SPAIN .......... mid December 2011 - mid January 2012

This year I visited Playa de l'Albir first for Christmas, and then Denia for the New Year. Although prices on public transport had gone up, or concessions withdrawn and services less frequent, much else remained the same. At both hotels there was some evidence of the financial difficulties that currently face Spain, as was also evidenced in shops.

But the weather was excellent, with a mainly cloudless sky, no rain, and no wind except one afternoon at Denia. The average temperature was around 21 degrees, with one day about 26 degrees, the coolest day about 17 or 18 degrees, which made it feel quite hot in the sun.

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Views from the start of the Playa de l'Albir promenade, which passes in front of the
Hotel Kaktus Albir, showing the Ifach Rock at the other end of the bay.

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The local Albir market

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( The Hotel Kaktus Albir can be seen on the left in the above picture ). Walking along the promenade from Playa de l'Albir into Altea, where there are many seafront bars and cafes.

There are various accounts of these two destinations on earlier pages, plus several videos on the patrickclips channel, ( link on the main Index page ), so I will not repeat earlier descriptions.

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Poniente and Levante beaches, Benidorm, showing how calm the sea was.

The usual visits were made to Benidorm, El Cisne rastro and local markets, plus a trip into the Aitana mountains to a reservoir ( where the water was pretty low ), ending up near Alicante on the coast at Campello.

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Site of the Finestrat market before the recent flash flood ...... and hot enough to sunbathe..

From Playa de l'Albir a visit was made to Altea church, and later to the Albir lighthouse, which is almost on the Greenwich meridian.

( Videos on patrickclips )

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Inside Altea Church ........../////...........///...//.... but graffiti rules outside.

The dry river bed at Playa de l'Albir

In many orange groves the trees were still laden with fruit, also lemons. With many different varieties, the Valencian orange season is quite long, and prices at local markets ridiculous when thinking of the price at an English supermarket, for often inferior fruit.

But shortly the valleys will be filled with almond blossom, pink and white, possibly earlier this year because of the warm winter.

At Calpe the IIfach Hotel was closed for restoration. ( Right ... the top of the Ifach Rock ) But the opportunity was taken to look at the Diamante Beach Hotel before taking videos of the flamingoes on the inland lake.

.............. The Diamante Beach Hotel .................. The centre of Calpe is some 3 km away

The inland lake

I transferred from Playa de l'Albir to Denia using the T-Tram from Altea station, which gave good views of the coastal strip and also passed near the Russian Orthodox Church just outside Calpe.

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At Denia part trips were often taken e.g. Javea, Calpe and Benidorm, making my own way back, since most trips were similar to the ones at Playa de l'Albir. Other trips included the Jalon Valley and more.

The free wifi at the Hotel Port Denia permitted easy email and video links for New Year greetings.

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...Views from the Hotel Port Denia bedroom ....... and sunrise over the Montgo mountain

One day I took the bus from outside the Hotel to Las Rotas, then walked back along the coastal path. There is now a respectable walkway instead of a dirt track. ( See Video )

The fourth week was very quiet, with the majority of the Christmas and New Year holiday makers having returned home, and due to the 3 Kings Festival and the Bank Holiday the following day, when, nearly everything is shut.

The final trip was to Guadalest on the Sunday morning.

( Right - One of many Museums at Guadalest - Some 20,000 Salt and Pepper shakers etc..) There is also a large Lladro store. These destinations and trips have been the subject of videos in previous years: an update video covering some of them will be uploaded shortly to patrickclips. ( Link in centre of the Main Index page )

Note: Pamphlets and maps give different spellings for locations, not only when Valenciano is used.
Playa de l'Albir/Playa del Albir, Javea / Xavia, Calpe/Calp, Las Rotas/Les Rotes

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