ALICANTE

As is often the case when you arrive at a larger city, especially by rail, I wasn’t sure on Alicante at first. But after a short trip of only two nights in the city, I left being very open to the idea of returning one day.

I arrived late afternoon into the train terminal of the city after a three-hour train journey from where I was living in Castilla La Mancha, and I had reserved a room in an Airbnb about a ten-minute walk from the station. This area was a bit of an eyesore but I dropped my bag off, slipped some shorts on for the warm climate and headed off on a stroll onto one of the main boulevards. Here I treated myself to a nice cold beverage at an outdoor seating area of a bar on a lovely looking roundabout and thoroughly enjoyed the cosmopolitan scene of which the centrepiece was a beautiful statue and fountain.

Then I wandered down the pretty boulevard in the direction of the ocean and the main beach of the city (Playa del Postiguet), taking some snaps along the way. The beach itself was nice enough for a beach that is so close to the city, and there is a nice wide paved area to walk down alongside it, which was needed as it was particularly busy on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon.

After spending some time at the beach I explored some of the tall, narrow alleys that are so synonymous with urban Spanish areas, where lots of people were eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves in a really cool environment. The city’s combination of beach and city make it a perfect weekend escape, and this was evident in the number of tourists there.

As always I try to pack my running gear and go for a Sunday morning run when I’m in a new city, and the coastal area in Alicante is perfect for this. It was another warm day on the Sunday, a high of 27 degrees which is great for mid-October and I went for a long run along the lovely seafront that I’d discovered the day before. I started at the main beach and then ended up at a smaller beach which was a real little gem (Playa de la Albufereta). I didn’t get a photo of it because I wasn’t carrying my phone on the run but I would love to spend the day there in future. I wasn’t able to on that day because on the Sunday afternoon I had plans to head over to Elche for a football game between the local side and Deportivo La Coruña. So as for my short trip to Alicante, that was about it, until next time!