Just got back from one of our favorite countries in Europe: Spain! What a country. Looks like California, feels like California, and people talk like they are from California if you know what I mean. Also, that place could not be any more un-German. Not that we don't like it here...it's just that we need a break from 60's and rain all summer. Needless to say, we really like heading to Spain.
This time around we decided to veer south and go to the Costa Blanca. From my limited education in Spanish, I can comfortably say this means the White Coast. From what I gather, they call it this because of the powdery light sand that graces the beaches as well as the lack of greenery that tends to dot the coast as you go north. Anyhow, we flew into Murcia and drove our rental to our hotel in Santa Pola (not to be mistaken with Santa Poco of Three Amigos fame). This place sucked. Santa Pola was ghetto to be frank. If Van Nuys had a beach, it would look just like this place. Our hotel was in keeping with the town which is not saying much. We decided to spend as much time away from that place as possible the next couple days.
That night, however, we did walk around and things got a little better. As we vaguely knew before visiting, Spain was ruled by the Moors/Muslims many moons ago. To celebrate this heritage, the Spaniards decided to through a party and blow their town up with every firework known to man. These weren't the Safe and Sane variety that you drive down to Santa Ana to buy. They tened to like the M-80 type of fireworks that you have to drive down to Mexico for. Jen mentioned that now she knows what it must be like to be in Baghdad. It was pretty intense.
The next day we drove over to Alicante and got exactly what we came to Spain for. Beatiful palm lined avenidas, topless beaches, tapas bars, and the warm Med ocean. It was fabulous. The only downside was Jen's lobster-like sunburn. She swore she put on lot's of sunblock but it obviously didn't do a damn thing. Not even that could put a damper on the good vibe.
The last day we hit up Elche which is an inland city about 25 km from Alicante. Elche is known for its massive palm groves which date back to the Babylonians (sp?). The Moors kept them going by installing an elaborate irrigation system that is still in use today. As a result, you have these miles of palm forests in the middle of the desert. You can walk among many of them and we did just that. We found one that Fodors raves about and after paying our five euro, we stepped into a tropical paradise for an hour or two. It was a welcomed relief to the searing Spanish sun especially for Jen who was now in some serious pain from her sunburn from the day before.
Once we got back to Germany, we froze our butts off in the low sixty degree weather. What a bummer. Germany wasn't all that bad though. A few days after we got back, we hit up Bad Durkheim which is now hosting the Wurstmarkt which, despite its name, is the largest wine fest in the world. Even though it was really croweded, we had a blast. Most everyone was either drunk or on their way to being drunk. As for me, well I was on call all weekend and fell into the third category in wishing I was liquered up. Good times.
Enough for now. Jen and Julia head back to CA on Wednesday to get some sunshine and Disney under their belts. As for travel, I plan on hitting up Belgium, Munich, and Berchtesgaden when they are back home in CA. More to come...
This time around we decided to veer south and go to the Costa Blanca. From my limited education in Spanish, I can comfortably say this means the White Coast. From what I gather, they call it this because of the powdery light sand that graces the beaches as well as the lack of greenery that tends to dot the coast as you go north. Anyhow, we flew into Murcia and drove our rental to our hotel in Santa Pola (not to be mistaken with Santa Poco of Three Amigos fame). This place sucked. Santa Pola was ghetto to be frank. If Van Nuys had a beach, it would look just like this place. Our hotel was in keeping with the town which is not saying much. We decided to spend as much time away from that place as possible the next couple days.
That night, however, we did walk around and things got a little better. As we vaguely knew before visiting, Spain was ruled by the Moors/Muslims many moons ago. To celebrate this heritage, the Spaniards decided to through a party and blow their town up with every firework known to man. These weren't the Safe and Sane variety that you drive down to Santa Ana to buy. They tened to like the M-80 type of fireworks that you have to drive down to Mexico for. Jen mentioned that now she knows what it must be like to be in Baghdad. It was pretty intense.
The next day we drove over to Alicante and got exactly what we came to Spain for. Beatiful palm lined avenidas, topless beaches, tapas bars, and the warm Med ocean. It was fabulous. The only downside was Jen's lobster-like sunburn. She swore she put on lot's of sunblock but it obviously didn't do a damn thing. Not even that could put a damper on the good vibe.
The last day we hit up Elche which is an inland city about 25 km from Alicante. Elche is known for its massive palm groves which date back to the Babylonians (sp?). The Moors kept them going by installing an elaborate irrigation system that is still in use today. As a result, you have these miles of palm forests in the middle of the desert. You can walk among many of them and we did just that. We found one that Fodors raves about and after paying our five euro, we stepped into a tropical paradise for an hour or two. It was a welcomed relief to the searing Spanish sun especially for Jen who was now in some serious pain from her sunburn from the day before.
Once we got back to Germany, we froze our butts off in the low sixty degree weather. What a bummer. Germany wasn't all that bad though. A few days after we got back, we hit up Bad Durkheim which is now hosting the Wurstmarkt which, despite its name, is the largest wine fest in the world. Even though it was really croweded, we had a blast. Most everyone was either drunk or on their way to being drunk. As for me, well I was on call all weekend and fell into the third category in wishing I was liquered up. Good times.
Enough for now. Jen and Julia head back to CA on Wednesday to get some sunshine and Disney under their belts. As for travel, I plan on hitting up Belgium, Munich, and Berchtesgaden when they are back home in CA. More to come...
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