The last couple of weeks it’s been very busy in the restaurant and I had to work a lot. So, because I clearly deserved it, Simon and I decided to treat ourselves to an extended weekend in Spain. I found a little apartment and on Wednesday we took a flight from Schiphol down to the charming city of Alicante.

Did you know Alicante is positioned between sloping hills and the Mediterranean Sea, giving it its own microclimate? This makes this little chunk of Spanish soil one of the sunniest places in the whole of Europe all year around. After the long and dreary winter we just had in the Netherlands I was in dire need of some serious light therapy. While it was still a bit too nippy for us to shed all our clothes and go full on beach mode like some of our enthusiastic fellow tourists, it was sufficiently pleasant to wear shorts and a t-shirt. And while scaling the narrow streets of the city we even, on occasion, broke a sweat.

Alicante is built on the slopes of Mount Benacantil, a large hill right in the centre of the city. At its summit, overlooking the sea, you find Castillo de Santa Bárbara. We decided to walk up to the castle and were rewarded with wonderful views at every turn. Starting at the beach, we first meandered through the old city centre. It’s plastered up against the foot of hill; a web of tiny streets and stairways filled with colourful flowerpots and cheerful tiles. When you clear the last houses the path becomes a bit steeper and the sun a bit hotter. This is the embarrassing moment you get confronted with your own physical limitations. When a small hike up a hill is enough to make you pant, you should strongly reconsider your life choices. While thoughts of renewed gym subscriptions went racing trough my mind we nevertheless managed to reach the top, where thanks to modern day commerce, we were able to get a beer and a glass of very sweet sangria.

And the there’s the food, the Spanish food…….

Every time I visit Spain I’m amazed by the general quality and also wonderful simplicity of the food they serve there. For a very fair price you can get good wine, cured meats and fresh seafood by the boatloads. The only question I have is: Where are all the vegetables? When eating out in traditional Spanish restaurants I never see dishes with vegetables on the menu. I know they have them, I’ve seen it. Beautiful eggplants, succulent zucchinis, and in most cases the produce is much nicer than what we find in the Netherlands. So where does it all vanish to?

That being said, I really love Spanish food, all that garlic and the excessive use of pimento just make me very happy. Even for the food alone I would want to move to Spain.