Alicante; Sunday, 14 January, 2018

First stop of the morning was the very impressive roundabout above the tram terminus in the centre of town – complete with ornamental gardens and a giant fountain. From there it was a short walk down to the elegant central market and finally down into the old town to the very non-descript Cathedral, hidden in the heart of the old town.

From the cathedral I walked on through the old town to the Town Hall before heading over to the Water Museum, which wasn’t as interesting as it’s website made out, but the remains of the ancient cistern and well deep beneath the castle hill was much more interesting.

The museum is next to one of the main entrances to the Ereta Park which winds up the side of the castle hill towards the walls and fortifications of Castell de la Santa Bàrbara. I spent a long time walking up through the park, stopping regularly to take in the stunning views – including a significantly more impressive view of the Cathedral and its colourful domes from above – features that are completely hidden at ground level.

The park continues right up to the fortified wall that runs down from the castle – though these days it conveniently has a large gateway in it that allows you to cross through to the other side and access the main entrance to the castle.

I started to have a wander around the lower levels of the castle, before finding the very nice restaurant that had lots of good reviews on the internet. As there was a table in the sun, and it was early afternoon, I decided to stop off for lunch here and have a very enjoyable meal taking in the views and basking in the warmth of a sunny January day on the Costa Brava.

Quite a lot later, after a large lunch, I continued my wandering around the castle, taking in the various buildings and exhibitions. The castle is home to parts of the city museum and alongside the history of the castle they tell a little of the history of the city as well.

By the time I’d finished wandering round the castle the sun was already low in the sky and the winds were starting to take the edge of the temperatures, so I headed over to the lift and descended back down to the seafront. From there I walked along the promenade for a little way until it reached the first tram stop outside of the city centre and then caught the tram back to the city centre and walked back to the hotel.

Later in the evening, once I’d finally finished digesting lunch, I popped back out into the city to grab a light dinner in a tapas bar near the hotel, before returning to my room to sleep off all the days food.