I had only ever passed through Alicante once when I landed into the airport then caught a coach to Benidorm back in 2015. I saw nothing of Alicante and despite the fact the Costa Blanca has lovely, soft-sand beaches, I had no inclination to holiday there.

However, earlier this year, my cousin Luke and I were watching food tour videos on YouTube and the end of one rolled into the start of another which happened to be Alicante. Interesting, I thought. I had never heard much heard about Alicante’s food nor any buzz surrounding its culinary scene, despite having lived in Spain (albeit much further south, in Andalusia) for 3.5 years.

We watched as the video host narrated and ate his way through various stalls in the Mercat Central d’Alacant and other quaint wine bars and restaurants in the old town.

On that drizzly spring afternoon in the north of England, my interest was piqued.

I had been loosely planning a summer trip through certain parts of Spain and I knew I wanted to spend a few days alone near the beach with free time to read and write so I looked into Alicante Old Town, preferring a quieter location and not a typical ‘Brit-abroad’ location with full English breakfasts and karaoke bars. A quick Google and I was convinced, it looked surprisingly stunning. Pardon my prior ignorance.

I pencilled in three days, in between visiting my friends Ben and Chris in Castellón and heading up to spend a night with my friend Pilar in Madrid. I caught the RENFE train from Valencia to Alicante which took just under 2.5 hours. It was a very pleasant journey as the Spanish train system is excellent, and I did some work on my laptop which passed the time, however, heading towards the mountainous terrain of Alicante meant that a certain leg of the journey was quite shaky.

I stayed at El Mirador hotel which faces the Platja del Postiguet beach and is a 10-15 minute walk from Alicante Old Town. My criteria while looking for a hotel was this: sea view with a table I could write at whilst looking over at the blue sea, and being situated in Alicante Old Town. El Mirador was perfect and I would certainly stay there again if I ever return to Alicante which I very much intend to do after this splendid three-day stay!

I was emailed a code to let myself in; there is no reception. The decor was modern and fresh with a great walk-in shower and a really comfortable bed, and despite some trees between the highway and the beach, the blue sea view (much more striking than the photograph shows!).

Before I go into how I spent three days in Alicante Old Town, it’s time for a little bit of history about the place.

Alicante, or Alacant as it is called in their Valencian dialect (Valencià or Valenciano in Castellano Spanish), is a city and municipality on the Mediterranean cost. It is interesting to note that many Spanish place names that begin with Al- stem from their previous Arabic names where Al- is a common beginning to Arabic words. Alacant means ‘white’ which ties in with the name of the wider coastline, the Costa Blanca.

Alicante was an important port city and flourished with the trade and exportation from its fisheries, oranges, olive oil and wool. Like many parts of Spain, it was developed to accommodate mass-tourism in the late 1950s and 1960s when numerous hotels, bars and restaurants were built along the seafront. Indeed, Alicante attracted poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes to spend their honeymoon there in 1956. Sylvia wrote a poem entitled ‘Alicante Lullaby’, a euphonious poem that evoked the mix of gritty and soothing sounds of Alicante at night which often kept her awake:

Alicante Lullaby by Sylvia Plath

In Alicante they bowl the barrels
Bumblingly over the nubs of the cobbles
Past the yellow-paella eateries,
Below the ramshackle back-alley balconies,
While the cocks and hens
In the roofgardens
Scuttle repose with crowns and cackles.

Kumquat-colored trolleys ding as they trundle
Passengers under an indigo fizzle
Needling spumily down from the wires:
Alongside the sibliant narhor the lovers
Hear loudspeakers boom
From each neon-lit palm
Rumbas and sambas no ear-flaps can muffle.

O Cacophony, goddess of jazz and of quarrels,
Crack-throated mistress of bagpipes and cymbals,
Let be your con brios, your capricciosos,
Crescendos, cadenzas, prestos and pretissimos,
My head on the pillow
(Piano, pianissimo)
Lullayed by susurrous lyres and viols.

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Spain can often be a noisy and boisterous country which is great and conveys the people’s general conviviality, however, there are times when it gets a bit much (such as when you can’t hear your friend over dinner in a LOUD restaurant, or when your next door neighbour is singing flamenco in the room that backs on to your bedroom at 7am on Sundays… yes, I left her a petty note…’por favor…’) so I can relate to what Sylvia will have experienced.

It inspired me to write my own poem in homage to both Sylvia and Spain called ‘Alicante Lullaby’ which conjures up a more peaceful sound set:

Alicante Lullaby by Laura Ferries

As the moon takes over 

the night shift from the sun,

the golden air over the Balearic sea

smells of seagrass and oysters,

how violet and violent 

the midnight waves

flecked with amber light,

how hot the mid July night

when you’ve known the cold.

I throw open

the windows wide,

the whisper of the sea

drifts into indigo dreams

I close my eyes

to notes of distant shanties,

under silver stars,

the mermaid’s cry

I fall deep into

a lavender sleep

lulled away by

the melodies

of Alicante lullaby.

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So, on to what I did in Alicante.

On the first afternoon, I crossed the highway via the street elevator and winding bridge over to Playa del Postiguet and sunbathed for a while, reading Las bicicletas son para el verano, a play written in 1977 by Fernando Fernán Gómez set in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War, which I will be teaching this year for A Level Spanish.

After a shower and change, I crossed back over to the beach to have dinner at the Xiringuito Postiguet, a beautiful and slightly fancy beach bar with a DJ spinning Balearic beats and a menu filled with food of the hipster variety.

I ordered a glass of Albariño and a salmon poke bowl which felt so fresh to be eating out on the beach, sandals kicked off and feet buried in the silky, soft sand, listening to the music and the waves crashing on to shore.

