Road Trip to Alicante, Guadalest and Chinchón
Hola Chicos!
Believe it or not, we actually managed to find a four day window when we could travel to the coast for a sneaky family break. After six months in Spain we had not ventured to the Costa Blanca and we wanted to check out the Mediterranean coast. So we hired a car and booked an Airbnb relatively close to the beach front in Alicante.
Wow! Were we disappointed. Alicante is definitely not what we were expecting. I must admit that we are very spoilt in Australia and it would be very difficult to find better beaches anywhere in the world. We were expecting a lot of tourists but nothing like what we experienced on the Mediterranean. It is early July and already Alicante looks stretched beyond its tourist capability. Alicante is the only town in Spain that we have visited that was dirty, incredibly expensive and so focussed on the tourist dollar that you felt ripped off. It made me so sad to see a Spanish town reduced to this. Unfortunately Alicante has sold her soul to the tourist devil and as a result her soul and Spanish essence has been lost.
On a positive note, the Castillo de Santa Bárbara in Alicante was just fabulous. The Castillo is a fortress in the centre of Alicante that sits on top of Mount Benacantil. There is an escalator up to the Castillo but the walk up the hill is exhilarating and the views are well worth the effort. We walked up to the Castillo a few times during our stay and it is amazing both in the morning and the evening.
Only an hours drive into the mountains of Alicante is the small town of Castell de Guadelest. I highly recommend this town if you are travelling in the Alicante, or Valencia regions. Like Alicante, Guadelest relies upon the tourist dollar but prices are not inflated and the locals are friendly. We had a delicious and reasonably priced lunch on the balcony of the Restaurant L’Hort and tasted a few of the local delicacies including rabbit, meatballs wrapped in cauliflower leaves and whole cuttlefish. Parking is only 2€ for the duration of your stay and the parking area is right next to the tourist information office. It is a short and easy five minute walk up to the Castle and the view down into the valley and the reservoir is just incredible. The reservoir is the most amazing aqua blue colour and there are walking tracks around it. It is difficult for us to resist a good walking track especially one that circumnavigates a lake or dam, so I guess we will be visiting Guadalest again soon to walk the Guadalest Reservoir Circuit. As we were heading back to our car we made a quick stop in Regalos Olcina a shop that sells very reasonably priced ceramics. I highly recommend this shop if you are in the market for Spanish homewares to take home as a souvenir.
On our journey back to Madrid we decided to take a short detour and have lunch in Chinchón, a small town less than an hours drive from Madrid. Chinchón is definitely a must do day tour when visiting Madrid. As we approached Chinchón the terracotta roof tiles of the buildings were visible and we knew that we were in for a treat. The Plaza Major is made up of buildings with wooden balconies and many of the restaurants have tables on the balconies. The Torre del reloj (clock tower) is visible from all over the town and once was part of a 14th century church. The essence of Spain still exists in this town and it exudes character. Although it is very popular as a lunch spot with tourists it is still inhabited by locals. I think the locals are the soul of a town and without them you could be any where really.
Hasta Luego chicos y mil besos!