Blogs from Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain, Europe - page 7

We spent a couple of days in the seaside town of Lagos which is in the Algarve region of Portugal- one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, which receives 7 million tourists each year. The Algarve covers the whole southern coast of Portugal and is made up of many towns and beautiful beaches with amazing rock formations jutting out in the water. As we were there during the Queen Jubilee 4-day weekend (for the UK) there was lots of extra British tourists so was quite fun to people watch during dinner and look around at all the sun burnt bodies. We also checked out the Cape St Vincent lighthouse which is the most western point of mainland Europe. We were happy to cross the boarder back into Spain so we could say goodbye to ... read more

Dear all I have actually been back home a few days but didn't get a chance to do my blog on the latest trip away- so it's retrospective - but I know everyone likes to see my photos and know what I have been up to- so here it comes..... Many people fly into Alicante’s new airport and then whizz off to the coastal resorts like nearby Benidorm and Torevieja…. But visiting my lovely cousin, Marilyn, and her husband,Terry, they pick me up and whizz me inland across the mountains to the valley where they live between two villages Frailes and Hondon de las Nieves. Almonds blossoms were out and vines are cut right back to stumps, orange and lemon trees are laden with fruits and we pass many olive trees some ancient and some newly ... read more

I quite enjoyed the long train journey from Barcelona even though I was battling with my Ipod earphones the whole time as one decided to break and the other was on its last legs. Some rather nice scenery. It was nice and easy finding my hostel. It was a proper hostel - cheap, ultra laid back and really friendly. I only had one thing on my mind after check-in - food. I went to find the place the hostel manager recommended to me which had sandwiches and beer for a euro each on La Rambla. There I ordered a gourmet beef and something sandwich, a cone of chips and a beer. To my amusement the cone of chips was actually a cone of crisps (chips to Americans and Aussies). I was expecting a cone of chips ... read more

Hola amigos y familia! At long last I am updating my blog - something that is many months overdue. This post will mark the first in (hopefully) a string of updates about my adventures around Europe. Hope you enjoy! First off, sorry I still don't have any pictures of the University I'm attending. I just haven't taken the time to go around to span pictures yet. It's a nice campus, but nothing too visually stunning, as it originally was a military airport base which got converted approximately 25 years ago. I have continuously been taking Spanish classes since September, and am currently in the advanced level. It seems like the time has passed by so quickly! My speaking skills have improved greatly, but I am far from being proficient enough to be satisfied. Luckily I am ... read more

Hi all, Sunday 6th Feb, after all the excitement of the previous week a relaxing period was required and finding camping La Garrofa on the coast road between Almeria and Aguadulce was perfect. This campsite is the oldest in the whole of Spain and was established in 1957, it fills a small cove that has it's own pebbled beach and the pitches go right upto the shoreline. As there were only around 30 pitches and most of them currently occupied it seemed that most people knew each other and it wasn't long before we started to get to know them as they were all very friendly. Irish Joe and his wife, John, his wife and dog Jedi, old George the academic and many more. We walked around the rocks and on the beach the first day ... read more