Alicante

Wednesday 09/20/23

Wednesday was another travel day, which meant getting up early and having a stressed breakfast because I didn't get up early enough. Walking to the subway stressed, sitting in the subway stressed. Stressed about finding the right platform at the train station. What was new, however, was a security check in front of the track. I was worried for a moment that they were making me stressed about my pocket knife, but everything went smoothly. Despite all the setbacks, I managed to get on the train in time and set off from the right place towards the coast: Alicante. I was really looking forward to it, as the last time I was at the sea was at least three years ago. When I arrived in Alicante, I first walked to the hostel and then locked my backpack in a locker because I couldn't check in yet. Then I walked to the sea first. I was in the water for quite a long time, but of course I forgot to put on cream and got sunburned straight away... Another mistake was that I left my sunglasses on, I didn't lose them but it severely restricted my childish wave diving activities . Later I took a long walk through the city and discovered the beautiful old town almost by accident. I strolled along the promenade and checked out the little stalls there. That's where I met Hutz and Scooby. Hutz begged for "a little change for weed and beer", which I found very funny. I walked through a mushroom street, it was very beautiful, there were huge mushrooms there at regular intervals, probably 3-4 meters high. On the way back to the hostel I went shopping, nice toast and pasta, pureed tomatoes and so on. Only to find out in the hostel that there was neither a stove nor a toaster and that I probably didn't pay attention to that when I booked... Well, after that I went out again to find something to eat somewhere, then got a pizza in a pizzeria and... I got a 0.5l cola for 6 euros, it tasted good, but at least it filled me up.

Thursday 09/21/23

My morning didn't start so well, I slept very poorly (due to at least 4 snorers that even my earplugs had no chance against). I wanted to go up to the castle early in the morning to avoid the heat and crowds of tourists, but as soon as I got to the top I saw the closed castle gate and found out that it didn't open until 10 a.m., so I didn't feel like spending another 1.5 hours to wait and I scrambled back down and went to the beach. This time I learned from my mistakes and left my glasses on land and was able to let my inner child run wild. After the beach I walked around the city a bit and did a bit of shopping, which was also nice. I made a quick trip to the train station to make my next seat reservation. Somehow that really intimidated me and I was really afraid of it, but in the end it went very well and it even cost less than online.

Friday 09/22/23

After I slept in for a long time, I first got a cappucino from a small bakery that I discovered the day before. There was also an empanada with spinach, but I was very disappointed. Afterwards I walked to the castle and documented my days in Madrid with another cappucino and a wonderful view over the sea. Of course I then explored the castle before walking back into town for lunch. I went to an Italian restaurant "Nonna Nina" and ate pizza (again). There was pizza al pesto (pesto, rocket, buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes) and a nice cold Lambrusco. After the siesta in the hostel we went to the beach again where I read a bit and listened to music. I watched the sunset and walked along the sea a bit in search of shells. And because the sea was so warm, I quickly hopped in. At the hostel I made some gratinated toast in the microwave and then went to sleep.