from the Alicante market for our Christmas feast. Christmas dinner was a delicious non-traditional multi national affair. Jane and Moira demonstrated their culinary skills they had learnt in Italy and prepared superb Italian dishes including turkey cooked in milk and mango tiramisu for dessert. In addition we feasted on treats and drank copious quantities of red Spanish wine.
During our stay in Altea we visited neighbouring seaside towns such as Calpe and Villajojosa. Calpe was a tired high rise tourist area similar to the Gold Coast, Miami, or Cullen Bay (in the future) or anywhere in fact! Although tired, construction of more high-rises and villas continue to creep up the hills behind Altea and Calpe. At Calpe we climbed the rugged rocky outcrop at the end of the point which turned out to be a rookery of many huge sea-gull like birds. A great view of the coast and the surrounding mountains was had from the top, also a view of the superb storm clouds rolling in. At the same time we witnessed the arrival of a pair of intrepid British rock climbers who reached the top by rock climbing – quite an effort as it was very windy. When we returned to the bottom we had to have a red wine for refreshments and reward for our hiking effort.
Villajojosa was less touristy. It was fairly tired too except for the recently renovated area that leads to the water front, that was the Jewish quarter for the past 400 years. Here the buildings were painted vivid colours – quite a contrast compared to the surrounding buildings. Here the beach was a little like St Kilda Beach lined with date palms. Unlike St Kilda Beach, the sand here was hauled from elsewhere. Generally the beaches in the area were pebbly. There is a little evidence of Moorish (Arabic) influence in the architecture of a few old buildings and the facial features of some of the folk. The towns in this area also have festivals acknowledging the Moors in Spain’s past. In Villajojosa we had an amazing chocolate fix – hot chocolate with fresh churros. The hot chocolate was literally pure liquid hot chocolate in which the churros (doughnut sausages) were dipped. Yummm but only a little please!
Market day at the Altea waterfront was on Tuesdays. However no food stuffs except for nuts and dried fruits were sold there. Here one could buy leather goods, linen curios, pottery and jewellery. Except for the pottery and the beaded tops and shawls, nothing was unique to Spain. The sellers tended to be African, Peruvian and a few Spanish folk while the majority of buyers were West European tourists and poms. We stopped for some tappas, which were tasty but didn’t seem very Spanish. Most of the restaurants were non Spanish in cuisine.
The highlights of our stay in Altea were the hikes through the rugged hills and countryside and a visit to the communist restaurant for its kitchness. The countryside was dotted originally with old olive groves is gradually being take over by other fruit trees such as loquats and citrus fruit. Many of the new crops were covered with plastic shelters to protect them from bugs and the sun. The view from the hills was spectacular. The communist restaurant, which is quite touristy, is cluttered with communist memorabilia from around the world including a photograph of Fidel Castro.
Altea was a great place to relax and spend time with friends but in my opinion the major Spanish cities are far more interesting. We had a great time all the same.
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