Blogs from Alfaz del Pi, Valencian Community, Spain, Europe - page 2

Today we are off to the village of Guadalest which lies at the head of the Guadalest Valley, some 35 kilometres inland from where we are staying. The winding road from the coast to Guadalest is almost worth the trip on its own, passing as it does through stunning scenery. The valley is covered with woods of pine, holm oak, maple and ash and in the cultivated areas are orchards of apples, cherries, and pears, groves of olives, oranges, almonds, figs and lemons, and the local fruit, nísperos. The village economy relies almost entirely on tourism these days but from Moorish times its position at the top of a granite mountain where the Moors built their castle, rendered it almost unconquerable. Surrounded by the Aitana, Serella and Xorta mountains, it appears it was first settled by ... read more

Today after breakfast we went into Albir and looked around the village a bit before finding a nice coffee spot. The town is very touristy with lots of restaurants, shops and grocery stores. Lots of foreign tourists walk the streets in only their beachwear, which can be quite unsightly at times! We spent the afternoon in or around the pool, as it is another hot one today! In the evening we enjoyed some delicious Thai food at a local restaurant. After dinner we strolled along the lovely beach promenade.... read more

Today we are off to visit a couple who were acquaintances of ours in Costa Rica and who now live in Altea. They were originally from Calgary and two years ago the left Atenas to live in Spain. We had a leisurely coffee with them at a beachfront cafe and made plans to meet again later in the week for dinner. In the afternoon we spent time in the pool and reading. Our acquaintance Barry mentioned that on Sunday nights at a train station near here people gather for a jam session with different instruments and it usually has some pretty good music. We decided to check it out as Barry said he'd be there playing his saxophone. The music was pretty decent.... read more

Today was hot, right from the time we woke up. The house does not have great ventilation and no screens on the windows! Europeans do not seem to believe in putting screens on their windows which is strange as there are flies and mosquitoes here. After breakfast we headed off to a small village not far from where we are staying, called Altea. The old town of Altea is on a hill and looks typically Spanish with its pretty, narrow cobbled streets with white houses leading up to a beautiful central square. Once we climbed up through the narrow streets we enjoyed magnificent sea and mountain views. We enjoyed the charm of the little village as we sipped our morning coffee but the heat of the day quickly sent us back home to enjoy our pool. ... read more

Today we are celebrating 37 wonderful years of marriage. Unfortunately, we had to start our day by returning our rental car to Alicante which is over an hour away. We decided to drive the rental and our exchange vehicle to the little train station in Albir. From there we drove to Alicante where we returned our vehicle and had a coffee and yummy pastries. Then we caught the local tram back to Albir which was a great way to see the countryside. On our return to Albir train station we picked up our car and drove into Albir and visited beautiful Playa Albir. It was busy with tourists but we bought a gelato and enjoyed a lovely stroll along the beach promenade. It is 37c today so returned to the house and cooled off in the ... read more