Ten days on Spain's Costa Blanca with a bonus stop in Madrid to see Howard

Part of Valencia's Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias

All too often we forget how long a week or two can be when we plan travel. "What," someone will say, "you are going to Europe for only ten days? That's too short, you'll be jet-lagged most of the time!" In my experience, the first week of pretty much every trip is the longest, with new impressions cascading upon us and filling our memory banks. When I think back of my two- and three-month trips many moons ago, time seemed to accelerate the longer I was on the road, and the seven months on the tandem with Simone back in 1983 were a mere blip once we were done.

Traveling from HOT to HOT with only one popsicle...

So, booking flights for a more-or-less 11-day trip to Spain after my crazy spring/summer officiating season was a no-brainer. There was enough time before the Dumber'n Hell weekend, I didn't have any real commitments in Lubbock, and Birgit was off-work for a week and eager to see Valencia and Benidorm.

I arrived the day before Birgit in Valencia, making good use of some British Airways Avios points for short First  Class hops from MAD to VLC and back to keep the cost for my AA ticket reasonable. One of my credit cards gives me an annual free night certificate for most Marriott properties, and coupled with a surprisingly low number of Bonvoy points I reserved a nice room in the elegant and stylish Palacio Santa Clara, which is part of the chain's Autograph collection. The credit card costs me $95 a year—the room would have set me back €250+ a night. Sweet.

I had never been to Valencia and had decided to visit on a simple whim. As we found out during our stay, not only does Valencia have a vibrant old town area, but there are also modern sectors such as the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias that would be impressive in any city. The grand scale of this cultural and architectural complex is overwhelming; the buildings and grounds are stunningly beautiful. A bit of Googling revealed that the cost to complete the entire complex (which contains an opera, museums, Spain's largest aquarium, and much more) approached one billion euros, and I was wondering how much of that expense contributed to Spain's economic woes in the 2010s. Well, just sayin'. Maybe European Development Funds were put to good use, right? The Ciudad is one of twelve so-called Spanish treasures, among them the Alhambra as well as the Familia Sagrada in Barcelona, which we had visited just a few months ago.

The old town, where our hotel was situated (with a wonderful rooftop swimming pool overlooking the city), offers a hodgepodge of architecture spanning from the medieval times to art deco. It's a vibrant neighborhoods, with a large covered market hall that now houses mainly fancy tapas stalls and specialty vendors of gourmet food, are busy by day and night with both locals and tourists milling about until late at night. Numerous small plazas are filled with chairs and tables from the surrounding bars and restaurants, making for a cozy and inviting atmosphere both during the day but especially after dark.

We had only two full days of sightseeing before we picked up our rental car to drive to Benidorm, where we had rented an apartment for the remainder of our short stay in Spain. I think it would be entirely thinkable to spend an extra few days in Valencia without becoming bored, especially with all those food options!

Benidorm is located a mere 140 kilometers (or about 85 miles) south of Valencia on the Costa Blanca. I remembered Benidorm from the many travel catalogs that litter German grocery stores such as Aldi and Lidl or are scattered about the Tchibo coffee store chain: a favorite destination of German tourists seeking sun, a wide sand beach, and predictably not-too-exotic food and entertainment choices. So why did we decide on Benidorm? The reason was very simple: It was the only place where we could find an ocean front apartment on such short notice. I had scoured Airbnb's offerings and had not been able to find anything, up and down the coast, and it was not until fairly late that I came across a booking.com listing. The description "Best View in Benidorm" and the accompanying photos immediately caught my eye, and despite a fairly steep price tag (it's nice to share these costs) I almost instantly booked it.

Had it not been for this amazingly situated apartment (14th floor, last tower on the shores of Benidorm's north coast) I'm not so sure we would have enjoyed our stay as much as we did. Overlooking the entire bay, being high above the masses wallowing on the overcrowded beach during the day or in the evening strolling on the soul-less promenade, watching the sun dip behind the mountains toward Alicante and the lights come on one by one was not what we had expected—this was a penthouse view that was worth every penny. 

We went on four excursions during our stay, but I think we were the most content sitting on our beautiful balcony simply looking at the world at our feet. It should come as no surprise that we explored excellent supermarkets and bought the kind of goodies that we both enjoy and thus prepped our exquisite meals on the 14th floor. One evening we felt compelled to go out at least once, and it was a bitter disappointment: chain restaurants, loud bars, dӧner kebap places, and hordes of half-naked tourists milling around the crowded streets made clear to us that only immediate retreat could save us. Back in our refuge we uncorked another bottle and looked upon the evening scene that unfolded far below us.

Birgit had rented an Opel Corsa, a fairly small car (not quite as small as the Fiat 500 that I had fancied). I volunteered to do all the driving, which in general I enjoy unless it comes to slipping into tight parking garages. The allotted slot in our apartment tower was a bit nerve-wracking, but somehow I managed not to scrape anything. Traffic in Benidorm was heavy yet civilized—no honking, lots of patient drivers, and pedestrians that minded the traffic lights. In the mornings, over a leisurely breakfast, we would decide on a destination for an excursion, and all of them were interesting and rather scenic, yet not too far away.

