Hola, Alicante!

A couple of weeks ago my S.O.S. friends (minus Nick) went on a girls' holiday to Alicante, Spain. I had never heard of this city before, but Ryan Air had cheap flights there, so we figured we'd check it out. After all, it is in the South of Spain...how bad could it be?

Alicante, Spain

This was one of the most relaxed vacations I've ever taken. I was shocked that even with six girls, there was no drama at all. It was so easy and fun. We realized later that it was because we made almost no decisions our entire trip. Ha! We ate our way through the town, frolicked in the Mediterranean, and watched the sun set from a castle. Life is good.

The weather was absolutely fantastic while we were there. Can you believe it was December and the girls were in the water?! Awesome.

We stopped at a little cafe by the water for some refreshments. That's when we first had Cola Cao--a super delicious chocolate powder. We later found a supermarket so we could buy packets to bring home.

On our first day in Alicante we stumbled upon a cute street market. Booths were mostly filled with tacky European clothes, but there were some gems like the vendors selling tapas, beer, and candy. I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that we visited the candy booth a second time after eating all the candy from our first visit.

Salud!

Photo courtesy of Sarah

Most of our trip was spent eating, as usual. We had some delicious patatas bravas--fried potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce--and some mediocre paella. Rachel and I were really disappointed with our vegetarian version, but the other girls seemed amused by theirs.

Patatas Bravas

Katie may not be as amused

Of course after such a big meal it was time for a little siesta.

We adapted easily to Spanish time. That means that we didn't eat dinner until after 9pm and didn't leave the house until after 10am. It was glorious.

The next day we did more of the same: eating, lounging and eating some more. We found another great market with lots of local meat, produce and sweets.

We did at least one touristy thing though. We went to the top of the Castle of Santa Barbara. It offered spectacular views of the city. Don't you love the combination of mountains and sea?

Our last night in Alicante was one I hope I'll always remember. We spent the night jumping from tapas bar to tapas bar. We ate churros dipped in chocolate, more patatas bravas, fried fish cakes, and more. Everything was delicious and so cheap! I hear the sangria wasn't so bad either.

Photo courtesy Sarah

Laughing so hard we're crying; Photo courtesy Sarah

We managed to sneak in a little bit more beach time before we had to catch our flight.

It was such a fantastic trip! Good food, good friends and good times!