Spain Spain Spaaaaaaaaaaain!

My flight to Barajas was teeming with students, journeying over to do a study abroad stint in one of my favorite countries. What I wouldn’t give to be back in that position and do it all over again…

I didn’t sleep on the flight (mistake) and after dropping my stuff off at Lana’s, it was time for my first cafe con leche in 7 years. 7! Surely that has something to do with luck

It was the best coffee I’ve ever had. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I was in Madrid – honest!

I had no time to recover from my jet lag OR the fact that I didn’t sleep on the way over. There were World Cup games to be watched and drinks on the terrace to be had.

Carol y Dulce 🙂

We only spent a few days in Madrid before we headed off for the beach in Alicante. Madrid was hot. Like Houston hot. And Mama didn’t come to Europe to be hot, so we were off!

these were all over the countryside

“molino de viento” en espanol…

We arrive and schlep our bags around trying to find the perfect pension. We find a place to rest our weary heads and pop back out for cocktails on the beach.

The waiter laughed at me when I asked if they had sangria. Laughed! What is it, sir? I am just supposed to “assume” that every bar in Spain has sangria?

There was a cool medieval festival taking place in the plaza next to our pension. There were even men on horses who fought with lances! I KNEW we picked the perfect day to come to Alicante!

Alicante is full of these charming, winding streets and alleyways – one in which we decided to treat ourselves to a really nice dinner. Just because.

That night I told Lana we would be going out at the port. She was a bit dubious about my suggestion since ports have a reputation of being a bit dodgy. Unfortunately I have no photographic evidence to demonstrate to you how lovely the port actually is. But I will give you this tip: telling Spanish men that you are Russian virtually shuts them up and makes them leave. Most don’t speak Russian. Mwhahahahaha!

We came home at 6am that night…morning. Esta es la vida de España!

The next day we did some inquiring and discovered that Playa San Juan was just down the road and a much better way to spend our time while in Alicante. So we hop on a bus and head that way.

Playa San Juan was definitely the right choice. The beaches were gorgeous and surrounded by mountains in the distance, and it had more of a hipster vibe that suited us better. The day was perfect. This is what I picture Ibiza to be like, except much cheaper

The only way to celebrate a successful day at the beach is with a bottle of Cava!

We head back to the main part of town around 11PM and notice hordes of people flocking to the main beach as the bus drops us off. There was something happening, but we didn’t know what. So we popped over the Chino for some sustenance (Champagne) and then followed everyone to the beach.

The beach was covered with people just waiting, waiting, waiting. We didn’t know what for, but we were waiting too. Shirley it must be something good! In the meantime, we had our champagne to occupy us.

Por fin! Fireworks! What a lovely eve in Alicante

Our last day there, we wandered around, had a leisurely lunch and then bid ourselves adieu. This was a very special lunch for me as it was my first and only meal in Spain where I actually had a plate full of vegetables. The Spaniards don’t like their veggies, I tell ya. It was like lookin’ for a whore in church trying to find anything like that in a bloody restaurant. My body was screaming for some nutrients. Like potassium. Poor body.

Next destination: the Netherlands