We arrived in Spain on September 10 from Toronto to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Alicante. Our rental car was ready and available for us and at a much improved rate from the last two years. Christian had everything ready at the condo and had supervised the new solarium floor and storage space over the winter. It was also the first time we had seen the new white leather sofa in the living room that we had ordered before we left in 2021 but had not been delivered until January.
We planned a trip to Ireland (see Ireland 2022: jackieandbillstraveladventures.com/2022/11/05/ireland-2022/) to see the country and for my presentations at the CARN Conference at the end of October. Shannon and Jon stayed with us for two weeks at the end of September and during that time visited Granada for 4 days.
We had a very good dinner, both fish and meat at Las Brisas in Torre de la Horadada to celebrate Bill’s birthday on the 12th.
One of the first things I do when we arrive is buy flowers for the balcony and always a Passion Flower!
We tour the various beaches in walking distance. We started with the one to the north of us, frequented by many Scandinavians.
Because the condo faces west, we benefit from some awesome sunsets. This will be one of many!
We are consistently walking our 5 or so kilometres to the end of the paseo and back. We never tire of it!
The Torre that is the symbol of our town, Torre de la Horadada, Torre Vigia, a 16th Century Watchtower. The coastal watchtowers are a series of military constructions built in the 16th Century along Spain’s Mediterranean coast to protect the territory from berber pirates’ attacks who disembarked on the coast and plundered and destroyed towns and rural areas.
King Charles I was the one who conceived a defensive system based on building these towers along the Mediterranean coast but his son Philip II built most of them. A Spanish Count and Countess and family own the tower and living quarters and we have seen people at events there. There have been discussions about opening it to the public but nothing has happened so far.
The view of the Torre Vigia from the Paseo at dawn was captured by Shannon’s friend, Jon Adediji and his expertise and camera. I have recognized his photos with his initials JA.
Our closest beach is Rocamar.
Shannon’s favourite beach is Jesuitas.
Guadalest Trip: September 25
Shannon and Jon were with us from September 25 to October 5. One of our excursions was a trip to the Fonts de l’Algar in Sarria, Spain, north of Benidorm and then to Guadalest. Shannon found this very interesting article on Spain: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/t-magazine/spain-islamic-history.html?
Castell de Sant Josep: After the disappearance of the caliphate at the beginning of the 11th century, the Muslim Hipania faces a fragmentation into samll indepentdent kingdoms. Remains of fortified palaces or citadels (for Arabian “al qasaba”, fortified ditadels), belonging to the monarchs of the small Muslim kingdoms. These defensive systems were built due to continuous friction between the neighbours. The building of the Castle of Saint Joseph was started in the 11th century but during the 13th century, the Christian kingdoms started to conquer the Muslim territory.
Jon Edediji (JE) took some very professional photos that I have included with his permission.
We walked the streets of Gaudalest, visited the Casa Tipica and climbed to the top of the castle.
The view of the lake and mountains was beautiful and worth the climb.
Back home we had another great sunset!
San Miguel de Salinas Market: September 28.
We went to San Miguel market on Wednesday, September 28th. You can buy anything there from fresh vegetables and fruit to bras and underwear. There is a local market almost every day of the week. Pilar market is on Fridays on Calle Mayor. San Pedro market is held on Mondays.
A tradition that our friend Rolf started was a visit to The Nut House after the market. So that’s what we did!
Jon and Shannon’s Trip to Granada
Shannon and Jon took at 4 day trip to Granada and while we didn’t go, the photos Jon took brought back some lovely memories.
The buildings are awesome and so are the gardens and summer residences.
Panoramic Photos of Alhambra by Jon
Eating Out With Friends
We enjoyed a very good meal at Fontana Restaurant, one of several in the Pueblo Latino Centro Comercial, a block from the condo.
Jon’s Early Morning Photos
Alicante: Oct 6
Thursday, October 6th, we went to Alicante for the day where Shannon and Jon were staying overnight for their flight to Amsterdam the next day. We enjoyed walking around Alicante and looking at the boats in the marina.
Paella Penas
All of October is Fiesta Time with many events from contests to parades to decorating the church with flowers. One of the events, the main one (October11) is the celebration of Nuestra Senora del Pilar, that we have attended in the past is the paella competition (like chili cook-offs). They cook the paellas as teams (penas), have them judged and then eat them as a team with their families. There is free paella and beer for everyone provided by the city of Pilar.
Back from Ireland to lovely weather: Oct 31
When we returned from our two weeks in Ireland (see Ireland, 2022 blog: jackieandbillstraveladventures.com/2022/11/05/ireland-2022/), we thought that the weather would be too cool for beach days and swimming. We were wrong, the summer weather continued.
Last 2022 Week in Paradise
We have completed major renovations in the condo in the last two years: 2020-21- taking out the shelves and fireplace that we didn’t use and re-plastered and painted, new floors throughout, completely new bathroom and upgraded outlets and internet, all new furniture in the salon; 2021-22-new floor in the solarium and finishing of solarium storage room. So that last few weeks, Bill painted the storage room and organized it. The last week is also a busy time for painting, varnishing, preparation for renters for the following year.
We continued our walks: here are last photos of 2022.
On November 17, it was sunny, no wind and 27 degrees so a beach day! It’s the latest that we have swum in the Mediterranean!
One of our favourite restaurants is VistaMar and we had our last Menu del Dia (Menu of the day for 11.30 Euros for three courses, wine or beer) there on Friday, November 18, (the day before we headed home) with our friends, Ruth and Mick.
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