To Beach Or Not To Beach?

Yesterday was my first visit to the beach this year (I'm not counting my first dive 2 weeks ago, wearing a neoprene suit is a bit cheating), thanks to my sister being home for the week (to celebrate her 30th bday!) with some friends from the UK and Canada. Can't come to Alicante for a week and not go to the beach!

Gorgeous day at the Playa de San Juan. Lots of sun, a light breeze, a flat Mediterranean. But the question is...

keep reading!

Playing with Trash to Keep the Oceans Clean!

You remember me talking about that beach clean I helped organise here in Alicante, as a part of an environmental initiative hosted by the Volvo Ocean Race (story about the Volvo in Alicante here)? I hinted at there being another reason behind the trash collection than just cleaning up the beach... that the trash had a "higher purpose"! Well, it's time (way past it if you ask me! :p) to reveal said purpose: ART!

"Huh? ART??? In the same sentence as TRASH??? Whaaaaaaat???"

I hear you! But let me explain! There's this group of crazy artist surfer dudes who wanted to do something more for the marine environment that is pretty much their home, so they travel around the world collecting trash that the ocean has dumped back on our beaches (or directly abandoned there by man). With this trash they put together some pretty amazing sculptures (which I will share with you in another post) and show them in exhibits in the hopes of raising awareness for the problem of all that damn trash that's floating around in our oceans. Their name: Skeleton Sea. And they're collaborating with the Volvo Ocean Race this year on a project called Keep The Oceans Clean! At each race stopover port they'll organise a beach clean, then with the trash collected (and more "quality" rubbish previously collect elsewhere) they'll organise a series of workshops during which they will create a sculpture with the help of the local population. And Alicante was their first spot! It's a good thing they did bring all that extra beach rubbish with them, because although we picked up a lot of junk during our beach clean up, most of it wasn't "quality" trash, not of much use for the sculpture...




Not much you can do with cigarette butts and lollipop sticks, huh?

keep reading!

Ready for the Kings?

I think the biggest difference between Christmas in most Northern European / American countries and Christmas in Spain / Latin America resides in one night: Twelfth Night. Tonight. La Noche de Reyes or La Vispera de Reyes. The night before the Epiphany, the night before "Kings' Day". The night before January 6th.

Tonight (Jan 5) and tomorrow (Jan 6) marks the end of the Christmas holidays. Tonight man families are having another Christmas dinner and exchanging gifts. Either tonight or tomorrow people will be eating a "Rosc�n de Reyes" (typical sweetbread, click on the name for more info) and whoever finds the bean in their slice will be crowned King or Queen. I can't find a photo of my own of a Rosc�n, but a quick Google image search turns up many candidates:

Tonight children all over Spain and Latin American will be putting out their shoes and hoping they've been good enough for the Three Kings to leave them a present instead of a lump of coal. This evening the Three Kings (or Three Wise Men, your preference!) have made a grand entry into many Spanish cities, either by boat, helicopter, camel, horse or on a parade float. They've paraded around the cities cheered on by the children watching them and they've handed out sweets and small toys and they've visited local hospitals giving presents to sick children there. I wrote a post two years ago about the Cabalgata de Reyes ("The Kings' Ride") here in Alicante. I didn't have time today to go see the parade, so I'll just have to refer you back to that post.

keep reading!

Volvo Ocean Race sets off from Alicante

So last Saturday the magnificent sailboats participating in the Volvo Ocean Race set sail from Alicante. Their nine month trip around the world started out on a gloriously warm autumn day with magnificent winds, deep blue waters and a very scary sky. Watching them zipping over the waves in Alicante Bay was mesmerising, and something of an adrenaline rush!

I've been meaning to write about the Volvo Ocean Race for a month now... but October was an incredibly busy month what with extra work hours and helping out with the Volvo's environmental education project (remember that beach clean I told you about?). Damn! I hate being late to the party! But this was a big deal in Alicante and I'm not going to let it disappear in the haze of post drafts waiting to happen. Better late than never, right?

