I rolled into Alicante around 6:00 and was immediately disappointed. It was raining and the only reason I came here was because of the beach and the great weather they normally have. The 20 minutes walk to the hostel in the rain did not do much to lift my spirits. The minute I put my stuff down though the sun came through and attitude immediately changed. I walked around the town for a couple hours to get acclimated and found it to be very welcoming.
The Barcelona v. Inter Milan game was on last night so at 8:45 everyone walked to some pub or cafe (they both serve coffee and beer so I don't really know the difference) and staked their claim to a seat for a few hours. The area I am in has a bunch of narrow streets like the picture to the left. There are pubs all along these streets. For the games they put a widescreen TV outside and set up tables and chairs for people to sit and watch the games.
It didn't take long to meet a few friends here in Alicante. I walked into my room and met Justin from Australia. He is taking some time off work and has already seen South America and now is doing Europe. He knew of where to go to watch the game so I followed him out. At the pub during the game we met some more people. Isabel and Natasha were at the table next to us and they are both from Denmark. They left home a couple months ago to move down here and find work. They were letting us in on how to get hooked up with a job around here. Also sitting next to us were Georgina, a Brit working for a tourism company, and Vittka from Belgium. Vittka is in Alicante studying under the same program I will study under in Sevilla. It's really great to listen to other people's stories about how they end up in places. Not sure where we are going tonight but it's good to have some people to hang out with.
Again this morning I walked around and enjoyed the sites. I would not say Alicante is a gorgeous town. But it is fun and the people are so nice. They are helpful and they do not get impatient with my incomplete spanish. I went running today for the first time in 3 weeks. There is a castle right by the hostel which made it easy to run up. From the top you can see all around Alicante and out across the Mediterranean. I did not take my camera, but before you yell at me know that I plan on running again tomorrow with my camera. The views are amazing.
I know everyone's wondering whether Spain really has nude beaches. Alicante does not have nude beaches because you are required to wear bottoms. Tops on the other hand are apparently a personal preference. No pictures to prove this so you're going to have to take my word for it.
The Mediterranean Sea is gorgeous. It is not cold at all and I think I could have stayed in there all day if there were any kind of waves. I am looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.
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