In late January, we learned that, true to the original plan, we were really going home in April. Very soon after, I began trying hard to come up with Plan B. Plan B became living in my good friend, Joanna's condo in Alicante. Now, in order for us to ink the deal, Joanna wanted me and Jeff to visit for a weekend to make sure it suited my needs. I wondered how it couldn't, but Joanna is wise beyond her years and insisted.
Alicante is really the name of the region and we stayed in a seaside town to the south called Orihuela. Joanna and Adam Kostecka and their two boys Jedrek and Aleksander live full time in Poland and have vacationed to this area of Spain for years and finally decided to buy versus rent. I loved the sculptures on the rocky beach of lounging people enjoying the view.
We found a beautiful boardwalk, great shopping and ice cream stores all around. However, the action wasn't walk-able from the condo and even in March it was already getting warm here when the rest of Europe was frigid.
I had visions of talking Paula into bringing Chase and Carly to Spain for the month of June and doing some intensive Spanish studies. But, to cut a long story short, Jeff and I decided that, although, this was a great place, it was lacking one key ingredient: Spanish people. It seemed that we had landed in the British section of Spain? Seriously, this is apparently a popular location for British to retire to and they do so in droves. Who can blame them with their "dodgy" weather!
We spent most of our time cruising around looking for beaches big enough for the thousands of pasty Brits that we expected to see in the summer :) We honestly didn't look hard for culture since I think this is truly a resort community but we did find this...I'm not sure exactly what this is, but it appears to be historic.
Joanna told me about a great kids beach so one day we went on a nice drive and saw some cool evaporative salt mines and some great natural wetlands. This seemed just like home. The kids beach area was nice with plenty of play scapes and we really enjoyed watching all the kite boarders.
Alicante is really the name of the region and we stayed in a seaside town to the south called Orihuela. Joanna and Adam Kostecka and their two boys Jedrek and Aleksander live full time in Poland and have vacationed to this area of Spain for years and finally decided to buy versus rent. I loved the sculptures on the rocky beach of lounging people enjoying the view.
I had visions of talking Paula into bringing Chase and Carly to Spain for the month of June and doing some intensive Spanish studies. But, to cut a long story short, Jeff and I decided that, although, this was a great place, it was lacking one key ingredient: Spanish people. It seemed that we had landed in the British section of Spain? Seriously, this is apparently a popular location for British to retire to and they do so in droves. Who can blame them with their "dodgy" weather!
We spent most of our time cruising around looking for beaches big enough for the thousands of pasty Brits that we expected to see in the summer :) We honestly didn't look hard for culture since I think this is truly a resort community but we did find this...I'm not sure exactly what this is, but it appears to be historic.
There weren't that many beaches either, at least not by Coronado standards. The water, of course would be nice and warm here, so that is a benefit. Still, none of the beaches would be walk-able in the summer heat.
Joanna told me about a great kids beach so one day we went on a nice drive and saw some cool evaporative salt mines and some great natural wetlands. This seemed just like home. The kids beach area was nice with plenty of play scapes and we really enjoyed watching all the kite boarders. 
Yes, this is Jeff on Joanna's roof. Of course, we were working from Spain, which was again good practice for what I would have needed to do in June. Turns out, while Adam and Joanna have been away for a year due to the birth of Aleks, someone moved in next door and started using the fireplace which shares a chimney with the Kosteckas. This seems harmless enough until we realized that the cable wiring had been run inside the chimney and of course had melted and burned. A very cute Spanish guy came and fixed it all for us. While he was at it, he fixed my computer settings which always make me crazy when I am traveling and away from my home wifi. I can't say what was wrong or what he did, but he earned his 10 Euro tip.