Volvo Ocean Race trophy, winners inscribed on the bars

First things first! What is the Volvo Ocean Race? For those not involved in the world of sailing and regattas (which would be me! Never heard about this until it started in Alicante), it's a round-the-world yacht race (used to be called the Whitbread Round the World Race) that takes place every three years, typically departing in from Europe in the Fall (Oct-Nov) and then heading round the globe with about 8-9 stopovers until the final destination about nine months later. The 11-member crew spend up to 3 weeks on-board between each stopover, working round-the-clock in 4h shifts. Talk about intense! I got to see inside one of the sailboats (was asked not to post pictures of the interior, sorry!) and there really isn't much space to do anything down there other than sleep (in hanging cots that can be tilted closer to the hull if the boat is leaning too far to one side), work the navigation post or prepare a feeze-dried meal. Even the toilet is just there for show, typically they just use the bow of the boat, as in the sailing days gone by of the 19th century... More on the history of the race on Wikipedia, or the official Volvo website.

keep reading!

Technicolour Sunset

Fall has only just really hit us this past week. Temperatures have finally dropped to below 20�C during the daytime, a storm has been going on and off for several days giving us high winds and quite a bit of rain but most specially: clouds!

What's the big deal with clouds? Well Alicante summers are very hot and hazy with nary a cloud in the sky (must be why all those tourists flock to our beaches) which can be rather boring if you like a little texture on your horizon! Fall means the return of storms and storms bring clouds. Lovely fluffy clouds, more dense stormy ones... you name it, we got it! And there's nothing better than a cloudy sky for a beautiful technicolour sunset!

Alicante's castle glowing in the light of the setting sun

20' later from the other end of the bay

These are our Fall colour! Our trees don't go all gold and bronze. They stay green and either lose their leaves or don't. So we depend on the sky to bring some bright colours into our lives. :o)

Keep the Oceans Clean! starting with Alicante's Postiguet Beach

For the past month or so I've been helping out as a local contact to organise a beach clean here on Alicante's main beach, the Postiguet, and yesterday was the big day! The event was part of an initiative called Keep The Oceans Clean!, a global environmental campaign organised by the Volvo Ocean Race and a group of artists (who happen to be surfers) called Skeleton Sea. The purpose of this programme is to raise awareness of the problems posed by the long-life trash floating around in our oceans, piling up on our beaches... A beach clean will be organised in each of the 10 stop-overs of this incredible round-the-world race, hoping to get as much local participation as possible, starting here in Alicante!

keep reading!

Espa�a vs Scotland - the World Champions come to Alicante!

October 11th, 2011...

So, where were we? Ah yes! Dudes in skirts invaded Alicante!!! And why? All to see a beautiful trophy in a glass case? I don't think even the most ardent fans would fly all the way down here just for that (although the added incentive of the local beaches and sunny weather might help). Nope, they were all here to witness their teams' final qualifying match for the 2012 European Football Championship! What were the stakes? Well for Spain a matter of pride, hoping to win all their matches in a qualifying phase for the first time (something very few countries have done) and maintain their winning streak in Alicante (they've never lost here!), but for Scotland the stakes were much higher: a loss would mean farewell to their dreams of playing in Poland and the Ukraine next summer.

Now, although it might seem otherwise from the number of posts on the subject, I am NOT a big football fan! Except when the national team is involved... then I go kind of crazy... particularly if it's a World Cup year (see last year's football madness, lol!). ;o) In fact, I've only been once to see a live football match, and that was a big final in Mexico D.F. 16 years ago with a friend who insisted I had to see a live match (and we had a blast!). Although I've often thought it would be fun to go see another match with a group of friends, I haven't really done anything about it. The best time would have been last year when Alicante's local team - the Hercules - was in 1st Division and the best teams in the country all came to play here at some point, but I was out quite frequently so nada. But the Selecci�n comes to Alicante for the first time in 10 years?!?!?! There's NO WAY I was going to miss out on joining in in that fiesta with the reining World Champions! Add to that the fact that my dad had never been to a live football match (American football I'm guessing yes), and we were all set to make a father-daughter adventure out of it! :o)

He looks excited doesn't he?

