Well the cloud didn’t come so I ventured out for a different breakfast venue – a successful quest with OJ, tostada with tomato and ham and a coffee of course. I then went walkabout in the old quarter – the Barrio Vell. Lots of steps and slopes but some very pretty houses and a few of my favourite signs in tiles. I passed the Museo de Belenes but it was closed today and tomorrow. Maybe Boxing Day to find out when the nativity tableau movement started. Equally closed but for a month is the Museo de Fogueres which features the giant figures that are processed through the streets in June and then ceremonially burned. So I will miss out on understanding what that’s all about.
After yesterday I decided on a more gentle day so took myself down to the marina – well it’s got be flat hasn’t it? Indeed it was and very sunny.
I was struck by this bust of Archibald Dickson who had rescued 2,368 doomed anti-Franco citizens on his ship the Stanbrook at the end of the war in 1939. I’ve read a fair bit about the Spanish civil war but hadn’t come across this story.
The marina is a busy place with lots of vessels of different sizes. There was a salvage tug that reminded me of a video I produced many years ago about the salvage industry. We filmed in the UK, France, the Netherlands and Greece but not in Spain. There was also a sail training schooner from Gdansk, Kapitan Borchardt, that would have excited our dear departed friend Toddy. It is, it seems, the oldest sailing ship flying the Polish flag. I had very pleasant stroll and then sat in the sun for an hour reading my book looking up at the castle with a sense of satisfaction – it was like being on holiday!
The waterfront is a bit of a mish mash of buildings but there are a few lovely examples of classical architecture such as the Casa Carbonell built in 1925. It didn’t get off to a good start – a seaplane crashed into one of its domes killing two on board and causing the dome to be rebuilt.
As everything closes this evening I thought I’d better do lunch today. There was a massive choice of restaurants in Calle Major (Main Street) as you might expect. My food was great – grilled vegetables and a calamari also grilled. The problem was that in Alicante it appears that tapas are raciones and raciones a whole meal. So I had far too much and have some in Tupperware for this evening in the hotel. I also got wine and beer so I won’t starve if I actually want to eat again today. I took this back to the hotel, had a brief sit down and a coffee and then set off to explore an area I hadn’t ventured into before. The airport bus had dropped me off on Avenue Alfonso El Sabio so I now walked the length of this to Plaza Luceros where this one and three other major avenues meet. As a favourite venue for Alicantinos to meet, I just had to sit in the sun with a beer.
Leading from Luceros towards the sea is Avenida Federico Soto which is lined with ten or more book cabins – all closed today but encouraging to see such an appetite for the written word. I’ll be back to see how busy they are later in the week. Further down they morphed into Christmas stalls but not as tatty as many.
My wandering roughly described a square and took me back to the Teatro Principal which I had walked past before. Sadly there is nothing on of interest to me this week but it’s an impressive building. It also has a bus stop which I had researched before coming here, along with the purchase of a travel card. However I have found everywhere so far eminently walkable so have only used the bus to get in from the airport. Opposite was a church which is a lot more impressive than the cathedral.
One of the good things about the hotel is that the TV has BBC and ITV channels so I could catch Only Connect and University Challenge after a couple of weird Spanish game shows. Music, wine and reading now so Happy Christmas everyone.
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