My friend and I decided to visit Europe and in the span of a month, we checked out 4 countries, one of which was Spain. Our Spanish adventure began in Sevilla.
Sevilla sits in the middle of a desert with temperatures often reaching the 110F mark. It rarely rains there and the old town still holds remnants of its World Exposition.
from boredom to blast
The town is rather boring. It is aged, hot, and besides the old Expo, there is nothing much to do there. Our main destination was Benidorm, so we were not really looking forward to checking out the city's museums and historic landmarks; we were too busy rushing through the Andalucian heat, hauling overstuffed backpacks and empty water bottles while trying to catch the bus.We took a shuttle bus to Benidorm -- a jewel located between Valencia and Alicante built to sate tourist desires on the golden sands of Costa Blanca. We were tired and dusk was creeping its way on the horizon. All I wanted to do was forget the rushing, the stress of late planes, misplaced luggage, deadlines, tickets, and all the other misgivings that accompany traveling (we had been traveling for many weeks). Needless to say, the shuttle ride was a pleasure in itself.
Comfortable seats, air conditioning, authentic Spanish guitar solos in the background, and a quiet winding ride along the Mediterranean is all a guy needs to feel like he's in heaven. On one side, cacti, cliffs and the dessert... on the other were the warm sea, Arabian palm trees and ancient villages.
hey bus driver, slow down
Do yourself a favor; if you ever go to Spain, take a shuttle bus, you will never forget it -- the panorama alone is worth it.The bus passed Alicante from a distance -- one of the main cities on the White Coast. City lights were already starting to brighten up the historic town. As we approached our destination, a strange object caught my eye. Standing tall atop a cliff was a motionless silhouette of the largest bull I have ever seen in my life. It stared over the highway like a gargoyle, forever frozen.
As we got closer, it turned out to be "Osborne," an old whiskey ad shaped like a giant black bull. From what I understood listening to an old native Andalucian next to me, the company no longer exists, but the people decided to keep the ad since it has become a national landmark -- quite a common sentiment among Spaniards.
Finally, we approached Benidorm. To give you an idea of what Benidorm looks like, imagine a vista of huge luminous hotels, three miles of sandy beach, crystal blue water (black at the time, since it was already night), and enough dance clubs to give Miami a run for its money. Benidorm isn't a normal city; it was built for tourism -- the city alone has more hotels than all of Greece, at least that's what everybody told me at the time.
looking for a hotel
The first thing I noticed as soon as I walked off the bus was how strange the air smelled and felt. It had a honey-like aroma to it and didn't feel like it was filling your lungs. It's as if its consistency was lighter than what I was accustomed to.We found a hotel (rather easily, I might add) and went straight to bed. The next day we visited Benidorm's day life. Like most Spanish cities, Benidorm is slopped with many narrow streets. Rarely will you see symmetrical roads; everything has an organic feel to it. The streets are peppered with white station wagon Citroens, ironically referred to as "Lemon Cars" by the natives because they are used to transport lemons (many Spaniards own lemon plantations).
The upper part of Benidorm (the side away from the sea) is a commercial/residential area. The meat of the city starts at Playa Levante, the city's main beach. Benidorm is actually divided in three, focusing on its beaches: Playa Levante and Playa de Poniente, as well as a small one located in the middle called Playa Mal Pas.
naked woman beach
The beaches have their own verve, and stores and tourist attractions surround them. Playa Levante attracts a younger "active" generation, while Poniente and Mal Pas target family-oriented and mature tourists. The city square is off-limits to cars.We headed for the city square and from there to Playa Levante. As the day grew hotter, my friend got some ice cream, while I spent my time gawking at all the pretty girls. The last thing I wanted was to strut around with a runny ice-cream cone like some moron, and Costa Blanca has some of the best-looking girls in the world.
Finally, we were there: the Rising Beach. Fortunately, unlike in North America, European beaches don't have laws prohibiting women from going topless. It is then that I realized why they called that beach Playa Levante (Rise).
The main street on the beach is about a mile long. It is a mile of dance clubs, bars and restaurants unlike any I have ever seen in my life. No cars are allowed. I was surprised to see that some dance clubs (or pubs as they like to call them) were still open at noon. It turns out that some clubs open in May and stay open until September! Can you say after hours ?
met a couple of babes
After some partying, we witnessed a light show. I don't know why, but Spaniards love firecrackers. Every other night there was some sort of fireworks show in the region, the biggest one taking place in a small town called Altea, about 8 miles north of Benidorm, but still visible from the city. The whole show was performed from boats on the sea.One of the main attractions in Benidorm was a laser show in the Mediterranean. Lined-up fountains spray a fine mist into the air while lasers paint a story in the cloud. That night they had some sort of thing about sharks. After the show, we headed for the main street on Playa Levante with our newfound female friends.
Thousands of people filled the streets to the brim. I didn't mind since our dates had to hold on to us whilst masses of humanity tried to separate us. Each nightclub had a hefty entrance fee, but luckily for us, our dates were very cute. The prestigious clubs (Penelope, KM Disco Garden, Gigolo's Disco Pub, Bahamas Fun Pub, and Lennon's) had scouts handing out free passes to all the hot young couples. I'd like to think I'm pretty good-looking, but I'm sure we had about a dozen free passes by the end of the night because of the girls
never forget the nightlife
Nightclubs look like something straight out of Blade Runner . Women in cages painted in silver dancing naked, lesbian shows, dance floors that turn into swimming pools (they get flooded with water with people still on them) at 3am, live sex on stage: you name it! It can be a bit weird on a first date, though. People only go to the beach during the day to sleep off their hangovers.Days went by and we all went our separate ways. As we were leaving Spain, I noticed that many cars had logos of Penelope -- one of the popular dance clubs -- on their bumpers. I kept one of its free passes as a souvenir. Every time I see the logo -- a beautiful dark girl with a tilted black cowboy hat -- I think of my wild night in Benidorm.
Osborne and Penelope, two ads turned national icons. It's funny that they represent booze and sex, but that's Spain for ya, at least in Benidorm...
Resources:
Spain Travel Guide
0 comments:
Publicar un comentario