You may remember, we enjoyed a memorable stay in Valencia some months earlier. However, with the lure of the fresh food market and everything else the old town had to offer, we didn’t get to visit the Port area which had been extensively redeveloped for the 2007 America’s Cup and was also the site of the picturesque ‘Valencia Street Circuit’ that hosted the Formula One Grand Prix from 2008 to 2012
We had booked a hotel right on Valencia beach. It was brilliant drawing the curtains in the morning to be greeted by a golden sandy beach and the glistening Mediterranean Sea on a sunny winter’s day. There were many restaurants and cafes along the promenade – we were back in the land of Tapas, cold beer, Tinto de Verano and good coffee: Happy days!
I was particularly interested in walking what remained of the Grand Prix track. It was a big shame the race did not continue beyond 2012, it was such a glamorous event that presented impeccably on television. I remember sitting up late watching the lead up to the race and the overhead shots of the stunning venue wishing I would one day be there. Well here I am, but where’s the bloody race? Sadly it’s not likely to be reinstated either.
Where’s the track? 
Site of the America’s Cup 
Valencia beach
Thieves have stripped all the expensive electrical control equipment, fences have been torn down and there are parts of the track that resemble a ghost town film set. It is estimated that more than 200 million Euro had been spent on the event but it all became embroiled in a political mess and is now just a memory.
Funnily enough, Linda was not particularly interested in the race track, she was just happy to recline and relax while enjoying the sunshine and lapping waves after what had been a long, frustrating battle to earn the right to stay in the EU so we could continue to enjoy our adventures.
Our lovely beach view 
You know what they say about big feet! 
My sand castle!
Almoradi is a small town, not too far from Alicante and closer to the beachside city of Torrevieja. We arrived the day before Mark, our host, had to fly out so we had time to learn about caring for Buddie and Skye including Bud’s intensive medication program!
We were also shown around the weekly fresh food street market and which bars and restaurants to go to. There was, as in most of Spain, a fair expat population and some bars and cafes were run by them. My favourite became the open air kiosk/cafe/bar in the main Plaza where you could sit and watch weddings and funerals at the church, which was the focal part of the Square, and seeing everyone going about their daily business.
The Plaza was particularly interesting in December as there were many events, displays and decorations for the upcoming Christmas festivities. One in particular was a large nativity scene. Spaniards love their nativity scenes. We never found out if it was just a local thing but we were tipped off that amongst the human figures in the scene, there was a ‘shitting man’! We didn’t quite believe it until we walked around several times and spotted it ourselves!! Those crazy Spaniards.
I particularly enjoyed the long morning walks Almoradi. I’m sure I have mentioned in previous blogs that Linda is not a morning person so it was just the dogs and myself. We would walk to the outskirts of town along the aqueduct past orange orchards and fields and fields of artichokes that were about to come into season. Some mornings would be icy but if the sun was shining it was a real delight, the day would just get warmer and warmer. The walk would normally finish at the Plaza El Kiosko where we would sit to enjoy tomato tostada and coffee. I was happy to read the morning news and watch the world go by but the pooches would soon let me know when they had had enough and wanted to go home.
Even though we had everything we needed in Almoradi we did drive into Torrevieja occasionally for Linda to satisfy her retail therapy needs at the large shopping malls and to visit the surrounding beachside towns. We went to a ‘carols by candlelight’ event there one evening organized by the British expat community. We did get into the local culture as well and became quite adept at singing Felitz Navida!
One of the major events back at the Plaza in Almoradi was the celebration of the artichoke harvest. They are quite fond of the tasty vegetable and amongst displays by manufacturers of farming equipment a group of enthusiastic people cooked up a huge pot of a tasty artichoke dish for everyone to sample.
Brrrr, morning walk 
Artichoke fields 
Time to go home
Because we were mainly enjoying home cooked meals with the abundance of fresh food available, when we did dine out it was usually to enjoy Tapas. So we hadn’t eaten at many nice restaurants, but as there was a ‘Michelin Rated’ restaurant just down the road from where we were staying we thought we’d try to get a table there and treat it as our ‘Christmas Lunch’. A tall order as Christmas was just days away and the place was heavily booked but they did manage to squeeze us in. It turned into one of those relaxing long lunches and we blended into the well dressed crowd, much better than we had back in Guadix!! The restaurant specialized in steak and seasonal local produce so there was no doubting that artichokes were on the menu and the steak was good, but boy we are spoilt in Australia with good steak and it’s hard to beat – even at Michelin rated restaurants!
Christmas Day was a little odd not being around family to enjoy it with. We had a quiet day and went to the Plaza with the dogs for a drink in the evening. None of the restaurants were open as everyone was at home with family so it was just as well we had our nice lunch a few days prior because we wouldn’t even have each other’s company for New Years! For a combination of reasons, our house sits clashed by a couple of days so Linda had to fly to Barcelona ahead of me to start the sit in Castelldefels while I stayed behind to look after Buddie and Skye until Mark and Jackie returned. I wasn’t totally alone though, Jackie’s sister and husband lived in a nearby town and we caught up for dinner one night, but NYE was just me and the dogos. Very depressing especially as nothing was going on in town at all. Like Christmas, all the restaurants were closed, but this time all the bars were closed as well because NYE is very much a time to spend with family in Spain. I couldn’t accept that nothing would be happening so I took the dogs to the Plaza just before midnight hoping to find at least the El Kiosko to be open, but there was nothing, not a single sole on the streets. Only yours truly and two dogs that just wanted to go back home. So home we went and fortunately I had a bottle of Scotch to toast the New Year in, by myself!
Linda, on the other hand still had our new hosts Bob and Gina for company, but apparently they had gone to bed not long after dusk so Linda followed suit shortly afterwards.
A very different way of welcoming in 2019. At least I didn’t have a hangover to deal with the next day!