Our apartment's pool

Our first trip took us to the small town of Guadalest, which is nestled into the mountains NW of Benidorm. This old town has a castle and an ancient church, and its location close to the Embassament de Guadalest attracts tourists who swim or paddle in the green waters of the reservoir. Like all the days in Spain, this one was hot as well, and so we played it safe and went for a hike of not even five miles. Still, once we made it back to town we were properly bushed with temperatures approaching 98 F and fairly high humidity. As usual, we found ourselves a watering hole with a view and enjoyed our good fortune.

The next day we went south along the coast and hiked for a little less than 6 miles on the Sender de la Costa, a coastal trail that took us to an old watch tower (used to warn of approaching Barbary pirates and other marauders) as well as a "hidden" beach that was overrun with sun-seekers in various states of disrobement. Thankfully, a small snack bar offered cold beer. The scenery, in more than one way, was rather spectacular. We hiked on and once we finally made it back to the car we drove to a beach that we had seen from afar; after knocking back a couple of cold ones we went swimming in the tepid Mediterranean that looks more refreshing than it currently is.

Excursion number three was supposed to take us on the hiking trail to the lighthouse of Albir, just about 10 K north of where we were staying. But when we got to the trailhead a hand-written sign informed us that the sender was closed because of high fire danger. Well, there's nothing like a good map app and the advice of buddies like Howard and Roland who a few days earlier had mentioned some places close to Benidorm that might be of interest. Back into the car and we were off to Calp (also spelled Calpe), just 15 kilometers farther north on the coast. First we went for a beautiful walk around the harbor and then along the huge limestone rock of the Parc Natural del Penyal d'Ifac that rises 1,000 feet above the water. Wow! We finished things off with seafood tapas in a small harbor restaurant. Life, as most of the time, once again was not just good but excellent!

Our final excursion from Benidorm took us down the coast to Alicante, another city I had never visited. This old city is overlooked by the 9th-century Santa Barbara castle from where one has an all-encompassing view of both the Mediterranean as well as all the hinterlands—the boys in those days knew how to choose their fortifications! After finding a free and secure parking spot for our Corsa we spent the better part of the day exploring the harbor, walking through the charming old part of town, and finally making our way up to the top of the castle hill. I tell you, none of our walks were easy, and this one tested the old sweat glands in serious ways! But it was totally worth the effort as the view from up top was simply stunning.

Back in town we found a suitable restaurant in one of the narrow streets and enjoyed a magnificent lunch of sepia, an entire cuttlefish. Together with a liter carafe of white wine sangria this was just what the doctor had ordered, and it must have been the best meal of the entire trip, although there were some other tapas that blew my socks off, too. One thing is for sure: It's hard to go wrong with any seafood on the Spanish coast.

On the way back to the car—not able to tear ourselves away from Alicante just yet—we found just the right boardwalk watering hole to have a cold beer and people watch. It definitely was a show, especially watching Mr. Universum doing his calisthenics and making sure that everyone was noticing him! Birgit and I exchanged notes in regard to the assembled meat show on the crowded beach. Ah, it's all so Euro.

The next day it was time to vacate our apartment and drive back to VLC. After a short and unmemorable stopover in Cullera we arrived at the airport mid-afternoon. Our respective flights (Birgit's to Cologne, mine to Madrid) were taking off within an hour and a half, and I was able to guest her into the Iberia lounge, putting a nice final touch on our time together.

When I had planned this trip I had of course consulted with Howard, assuring that he was going to be in town on my return trip. So, barely an hour after departing Valencia I was sitting in his Audi for the 5-minute drive from Barajas to his home. Just like West Texas, Madrid had been experiencing an extreme heat wave with bearable temperatures only at night, and so we sat outside until the wee hours catching up with one another.

Keeping in line with our long history of trips and excursions wherever we meet up, Howard had planned a few hours in Buitrago del Lozoya for the Dia de la Virgen. It's a small town about 70 kilometers northeast of Madrid, with a pretty fortification and church, a river as a natural barrier for the old town, and ample restaurants with seating in the narrow streets for a light lunch of cachopo. Thanks to the holiday Buitrago was fairly packed with folks from Madrid as well as locals, but we found a good spot and got to enjoy the procession coming by. Later, in Torrelaguna, things were quieter and we enjoyed a refreshing, cool Verdejo overlooking the deserted town square. Ah, I love these excursions with Howard!

On my last full day in Spain it was time to add another brewpub to my long list, and in the afternoon we made a special metro trip to Mad Brewing (a clever play on the capital's airport code, MAD) and enjoyed a few good IPAs and a tasty lunch. Once back at the house, there was more socializing with the rest of the family.

The next morning, less than two weeks after my initial departure from Lubbock, it was once again time to head to the airport and fly back to Texas. For once, American managed to keep its flights more or less on time, and after a final Uber ride I was back home. Overall verdict: a fabulous trip of just the right length to make it feel much longer than it really was!

Jürgen