Featured in SWISS AIR Magazine!!!

I was recently contacted by people at SWISS AIR Magazine who were arranging a city report for their online magazine about Alicante.  They wanted to do a little spot on the blog and also my shop.  What an honour!

I have just received a copy of the magazine and the report they did on Alicante is really good.  Here is the front cover:

They highlight some really interesting things and places to go and the photos are fantastic (apart from my mug shot on the highlight about my blog ... sad face.).  This is the page dedicated to my blog (left):

My shop, Read & Sixty, is also featured on the SHOPPING page along with a photo that the photographer took here the day they came to interview me (right):


Im very pleased that my rantings about Alicante can be interesting and maybe even useful to people.  Let me know if you want to see any posts about certain things and I will try to make it happen!

My interview on BBC's Escape to the Continent

Last October I was filmed for an appearance on the BBC programme Escape to the Continent with the wonderful Alistair Appleton and the house-hunting 'subjects' Ian and Simon from Doncaster.  The final cut is just a short interview (from minute 25) about my advice and experience of living in Alicante.

They filmed in my shop, Read & Sixty, then we went to the market to buy ingredients for a paella that my friend Fede cooked for us in his restaurant La Piazza, which is in the main cathedral square.

You can watch the episode on BBC iPlayer and its available for another 30 days from now.  Here is the link to take you straight to the programme page:

http://bbc.in/1GjdEjy

The episode was originally aired on 18th June 2015 at 3pm.

More filming...

I have also been filmed recently for a similar programme in the US called House Hunters International, this time with some friends from San Francisco who relocated to Valencia.  When this programme comes out I will also post the link to the page.

I hope the information given in these tv appearances is useful and maybe even entertaining!
Let me know what you think!

Check the 'cheque'

People go out to eat quite a lot in Alicante. Considering that Alicante city itself is not predominantly a tourist destination (many people have holiday homes in the towns up and down the coast either side of the city) there is a huge quantity of restaurants and bars. By 'bars' I mean the Spanish version, which is a place where you can order a beer, a bocadillo or some tapas, a coffee or even a stiff drink. They are a little different then the 'bars' in the UK.
I am sure that if you look at the proportion of catering/hospitality businesses to other types of businesses in Alicante it would be higher than most towns and cities around the world.

The mild climate of Alicante has undoubtedly contributed to this, especially when it's hot. People want to be out on the streets, not stuck at home (which is also why the local people, and generally in the south of Spain, don't bother so much with the decoration of their homes).

So as we go out more often, it is more likely that we will encounter an error in our bill.
I would recommend always checking the bill before you pay as mistakes or misunderstandings frequently occur.  You don't have to feel uncomfortable about it and certainly don't be afraid to query it if you see an error. It is most likely a genuine mistake.

I will advise you that if a restaurant puts down a plate of olives (aceitunas) or bread (pan) or anything you didn't ask for as you arrive or whilst looking at the menu (la carta), you will in 99% of the cases, be charged for it on the final bill (la cuenta). Most places that do this charge you about 1€ per person for the bread and maybe 1,50 - 2€ for the olives.

Receipt from a recent casual dinner out in Alicante.
(Try the cazón en adobo when you can find it in a
restaurant over here... it's delicious!)

The prices on the menus in almost all places are with the VAT (IVA) included and tips are not automatically added to the bill. Incidentally, you are not pressured to leave tips over here and they don't think bad of you either if you don't leave anything. But if you've had good service or just want to show your appreciation you can leave something and the waiters will be very grateful... sometimes ring a bell from behind the counter to tell everyone you've been generous!

That's all I wanted to say for this post... Oh, just to inform you that over here you can order beer in McDonalds to have with your burger instead of the normal soft drinks if you want it.

Spain shuts down! Take August off...

The 1st of August means 'changeover day' for lots of Spaniards.
The way the companies organise their staff's vacations over here is a little different to the UK.  Although many companies try to move with the times and be in line with the rest of Europe in business terms, there is still the tradition for employees to take all their 4 weeks holiday in one go.  They either take all of July or all of August off!

I would find that very limiting as an employee for many reasons, however over here there are so many festivos (like bank holidays, but on any day of the week) throughout the calendar that they get days off all year round anyway.

School holidays

The school holidays over here go from the middle/end of June until the middle of September so for parents it makes sense to spend all their holidays in that period because there are no 'half term' breaks over here.  Students only have the breaks at Christmas and at Easter.  As a child I would prefer to have half term breaks like in the UK.

Changeover day

So on the evening of 31st of July the motorways are usually quite busy with people returning from their months holiday and many more just starting it.  There are monumental tailbacks leaving and arriving to the coastal cities like Alicante and the capital, Madrid, in the interior.

Many people working in Madrid have a holiday apartment near the beach and/or in the countryside as most usually stay in Spain for their holidays.  Well who wouldn't with so much to offer as Spain has!

Shops and businesses

It's crazy because in the UK, and especially in London, Saturday is the busiest day of the week.  But here in Alicante they are not so commercially-minded and weekends are usually spent purely for leisure.  Saturday mornings is reserved for food shopping (especially for the older generation) and although my shop is very close to the market, the street which it is on (Calle Poeta Quintana) is rather empty today!  The street is full of small, independent shops and actually about only half are open because August has started.

But don't worry.  For those of you who are coming to Alicante for your August holiday, most of the bars and restaurants are open and for even longer hours than during the rest of the year.  And of course the beach is always open!