We walked into the Rico Perez (the Hercules' stadium) barely 5' before the match started and of course the place was packed and the ambiance fantastic!

keep reading!

More dudes with skirts! Football fiesta in Alicante...

So, no guesses on the reason for the Scottish invasion? *sniffles* I'd hope at least someone on this side of the Atlantic would have chimed in... after all, similar events were taking place in a dozen or so cities around the continent!

I'll give you a few more clues and let's see if you can't figure it out before the end of the post...

Number one, although lots of them were turning crispy red on the beach or downing bears on one of Alicante's many terraces,

many more were to be seen hanging around this place:

Ok, yeah... that's in Spanish and it translates as "World Champions - Welcome to the Club Selecci�n", Selecci�n as in Spain's national football team (soccer for those on the other side of the pond). So why were Scots hanging around a place dedicated to Spain's current darlings? Well, among the many tents set up on this Esplanade on the harbour, most people (including lots of Spaniards) came to line up and go in here:

Yes dear, that man is wearing a sheep on his head! lol!

keep reading!

Invasion of dudes in skirts!

Check this out:

Saw quite a few guys decked out in skirts wandering around town this morning! (and yes I know they're called kilts, but I'm just giving you an Alicante reaction... that of most people 'round here!)

Let's see if anyone can guess the reason for this Scottish invasion? ;o)

Quickly Speeding By

No, I don't mean the summer, although that is flying by real fast. I'm referring to a bunch of crazy people who went zipping down my street at lunchtime today! :p

"La Vuelta", Spain's major cycling race, started yesterday.  Think "Tour de France", but in Spain. It's the last of the "big three" cycling races that take place during the summer, the first being the "Giro" (in Italy) in May. An arduous month-long race around the country. Starts in different spots around the country depending on the year, always ends in Madrid (just like the "Tour" ends in Paris and the "Giro" in Rome).

This year, the "Vuelta" started out in Benidorm, with a "contrareloj" (against the clock, so a timed race on a city circuit) around the city's streets. Then this morning they headed out from a spot just outside of Benidorm, headed up into the mountains and then back down to the coast, and pretty much zipped through Alicante in a matter of minutes! 

The official itinerary said they were supposed to be at the Playa de San Juan at approximately 14h50. From there the itinerary had them crossing through my neighbourhood (right at my back doorstep!), then along the coastal road that goes all around the Bay of Alicante. 

I'm not at all a cycling fan, but when an event like this lands at your doorstep, then one should definitely participate! ;o) So my dad and I headed down to the avenue behind the appartment building and waited for them to zip by. 

smart spectators waiting in the shade

And waited. And saw police cars and motorcycles. And waited. And saw publicity vans. And waited. We went down at 14h50 because we didn't want to risk on missing out. I figured they'd show around 15h10. Pretty close! At approx 15h13 the lead cyclists just zipped past us.

Followed by more service cars than cyclists! :p

And about 6' later the rest of the pack. Seeing that many at once was a bit more impressive.

And then again plenty of service cars... those guys sure do have a lot of extra bikes! :D

All in all 30' of baking in the glaring sun and African heatwave, for 30s of excitement. Was pretty fun! ;o)

Here's a little video I put together of the clips I took:

Hoguera Oficial en la Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Well, turns out I didn't have time to make it out to visit any more Hogueras today! Boxes, boxes and more boxes! Good thing I still have the "Official" Hoguera in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (in front of City Hall) to share with you guys! ;o)

We approached the Plaza from the harbour side yesterday, and my mouth dropped open as I saw this filling the view through one of the archways:

This year's Hoguera Oficial is amazing!

keep reading!

Wandering around town visiting Hogueras

I stuck around and had lunch downtown after the Masclet� today, figured it would be the perfect excuse (since I was already out of the house and joyfully ignoring the piles of boxes waiting to be unpacked) to wander around and visit a few of the Hogueras. My dad decided to keep me company and we meandered around for a while (and ducked into the delightful respite of a movie theatre's AC for a couple of hours, lol!), admiring some monuments, dissing others, enjoying the wit displayed in some of the captions... Care to join me as I go through some images of this tour? ;o)

First up, an Hoguera from the "special" category (i.e. big spenders) that I had walked by on Monday while they were finishing it up: H. Seneca-Autobuses.

