Woohoo - finally got a vacation! Went down to visit Phil in Spain. He is living in Castalla, a small town about a 30 minute drive north of Alicante.....seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but actualy not too far from civilisation. Wine and good conversation is probably what i will remember most from the trip, that and being incredibly jealous of Phil living in this cool little place (had to keep reminding myself that i also enjoy my own life ;-)The streets of Castalla (at least the old town where Phil and his family live) all look like the picture on the left, small and narrow, and countless cars try and navigate their way through, having to suddenly reverse back.
Dont really feel like i did an awful lot during the five nights i spent at Castlenel, , and that might have something to do with the wine. Within the first 5 minutes of being in Town, I had been taken to the local alcohol shop, and purchased 5 litres of wine for just over 5 euros......and it was good wine too - none of that oddbins 2 quid stuff!) Needless to say, lots of wine was consumed over the past few days, and i am not sure how long it will take to recover.
I did manage to make it up to the castle that dominates the skyline of Castalla. Really is a lovely town, and as this was my first real trip to Spain (other than a week in menorcca when I was 10
years old) it was nice to be able to go somewhere where there were not many (if any) other tourists, and to see a little bit of the old (and real) Spain.Other highlights of the trip included Alicante, Murcia, and Elx (Elche), as well as fire poi in the main square of Castalla.
Really enjoyed the trip, and if anyone is intrested have linked to Phil's (Goatboy) Blog on the right hand menu.
