Blogs from Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain, Europe - page 16

Before You Come to Spain - Your cell phone won’t work here. We expected that, but were not ready to deal with the pay phones. Might be a good idea to get a phone that will work here. - People eat at times we are not used to eating at….and we still haven’t figured out what those are. Lunch and dinner are much later than at home. - Outside of the city, wine and food are amazingly cheap! - It does rain in Barcelona in May, so you may want to bring more than one warm outfit-definitely pack an umbrella. - Umbrellas that you buy in Barcelona for 3 Euros are just as bad as the crappy ones you buy on the street in NYC. - How to work the lights in a hotel room ... read more

Overcast morning today...Good chance to go to the top of the mountain we have been looking at since arrival. Check out the photos!... read more

Day 5 Just a quick note and photo til we can find time to update the rest of the blog entries and photos. Wanted to share a BEAUTIFUL view from the terrace of our hotel, where we are hanging out while updating the blog. Behind us in the background is the Castille de Santa Barbara- it is almost always present in the background, wherever you go here. At night, it is lit up, and almost surreal. We have promised to get there before we head out to Malaga. ... read more

When you arrive in Alicante the first thing you might notice is the castle, high above on a hill. Or you might notice the pretty little beach only a few blocks from the downtown action. Or maybe your attention will be drawn to the beautiful facades of the churches and museums. But after we spent the weekend in Alicante the thing that struck us the most was the amount of characters wandering around the beach. Alicante might just be the Florida of Spain, judging from the amount of seniors. And I suspect that the combination of life experience teaching a person that appearences are not that important, and the free and easy Spanish way of life is responsible for some of these people: - an old man with a paper sailboat/hat on his bald head. I ... read more

I arrived safely here! Despite sitting on gum somewhere along the way, all my bags were in Alicante when I arrived!! It was a long flight, I don't do much sleeping when I fly so I watched a few movies, bought a neck pillow and despite my efforts to sleep managed about 30 minutes total during the 3 flights I took. Oh well, I can sleep when I am old : ). I caught a tour like bus and we (me and 4 other students in my program) rode to the Hotel Hesperia Lucentum http://www.hesperia.es/hoteles/Hesperia-Lucentum/?source=googes&gclid=CMC2h7-S3I4CFQzclAodaQJA8g, which was really nice and the location of the 3 days of orientation. One of the first things I noticed about the city is the presence of graffiti...everywhere. I got checked into my room and then grabbed some pizza with a ... read more