Gym's Ramblings: Arriving at Alicante

October 5, 2016

We had smooth sailing from Barcelona and arrived at Alicante, Spain at 8am in the morning. Within two hours of docking we were off touring.

We decided to tour the unique inland town of Guadalest. The town centre features a well defended nobleman's house, church, town hall, school and a few other buildings that are perched high up on a granite outcrop. This town centre is accessible only via a narrow path leading up under the ramparts of an ancient hilltop castle and then through a tunnel that has been opened up through the outcrop itself. Once you come through the other side of the tunnel you find yourself on this quaint little street which ends in a courtyard situated along the ledge of a steep cliff. The street forms a cul-de-sac at the school and from there you can take in the great views of the valley in every direction. The first structure on your right as you come through the tunnel is the nobleman Orduna's house. The Orduna family house is a museum and it is important that you visit this museum to see all the amazing stuff the Orduna family left behind but also to gain access to the walkway that leads up to the cemetery and the castle ruins that occupy the peak of the outcrop. Beside the Orduna house, there is a small Catholic church and about a dozen other buildings built in close proximity on the outcrop. In Gym's opinion, you had to be a lunatic to attack this position. The defenders could hold off the enemy for years as long as the food and water held out. As smart-bombs and drones became a reality, it was best to abandon it as a military strong-point, call it a World Unesco Site and hope you could make a few tourist bucks.

As Guadalest was a 90-minute drive from the docks, we got to see much of the area around Alicante, as we moved away from the port and into the countryside. The whole area is very much like Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I would say that it is even nicer though because it has all the great hotels and beautiful condominiums with golf courses and beaches but it doesn't have the Walmarts, Costco's and ugly billboards. It retains it's Mediterranean feel. I think it is a great idea for a beach vacation and it is easy to get to because you can fly direct to the area from Heathrow, as many British vacationers do. In fact, in parts of the area English is the first language. There are many Scandinavians and Dutch people in the area as well.

After leaving Guadalest we got a tour of the older parts of Alicante and learned it was the site of some terrible aerial bombardments by the forces of the fascist Franco. Franco wanted to defeat the republican resistance in Alicante during the Spanish Civil War. Both of our tour guide's grandfather's were killed fighting in that war against the fascists who eventually prevailed. During one particularly sad engagement during the war, 300 mostly women and children were killed when fascist bombers bombed the Mercado de Abastos on May 25, 1938.

The Castle of Santa Barbara looks down over the city and the port. We did not get a chance to check it out. It is situated on Mount Benacantil and it looks like it would be a great workout to explore its nooks and crannies on some future trip.

After the tour, Mrs. Gym and I decided we would walk back into town to check out the promenade and the beach. We walked down the breakwater to the beach which is east of the entrance to the port. The beach is a nice wide and sandy affair which Mrs. Gym says was "clothing-optional". She said she had noticed several topless ladies but I told her that I didn't believe her because I hadn't noticed them. In any event we turned west and decided to do a few blocks in that direction. We came upon the Espanada de Espana promenade. This is a really cool pedestrian mall along the waterfront. It is paved with 6.5 million marble floor tiles arranged in a wavy pattern and there are numerous outdoor cafes and tapas bars that are situated all along the length of it.

That night we sailed out of Alicante and into the Mediterranean. Our next port was Almeria.

A scene from the drive up to Guadalest

Walking towards the tunnel through the granite directly below the bell tower

There is the tunnel and you can see Mrs. Gym on the right

Looking back down the path from the tunnel entrance

The reservoir way down below the town that is currently filled only to 30% capacity.
The area has not got much rain for many years and they are worried about
desertification.