Restaurant Revolution!

There are so many food and drink-related businesses in Alicante right now and more opening up each week. Just a year or so ago you would walk around the streets of Alicante and lose count of the closed-down businesses within the first 100 metres. The crisis really took its toll on small businesses.
But now its like another world! The town hall has had a hand in the improvements from decorating certain streets, renovating parks and public spaces to allowing cafes to operate in public squares (this can be debated whether is beneficial to everyone...). I don't know if the licensing process has been relaxed to allow businesses to open, especially catering businesses? 

I have been to two new restaurants just this week. One is a casual burger bar which I will highlight in a future post, and the other is a restaurant with a varied mediterranean menu.
On Monday I went to this place...

La Mary is a franchise with a great value quality-price range, good selection of dishes, considered presentation and nice decoration. I really cannot speak highly enough of it. It only opened 3 weeks ago so maybe they are taking extra care. I'm not the only one who likes it - every time I pass the restaurant it's full!
They also do a lunch time set menu with a fantastic pricetag, if you can get in, that is.

 

Images courtesy of La Mary Alicante.

You can find their details on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lamaryalicante/timeline

The offering of restaurants and bars has improved so much in Alicante that the old-fashioned, manky places are going to have to keep up and improve. I went to one of 'those' last week and it was a terrible experience - bad decoration, dirty tables, disappointing food and unrealistic prices. No, I wont name and shame. Sorry.

What is your current favourite restaurant in Alicante?

Rice at Ros

Whenever we get visitors who want to go to a restaurant to eat rice from this area, or a paella (three syllables pronounced 'pa-aye-ya'), we usually take them to Restaurante Ros.

I like this restaurant for various reasons - the do really good, freshly prepared and cooked paellas and rices, the nice view out over the bay of Albufereta towards Alicante, the service is good and it is very reasonably priced.

The view from Restaurante Ros, Albufereta, Alicante

The restaurant is situated within the Club Náutico Alicante Costa Blanca (Nautical Club) of Albufereta and you have to make a reservation.  The decoration inside is not the most modern but the view and the food make up for it.

What we usually order

To start with, we usually order some slices of toasted fresh bread with crushed tomatoes  a and garlic mayonnaise (pan con tomate y aioli).  You spread them both on the toast and its a really tasty combination.  Then a house salad (ensalada de la casa), with the basic Mediterranean ingredients.  To lots of you, the tomatoes may look green and under-ripe but that is actually how the salad tomatoes grown over here are at their best - and I guarantee you they are nicer than your regular tomatoes you buy from the supermarkets in the UK.

Ensalada de la Casa at Ros

We also order calamares a La Romana (squid rings in a light batter and fried) to share.

Calamares a La Romana at Ros

Paellas and rices have to be ordered for a minimum of 2 people and we always order 2 different types of rice: one with meat, specifically pork, and vegetables (arroz con magro y verduras), and the other with a liquidy fish stock (arroz a banda).  Arroz a banda is a typical rice dish of Alicante which originated from when the fishermen sold off their best catch and kept the leftovers to make a stock to cook the rice in for themselves.  It is cooked in a deeper paella pan and is served with the garlic mayonnaise called aioli, or spelt here quite often as alioli.

Arroz con magro y verduras at Ros

Arroz a banda at Ros

We usually have some of both types of rice on our plates...

I saw someone else's rice just come straight out of the kitchen.  This is a seafood paella with mussels, prawns and langostinos, which are like crayfish or small lobster.

Finally, we have helado de turrón which is ice cream made with pieces of the nougat-type confectionery especially from this area of Spain called turrón de Jijona and is made with honey and almonds... and a coffee.

Price per head

This is around 22€ per head for what we had with our drinks.

Views and activities

It's a relaxing place to be and you can watch people taking out their boats, learning to sail, navigate and row amongst other activities.  I'll leave you with some photos I took of the view.

  

Fiesta food!

Whenever there is some sort of fiesta in Alicante, there are always various temporary food sellers dotted around the streets.  There's usually a stall selling churros (photo above), which are a fried dough stick with sugar sprinkled on top... it tastes sort of like a fresh doughnut but a little more 'fried' as its thinner.  (The thicker ones in the foreground of the photo above are called porras, which are generally the same).

You buy the churros by the dozen (about 4€) or half dozen (about 2€) and they come served in a paper cone and doused with sugar.  You can ask for a cup of hot, thick chocolate, which is about 1.50€, to dip the churros in.  Or you can buy churros already coated in chocolate...

...and other sweet coatings.

During the Alicante festival in June (the Hogueras de San Juan), many of the streets are closed off to set up the bonfires and the street party tents.  Many of these tents are private, for the people in the neighbourhood who pay a subscription during the year for access and for the food and entertainment provided there.  But there are some temporary outdoor 'restaurants' that are set up for anyone to go to...

 where you can sit at the bar and buy snacks...

or at the tables and order a selection of dishes freshly made, like patatas a lo pobre...

seafood, like calamares, boquerones or chipirones...

or charcoal barbecued meats...

and even paella that you buy by the plate.

I know it's on the street but don't worry, its quite clean as the restaurants set up their preparation areas and sinks, and mobile freezers and fridges to keep everything fresh.

Enough of this food talk, it's making me hungry!  I'm off to grab a bite to eat...  (salad though as I'm on a diet).