Alicante...can I move here?

My roomate Lara and I traveled to Alicante yesterday and came back today. What can I say? I absolutely love it there. The very first thing we saw when we got to the city was the ocean. Every time I see the ocean I wonder to myself why I ever moved away. Obviously landlocked Indiana isn't the best place for me. After we got off the bus Lara and I walked down a beautiful street called La Explanada which has street vendors all over. They sell cool rastafarian things like pipes, handmade scarves and purses, leather goods, and insence. I loved it! La explanada is right next to the harbor, and it was wonderfully sunny out so we enjoyed the walk.


After checking into the hostel we walked around the city and enjoyed the beautiful day. It was about 70 degrees out! We walked on the beach, and sat there enjoying the waves and the sun for a couple of hours. After that we walked around the old part of the city which was all decorated for carnival, which is happening this weekend. It was cool to see all of the decorations. The Plaza de Alementacion had giant masks and tapestries hanging all around it, and there were lights everywhere.



After that, we went to the Museo de los Fogueras which is a museum to commemorate the statues which are built every June in the city during a big festival. The statues are hundreds of feet tall and are incredibly beautiful and intricate. After a few days all of the statues are burned and the celebration begins. I loved seeing the miniatures of the statues and the pictures of the fires and celebrations. Then we went to the Museum de las Belenes (the museum of nativity scenes.) We only really went because it was free, but it turned out to be pretty cool. Each nativity scene was impecably designed and there were layer upon layer of details in each one. It was cool to be able to see the ways people from different places all around the world portrayed the birth of Jesus. After going back to the hostel for a quick siesta we went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant and ate a lot of delicious food. Then we walked around the city some more, and saw the casino, which is lit up at night. We also found a live band in one of the plazas which was celebrating Carnival. The main festivities didn't start until midnight, but by then we were too tired to go see anything.



This morning we slept in and then went to breakfast at the cafe behind our hostel. After that we went to the indoor market downtown. We had read in the visitor guide that it housed a market of handmade goods and treasures from the Alicante area. What we actually found was a food and flower market. It was huge! There were hundreds of stalls of fish, breads, fruit, vegetables, meat, and flowers. It was absolutely beautiful and very interesting to compare to the outdoor market in Murcia. I loved all the flower stalls, and took a bunch of great pictures.



After the market Lara and I went to the Museo de Agua (the water museum.) It described the plight of Alicante and the surrounding area of finding, purifying, and transporting potable water. It was interesting, but not really that exciting. After that we climbed up the mountain in the middle of the city to the castle. The hike up was absolutely beautiful and it was only beaten by the beauty of the castle itself. Most of the castle has been left in its natural state, but parts have been redone to house art galleries. The artist whose works were on display was a sulpture who designed pieces with metal men doing physical activities on wooden bases. They were pretty cool to look at, and definitely show a lot of respect for the human form. The best part of the castle for sure, however, was the view. Every way you looked was stunningly beautiful. I also really enjoyed the fact that we could take an elevator back down the mountain. The hallway to the elevator had really cool tiles in it which had Spanish sayings on them like "where the heart leads the foot follows."

After going back down the mountain Lara and I walked along the beach some more. We stopped at an adorable little restaurant and had paella for lunch. I love paella! It was pretty cold today, so after lunch we went back to the hostel to warm up and take a break. Afterwards we went to the Museum of Classical Art, which was cool but the curators were really rude and were talking loudly on their cell phones and to each other. It ruined the experience for me. After a stop to get chocolate and churros (which I still don't like) and a walk back along La Explanada we were back at the bus stop and it was time to go home. I had a great couple days!