Bus ride to Alicante - February 23

André or Wendy if you are reading this, we've had 2 or 3 people who have tried to comment and cannot. Can you comment or let us know how to comment on the blog please?

This morning after taking the taxi to the Malaga bus station we went for breakfast at the bus station cafeteria.  When in Spain do as the Spaniards do... so we decided to go for the Spanish omelette in a baguette. When it arrived it was a potato sandwich.  It was as if they had been boiled then lightly fried (there was no brown) but it was sticking together so there must be some sort of binding agent and then sliced to make nice thick slices. They gave us the bottle of mayo on the side. It is very filling but not bad tasting, we had to ask for take out because it was so big, we couldn't finish it all.

The bus it was very modern, almost like flying. They gave us a bottle of water and ear pieces in case we wanted to watch tv or a movie. They even had internet.

The countryside is beautiful.  Lots of cliffs that have eroded over the years making for all sorts of shapes. The landscape was similar to Arizona and other parts to Utah, but it didn't have the same red hues. In the more arid areas, there were lots and lots of olive farms.

I guess that you have to stay in your seat with your seatbelt attached because I went upfront to ask the driver a question.  I didn't need to know a whole lot of Spanish to understand that I had to go back to my seat and sit. But I had asked him if he spoke French or English and when the bus stopped, he said in both French and English 40 minutes, so I was happy I had my answer. We were at the halfway point of the trip so it gave us a chance to walk around a bit. There was a mini zoo at the stop so it made for an extra attraction.

When the bus arrived in Alicante, we were welcomed by a police officer or some sort of security and a big dog. They boarded the bus and the dog sniffed the bags as well as the suitcases that were underneath the bus. They were looking for drugs. Once we got the all clear we were allowed to leave. It created a bit of excitement because apparently it doesn't happen everyday. I guess we were just lucky lol.

The owners of the apartment were at the bus station to pick us up so that made it a lot easier, especially with our luggage.

Lola and Jose were at the bus station to pick us up. They both speak English reasonably well. Good enough that with a few Spanish words here and there we could understand, and she also speaks a bit of French.

Lola wants to come geocaching with us next week when she has a day off. There are a few caches where they live so we will save them to do with her.

With my sense of direction, I might need the GPS just to find my way in the apartment. There are doors everywhere. There is the door to outside, then there are 4 bedrooms (2 are locked with their stuff), 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and a small pantry, the living room, a small laundry room that is partly outdoors because where I was told I could hang the clothes I saw a big parasol underneath and outdoor type furniture.  It is a man from Russia and a woman from Spain who live there. We also have 2 very small patios, one has 2 mini splits on it and flowers so really too small to use but we can also go on the rooftop which also has 2 more clothes lines. As you can see lots of doors, I'll be racking up the steps on my Fitbit just finding the right door. 

There is a mini split in each of the bedroom and one in the living room, but they are far from being as efficient as the ones we have at home. It was the same in Portugal and also in Valencia.

2 streets up is the mountain which has the Santa Barbara castle. We were told that we can climb up in about an hour and a half or take the elevator. Apparently, the elevator is free for people 65 or over.

The nights are cool but the days are quite warm, 20 today.