!worldmappin 38.34576 lat -0.47678 long scenes from Alicante d3scr)
a while back we traveled to Alicante. because Spain is the number one destination for norwegian tourists we had always chosen other less popular destinations. but we have heard so many positive stories of people's experiences we finally decided to take a trip. there were so a variety of attractive places in Spain to choose from so it was hard to decide. in the end we prioritized convenience and price of travel, and the best combination of the two happened to be Alicante. it turned out to be an excellent choice.
Alicante is a medium sized city, a cultural center with a long history much of which is well preserved. but the city has kept pace with the times and expanded considerably. the more recent boom in seaside tourism has for the most part has taken place in a separate area outside of town.
so when exploring the city there are only a few places where visitors dominate, most notably the Castell de Santa Bàrbara on top of the hill. while the city beach is clearly a popular spot, by far most of the beachgoers were Spanish
there is a pedestrian street all along the beach. next to that street is an equally wide park area and on the other side of the park is the road for motor vehicles with shops lining the far side of it. from a visitors perspective it's very well designed. i can't say anything from the perspective of the residents but business seemed to be thriving everywhere we went.
the old town has plenty of charming narrow roads built long before the invention of motor vehicles
and some of the residential hillsides are so narrow and steep that they are for pedestrians only. the house facades are well kept and lovely. the residents must be relatively healthy because climbing the long stairs is plenty of exercise.
stopping to enjoy the greenery adorning the way up the hill eases the climb
at the top the terrain flattens out. it's very peaceful without the traffic. i wonder how many residents own cars. there are a few places where residents can park their cars partway up the hill though i am sure many of the residents would prefer having them closer
the cathedral in the old town is light and spacious
many ports are works of art
like this garage door
the main market hall in the old town is a must stop
huge variety, top quality, attractive displays and decent prices
and lots of customers in the morning. it closes early so better get the shopping done before siesta
back on the street we came to this delightful fountain full of continually changing water sculptures. they are spaced out so it is possible to walk between them
the design is simple enough but the effect is wonderful. a great cool and shady spot for a hot afternoon.
small parks dot the city. in this one we found a few exceedingly white doves
the coolest shop we found in the city was close to our hotel. the exterior was from the early days of street art
and the interior chock full of porcelain and other decorative items as well as having a wide selection of herbs and herbal medicines. we asked for orange blossoms but he said it had been a very bad year for oranges and he didn't have any.
the widest roads with the most traffic have underground crossings. the striking rainbow stairs predate the much more recent international use of the symbol. anyway we were in Alicante for 6 days and have far too much to post about in a single post. so this is the first in a series of 4 or 5 posts coming soon.
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