Flickering lanterns lit up the beach bar as the sun began to descend, and it didn’t grow cold at all but the intensity of the sun faded as the sky darkened to an inky purple.

The beach emptied once the sun went down so I headed down to the shoreline, barefoot, and hoiked my dress up to knee length and tied it in a knot at the side and waded into the Mediterranean Sea amongst a few others.

The water and the air were warm with only the slightest hint of sea breeze. Golden lights lit up the crests of the waves and the distant beats of club music drifted over the bay. I stayed there for around an hour (I think) in a state of total tranquil bliss.

I know some people wouldn’t dream of going on holiday alone and there are parts of Spain where a woman can receive funny looks for dining alone but I love it and I promise you, it’s a luxury.

Last year, I chose Vienna for a safe location to spend three nights alone and although you do wish you had someone there to share the moments with, it is empowering and allows you to see places when others are busy or don’t fancy that particular location.

I returned to my hotel room and opened the windows wide and fell asleep to the white noise of passing night traffic and breaking waves.

~~~~~~~~

The next morning, I woke early and spent some time writing near the open windows with a coffee. I then got ready to explore the Old Town.

I walked 15 minutes in the sweltering late-morning heat to the Mercat Central d’Alacant and once there, pulled up a high stool at a pintxos bar whilst trying to cool down. Those Spanish fans aren’t just decorative, they are essential in high summer!

I ordered two pintxos as the heat had quelled much of my appetite and a naughtily early glass of macabeo. We operate on a different clock whilst on holiday, no? (It was 12pm so not the morning…)

To be honest, it’s not unusual to glimpse a Spanish person sat with a glass of wine at 12pm whilst poring over their newspaper but the thing is, that is all they will have and not turn it into an all-dayer. Wine in the Mediterranean countries is all about enjoyment with food, each bringing out the depth of flavours in the other.

I was also offered a shot of mango tequila for 1 euro and when the camarera assured me it was weak, I gave in and had one because when else would I be offered mango tequila for 1 euro? It was indeed weak but the flavour was beautiful (and I don’t like tequila unless in a margarita!).

The Mercat has been open since 1921 and sells a range of fresh produce including fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, jamón, cheese, and there are also shops selling cosmetics and clothing. It is only open until 14:30 so you need to get there handily. It’s an enjoyable way to pass the morning and early afternoon although I am always a bit adverse to walking past meat stalls in markets as I’m squeamish and an ex-vegetarian who still doesn’t eat much meat, so I don’t tend to spend too long in them (this applies to all countries, not just Spain).

There is an Alicante speciality which is naughty but so, so nice, and it is called a tequeño. Oh my word, I am salivating as I think of it even now, almost two months on. It is deep fried cheese (in this case it was Edam which I didn’t even know you could melt) in a deep fried pastry which was served here with chilli jam and rocket. I wished I’d ordered two. I might try and make them here at home one day.

Afterwards, I headed out of the market and tracked down a place I’d read about online called Sip & Wonder which serves beautiful coffees in a trendy, slightly literary setting. There is even a shop where you can buy natural wine, coffee beans, sourdough bread and recipe books.

I had a cortado and continued reading the Spanish play out on a seat in the front on a surprisingly quiet street.

Feeling re-energised, I braved the scorching midday streets to get some snacks, water and coffee in for the hotel room from a nearby Mercadona.

On the way back to my hotel, I passed the Ayuntamiento de Alicante (town hall) and was struck by its beauty for a building used for otherwise stoic matters. The large wooden door was framed by a garland of dried flowers in pastel shades and I had to stop and take a picture.

The next morning, I woke up at 5am which was annoying but I decided to make the most of it. I put a bikini and dress on over it and walked across the beach to watch the sun rise which is later than Britain due to the geography and incorrect time zone of Spain following the dictator Franco’s alliance with Hitler in Germany.

Anyone who knows me personally will know that I am not a natural early bird, but in this case, the decision to be awake this early was made for me, and how glad I was.

The sun was already on its way up as I crossed the flyover to the beach, and 6:30am work traffic was already streaming along the highway.

I walked into the sea up to waist level and watched the sun rise in the east. I know it will sound trite but there is something spiritual about watching the sun rise and set, particularly when set against and feeling free in nature. This is probably quite normal for early risers and outdoorsy people but for me, someone who loves lie ins and the city, it was special to feel the warm air on my back and my face as I watched the sun rise for another day, wondering what it would bring.

I returned to the hotel and tried to sleep but my imagination was so stimulated and the room was so light I couldn’t nod off. I spent some time alone reading and writing then eventually got up and ready to visit the local (ish) village of Villajoyosa for the day.

There is an excellent tram system in Alicante that can take you to beautifully scenic coastal towns such as Benidorm, Javea, Dénia, Altea, Benidorm and more.

I did a lot of research on which seaside town to visit in my limited time in Alicante and in the end I opted for Villajoyosa which really was a joyful jewel as the name suggests.

Next blog article will be on Villajoyosa so check back in the next couple of days to read about the little known Spanish village which has been voted a hidden gem!

One key thing I did not get chance to see which I will when I next return to Alicante is visit the Castell de Santa Bàrbara, pretty much next door to my hotel, El Mirador. The main thing was the heat, I didn’t really fancy ascending to a castle on a high hilltop in peak heat but the views would have been stunning over the sea and all over the city (click on the link to their website and you will see what I missed out on!!) . I will build this in to my next trip there; I think it costs about 4 euros to use the lift and gain entrance to the castle.

Tell me, what are your key things to see and do in Alicante Old Town? I’m definitely intent on returning and visiting more of the neighbouring towns!

Until the next time, hasta la vista,

Laura

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