A new port for many of us was Alicante, Spain. And it turned out to be quite a nice surprise. The Zuiderdam was docked and cleared by 8am. The only other ship in town was a small one called Scenic Eclipse. Although we have not visited Alicante yet, we did some research and knew that shops and cafes opened later in the morning. So we waited until most of the crew drill was over before leaving by 10:15am.
There was a complimentary shuttle that took us to the port gate exit and right into the city. There was also a cute little train that took the guests to the upper downtown area for 5 euro round trip. Not a bad idea if you did not want to walk that much. It was such a lovely day, we chose to take the shuttle to the port gate – a 5 minute ride. That brought us near the Casino and the waterfront area. A series of souvenir tents were set up here with the usual trinkets and some clothing. This was also the start of the Explanada de Espana, a wide promenade with wave-patterned mosaic walkways, open air cafes, and street artists and musicians. This promenade was lined on both sides with tall and stately palm trees. It went on as far as we could see and it was instantly welcoming and scenic.
We turned left and walked along the marina drive, admiring the many sailboats and yachts in the harbor. Once again, the ship's maps were of little help. But our best bet was to follow the crowd of tourists crossing the road to a major pedestrian street. We are sure we passed the Town Hall, an 18th century Baroque building which was surrounded with many cafes. This whole entire area was more about the food than anything else. And that included McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. You know their secret to success is that each and every venue serves the same almost identical food no matter where you travel. These restaurants are a favorite of many guests and most all of the crew members on our ship.
Looming over the entire Old Town was Castillo de San Fernando, a 19th century fortress to repel the French Napoleonic forces. There are spectacular views from there, and we did hear that a lift was available to the top. It was free for seniors and if we had more time in town, we may have done it.
Looking down one narrow street, we spotted a church which was actually Concathedral de Alicante. Going inside, we found it to be most beautiful with a towering dome, much like St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, only smaller. Many tour groups were being led into the church as well. We did notice that a large side chapel was in the middle of a mass, so we watched behind the glass doors for a bit. There are a few churches left that have real votive candles, but here they had the small battery-powered candles like we have on the ship. At least they do not have to worry about fire with those.
Right down a narrow alleyway from the cathedral were a few possible appropriate pizzerias, one of which had a wood-fired oven. That would be perfect for lunch so we decided to come back later on the way back from our hike.
Continuing uphill, we came upon a large square with a huge theater. There were plenty of nice benches and what a better way to people watch for a while. Trying to figure out the map, we saw that there was a Mercado up the street. Then out of the blue, a fellow guest came over to us and said we needed to see this market, saying it was wonderful in broken English. So we thanked him and headed up the street.
This 2 story market was even nicer than the big one in Barcelona. Both levels had aisles full of cured meats, cheeses, seafood, produce, and bakeries. Everything one needs in one marketplace. We watched as one fish butcher sliced tuna with a very sharp curved blade, and across from him some fellows were slicing thin pieces of cured hams for sandwiches.
Their crispy loaves of French bread looked so good, as a lady vendor was slicing the bread and preparing it for a variety of ready-made sandwiches. The longest lines were at the bakeries where we searched for shortbread cookies with no luck. Most all of their items were sold separately, but we did not have the time to wait for help. And did we really need the extra calories? The answer was no. Of course we did take many photos before going back down the escalator to the ground floor.
While waiting for a stop light, a small open-air taxi cart whizzed by with Captain Frank and Alexandra. They yelled our names saying hello to us. If you had limited time such as they did, this was a nice option to see the Old Town.
By now, it was high time for those beers and pizza. And we did find our way back to the pizzeria we passed. We found that about every outside table was occupied by now, but we were happy to go inside to get away from a noisy trumpet player playing across the way. We had a cozy table for two close to the pizza maker and his wood-fired oven. We ordered two pints of draft Estrella beers, followed with a Margherita pizza with extra caramelized onions and thinly-sliced mushrooms. When it arrived, we both said this is the ultimate way pizza should be cooked. Their dough was chewy, but crispy along the thick edges and well-done on the bottom. You could taste the flavor the wood added as well as the tangy tomato puree and mozzarella cheese with basil. Pizza heaven.
Having written about the cannolis in Naples, we saw that these were on their dessert menu. Instead of sharing, we each got one, trying to recall the last time we had eaten these. It must have been years ago. These cannolis were a crispy roll of cookie-like dough, coated with hard chocolate in the center. A ricotta cheese blend was in the middle, then both ends were dipped in chopped pistachios and sprinkled with powered sugar. Need we say more? Cannoli heaven. It sure was the best way to end our last stop in Spain.
All aboard was 4:30pm, so we went back towards the marina and discovered a huge expanse of beach was nearby. We walked half the length of the sandy beach watching hundreds of people sunbathing and swimming in the gentle surf. Some vendors were selling extra-large linen blankets to use on the sand. We ended up buying one for a mere $10….a really good deal. When we got back to the room, we opened it up and it was big enough to cover our queen-size bed. We will find a good use for it here and at home.
We made our way back to the bus, avoiding the souvenir tents. A funny thing happened at the bus stop. An elderly couple boarded the little train, and when the train assistant asked to see their ticket, the man showed him a tour ticket on his cell phone. Well, it was not the train ticket, and they were asked to get off. They did but went grumbling all the way to the bus stop.
Once off the bus, we had to take an escalator to go through the local xray and pass the facial recognition pad. We did not have to repeat this on the ship.
Captain Frank came on with his talk around 4:30pm saying we could expect beautiful weather at our next stop in Lisbon. The temperature will be in the 60's with no rain. Everyone was welcoming the day at sea after six days of touring. We have 632 nautical miles to reach Lisbon at a speed of 17 knots. Going past Gibraltar tomorrow morning, we could expect rough seas and high winds.
Dinner for us was good as usual. Starters were one bowl of chicken noodle soup with extra spaghetti , and one spicy shrimp cocktail. Two Caesar salads were served, and mains of pot roast and pork medallions were just right. Simple desserts of ice cream or sorbet finished the meal.
The entertainment was flaMENcos – a vocal group called Soul Of Man.
Bill & Mary Ann
