Today was a short ride (supposed to be a day off)as we wanted to spend as much time as possible touring Alicante.  We sailed through the salt flatssaw lots of flamingos (they don’t like cameras)and began to wonder why we did not do these miles yesterday.  That was until we had to climb the Santa Pola ridge, but that became a distant memory as we came around the corner and had Alicante in our sights.  We wound our way to the boardwalknear the harbor and got a taste of what the town had to offer.But this city was a-buzz with vendors and people stringing lights across the streets. They were getting ready for Festival Bonfires of St. John celebrated during the summer solstice, simply crazy.First, we needed a room and to rest.Our balcony offered a tremendous view of City Hall and the Santa Barbara Castle.The streets were amazing, the buildings impressive and the beach packed.We visitied the Basílica de Santa María with the ever present castle in the background.As tired as we were, there was no way we would make it up the steep hill to see it first hand, so we resiegned ourselves to take pictures of it from every angle.We did a lot of walking including the two mile walk to the packaging store to ship our tent and cold weather gear back home, not much of a rest for the legs, but such a great citywith so much to see.The promenade Explanada de España, lined by palm trees, is paved with 6.5 million marble floor tiles creating a wavy form and is one of the most lovely promenades in Spain.  It is also a great place to watch the Spaniards on their traditional “paseo – evening stroll.”After dinner we stopped for a glass of Sangria and had a most magical moment, when the lights of the city came on.We debated to stay a few more days for the festival and see the final productbut knew in truth we did not want to be there for the mayhem.  So good night to the castle and the city.