It had a very fishy motif to it, so you know I liked it! Check out the mermaid attracting the sailor:

And this other mermaid (or is she a siren?) whose voice enchants the tourists who come to our shores:

keep reading!

Mascleta 2011 take 2!

So I actually made it down again today for another Masclet�! Two in one year... wow! :p

I was early enough so that I managed to find a decent viewing spot right up against the fences... Right in front of the local press who were getting ready to launch their interviews:

Check out the cameraman's get-up:

all protected like a fireman! He got up in the thick of things during the explosions...

keep reading!

Hogueras in my neck of the woods

I live in a area of Alicante called Cabo Huertas, the cape between the two main beaches. It used to be nothing but fields and orchards with the odd building here and there (looking over the Alicante Bay) until about 10 - 15 years ago when the big real estate boom started and buildings just mushroomed over night. Since it's mostly recent construction in an area where space wasn't a problem, we have a very different look from the main part of the city. More relaxed, more space, a bit more beachy (even though most places don't have a view of the Med).

Most of the hullabaloo of Hogueras takes places downtown. There are monuments built every couple of blocks. The parades walk down the main streets until they reach city hall or the Cathedral. Many streets are cut off to traffic so the "barracas" can be set up for the members of the different hogueras to get together and eat meals and party throughout the holidays. But even though we're a bit distant from all that, we still "feel" the fiesta atmosphere (in a large part thanks to the kids setting off firecrackers in the parks) since there are three hogueras set up in this area. Since they're younger there aren't as many people involved and so have lower budgets than the ones downtown which basically means they're smaller (I eplained budgets and categories 2 years ago here, and here are these same hogueras from last year).

Let's start off with a welcome return! The Hoguera Alicante Golf disappeared last year because of the economic crisis! I'm guessing the neighbourhood's money situation has improved since I came across their Hogueras this afternoon:

Not very impressive, small Fifth category Hoguera (the one in the foreground is the children's). But I did enjoy this one Ninot who represents all the people who've been having a really hard time this year since the anti-tobacco law went into full effect (no more smoking in any place that serves food or drink unless on a terrace):

keep reading!

Mascleta y Planta!

Let's get this party started!!! ;o)

It's that time of the year again... when Alicante goes wild and the sound of firecrackers and the smell of gunpowder fill the air: HOGUERAS!!! Our major FIESTA!!!

How'd you like that masclet� (well, 4' of the 10' it lasted)? I hope you didn't skip out on the terratremol, the earth-shattering final minute! ;o)

keep reading!

Project 365 - 113

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Today's pic (click it bigger!) is from Alicante's Easter Sunday procession. At 11h30 the Virgin was carried out of her church and Christ out of his, and at noon they met in front of City Hall and danced for joy at seeing each other! :o)

Joyous meeting between the Virgin and Christ resuscitated!

 

I'll be writing more about this procession over at Cris Crossing the Globe within the next couple of days.

Sunny Cycling Adventure in the Marjal de Pego-Oliva

Ahhhh... what a lovely day yesterday! The sun was shining, the air was warm (HOT! bloody heatwave thanks to some crazy African wind: 35�C!), the orange trees in bloom (AMAZING smells!!! like someone had just opened a bottle of orange blossom perfume!)... great day to go on a cycling tour of the Marjal de Pego-Oliva, a 1290 Ha marsh on the border of the Alicante-Valencia provinces (so an hour north of where I live) that has been famous for its rice since the Arabs first came (also lots of oranges and some gorgeous fig trees).

keep reading!

Project 365 - 54

When the Mediterranean looks like a lake

Project 365 - 35

missed out on Feb 1 and 3... :s

purty! :D

Project 365 - 33

joys of being home: sunsets over Alicante!