{"id":4778,"date":"2012-06-20T17:27:43","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T21:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=4778"},"modified":"2015-07-02T15:10:15","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T19:10:15","slug":"day-24-tuesday-june-19-guardamar-to-alicante-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=4778","title":{"rendered":"Day 24, Tuesday, June 19 – Guardamar to Alicante, Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today was a short ride (supposed to be a day off)\"\"<\/a>as we wanted to spend as much time as possible touring Alicante. \u00a0We sailed through the salt flats\"\"<\/a>saw lots of flamingos (they don’t like cameras)\"\"<\/a>and began to wonder why we did not do these miles yesterday. \u00a0That 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. \u00a0We wound our way to the boardwalk\"\"<\/a>near the harbor \"\"<\/a>and got a taste of what the town had to offer.\"\"<\/a>But this city was a-buzz with vendors and people stringing lights across the streets. \"\"<\/a> They were getting ready for Festival Bonfires of St. John celebrated during the summer solstice, simply crazy.\"\"<\/a>First, we needed a room and to rest.\"\"<\/a>Our balcony offered a tremendous view of City Hall\"\"<\/a> and the Santa Barbara Castle.\"\"<\/a>The streets were amazing, \"\"<\/a>the buildings impressive \"\"<\/a>and the beach packed.\"\"<\/a>We visitied the Bas\u00edlica de Santa Mar\u00eda \"\"<\/a>with the ever present castle in the background.\"\"<\/a>As tired as we were, there was no way we would make it up the steep hill \"\"<\/a>to see it first hand, so we resiegned ourselves to take pictures of it from every angle.\"\"<\/a>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 city\"\"<\/a>with so much to see.\"\"<\/a>The promenade\u00a0Explanada de Espa\u00f1a<\/em>, lined by palm trees, \"\"<\/a>is paved with 6.5 million marble floor tiles creating a wavy form \"\"<\/a>and is one of the most lovely promenades in Spain. \u00a0It is also a great place to watch the Spaniards on their traditional “paseo – evening stroll.”\"\"<\/a>After dinner we stopped for a glass of Sangria and had a most magical moment, when the lights of the city came on.\"\"<\/a>We debated to stay a few more days for the festival and see the final product\"\"<\/a>but knew in truth we did not want to be there for the mayhem. \u00a0So good night to the castle and the city.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t