Spain: Outside Alicante

Outside of Alicante, north are a few popular suburbs and small villages, all along the beach with palmed boulevards, small authentic shopping centres and quite cosmopolitan in population.  Europeans, English, Russians, Ukrainians, Uraguayans, Chilians and Spanish.  Many Madridillanos have holiday houses here and villas which you can rent or Airbnb apartments.  

Sant Juan de Playa near El Castello 

Love the many lemon and orange trees in bouganvillia walled gardens - walking to playa Cartera

The beach and Mediterraneo lies East and the mountains north 

I chose Sant Juan de Playa, not to be confused with Sant Joan d'Alcant which is all in the same area.  There are miles of beach whereas Alicante centre only has Postiguet which is not as nice. In this Valencian region or province rather, Barcelona is included.  This means that there are three dialects which are hell if you're trying to learn Spanish.  Playa (beach) signs on a road leading to said destination can be written in three forms along the way.  Playa, Placa, Plajes.  Catalan (Barcelonian Spanish), ordinary Spanish and I think a kind of Vasco (South American) Spanish.  And their pronunciation is all different on major letters!  

The views from my balcony 

Seagulls fly past the window and there are four different flocks of birds which sleep in the park thicket of dense trees below.  When they take off after sunrise it's in 4 different flocks.  Just amazing!!! Where they go I don't know, but the seagulls often float in the pool.  At the back of the apartment is a gorgeous mountain view.  There are 7 portals and it took some time finding my way around due to Par and Impar (even dn uneven) lifts if you come in via different lock and key wrought iron and glass portal, as one lifts takes you to 13th but if you walk along the curved passage (the building is in an arch) you get to 14.  But the wrong lift can lead to a gated passage as some Spanish residents have cordoned off their living areas with an apartment or two.  

Taking the lift at the back of the apartment 

Sunsets. Alas don’t have my Nikon for sunrise against the sun shots but it’s all in memory :)

Anyway, it's a lovely quite suburb, with a third of residences occupied in the winter so all quiet in terms of restaurants and cafes during the week, of which there are plenty, but it comes alive at the weekend.  Texaco is a nice chill place near the beach with music and a dj dance floor, but a bar area quiet enough for conversation.  My Airbnb studio was SA owned (discovered after booking) and although it wasn’t luxurious as a beach villa, it was perfect in that it had everything you need for a short/long term rental with complete sea views all round. 

Typical ocean road and villa leadings to the beach. Downhill 

My apartment was south facing, 14th floor and I could watch the sunrise above the ocean almost every day from bed due to the 7x 2 m balcony with glass sliding doors.  The complex, all called Urbanisacion Residenciales in Spanish was like almost all of them, well kept.  Pristine gardens, lit up palms at night, swimming pool, tennis courts, mini golf and park areas. Fresh smelling lifts, its own local cafe below, where locally living Spanish run the place. 

Sant Juan de playa is close to Cabo des Huertas which is the name of the peninsula area and it is this beautiful yellow rocky beach coastline where thousands take their Sunday walks with the dogs.  I started out thinking along the way I'd stop at a cafe for a rest and drink but literally, three hours later still hadn't come across one.  It is a nature reserve so nothing commercial, only oceanic villas, in parts some pavements but the rest all wild rocky features which means the walk takes much longer. 

The walk along Cabo des Huertas 

 

Tired as hell on the way back, I caught a bus and although I had climbed the entire three hours I was 7 mins away from home! But of course I had taken the shoreline.  Check google maps for Sant Juan de Playa, Cabo des Hurtas and the shaping.  You'll see what I mean. The area along the rocky and footpath (guess which I took silly me, for photos) has boards and info.  Interesting is that all the "sea grass/weed" on the shores and inland is what makes it a perfect nesting ground for all crustaceans and other sea creatures that breed inland.  

Whilst walking the beach and rocks this is the view behind you inland

Like Brazil lots of lovely flora and fauna

I had been thinkinga bout taking a trip to Novelda and Granada but without a car, out of the way places are difficult. The fast 2 hour train only runs to Madrid. Barcelona and Granada are still 5 hours with public transport and slow train.  Novelde is a tiny village 30 mins inland from Alicante.  Nothing special but further north of the village is a Gaudi look alike cathedral in rustic rust colour called the Mary Magdalene cathedral.  But the public transport takes 1.5 hours and it's still a 43 min walk to the church! If I had my car it would be a chockablock trip back as I would buy so much.  

Due to heat here (everything is built around it) cool tiled pretty pavements, no boring Northern European wet safe concrete tiles, beautiful ornamental metal gates on every single apartment or complex, code safe entry systems and solid wooden doors, maybe 13 cm thicks with massive door knobs in the door middle.  From the height of my apartment I can watch tennis and football, plus roller skaters using the terrain for practice.  Really lovely!  Also there are many owners with dogs.  And surprisingly, dog parlours are many everywhere.  I guess the Spanish love their dogs more than the Greeks. Prices are still pretty good.  A little cheaper in Sant Juan than more up market El Campello.  Most menu del did is 15 euro and it includes everything even drinks! In NL it's double.  The day menu arose from Franco's socialist time when everyone was meant to be able to afford a good meal out.  

Practicing Spanish has been fun.  They generally don't talk English at all.  You'll get by on French but if you start in reasonable Spanish, they continue.  Problem is it’s so fast I can only catch a few words and have to ask "por favour, hablas no-rapido" y "doucement, tranquillo".  When they slow it down I have a decent understanding of the basics.  Shops, directions, family, work.  So I've been taking advantage of subtitles on TV and learning that way.  I gave up Duo Lingo after a year as one really just has to practice actively in the environment to properly learn.  And I've made some great mistakes! On a bus once, not sure where to get off, I said to the driver "mi vivo!" instead of "mi apartemento esta aqui or mi vivo aqui’l So I said "my live" as verb.  Felt like a real twat afterwards as the pressure of being lost took my words. Lol. 

I have been wanting to see a Dali exhibition in Alicante but they only run it for an hour from 13-14pm on certain days which doesn't fit with work. Also, many thinks in fact almost everything still shuts down for siesta from 14-17pm, even in winter. So pharmacies (of which there are also many) and most shops are open till 8pm.  This is why the Spanish are known for having the latest dinners and least sleep amongst all European countries.  In NL and elsewhere we eat at 18pm.  Probably because darkness arrives much sooner.  I have loved Spain this winter as it gets 2.5 hrs more light that northern EU and there is sun practically everyday.  SA type winters between 9-18 every day. An absolute blessing!!! Yo encanta espana! They are also quite friendly people. Except....

Bus ride from Alicante Samoa cafe to Sant Juan 

Bus drivers aren't particularly friendly   They rattle off in Spanish while you have no idea what they're saying.  One who waited 10 seconds for running to catch it, did it and I decided to just give him a mouthful of Dutch.  That shut him up pretty quicklY! I mean you can hear I'm struggling in Spanish and I do use the polite friendly words, disculpe, perdonno, por favor, muchas gracias, hasta luego.  But the last time I was in Spain in 2016 I was only in Valencia for a week.  The actually city not province and hopefully next time, I'll be more versed in past and future tense.  Only being able to speak in the present makes like difficult.  Reminds me I must look up "fue" it's the past but so different from the infinitive verb form I'm lost!  Anyway este todos, hasta luego!!