Happy New Year

Since the beginning of December, we have had visitors from Denmark. First by a couple of friends, then Pia's sister, niece and her 2 small children and finally Niklas & Olivia and Daniel & Emilie, with whom we celebrated Christmas.

Nice to see you again after 3 months, speak Danish, show the city and have new experiences with family and friends.

There is much to see in Alicante.

We have shown our guests El Castillio, from which there is a wide view of the city, the sea and the mountains, El Barrio with the small white houses and alleys, the food market Mercado Central, the Archaeological Museum, the marina, the Esplanade with the smooth little colored tiles in a curved pattern, the cathedral, the beach, the cafe and business life and the atmosphere of the city.

Christmas in Spain is less hectic than in Denmark. Maybe that's because it's less commercial. Most gifts are given on Saint 3 Kings on 6 January, 

We had decided to change our tradition a bit and had replaced this year's Christmas presents with experiences.

The first experience was Christmas dinner at one of the few restaurants that were open on Christmas Eve. From there we went to the San Nicolás Cathedral and attended the midnight mass – La Misa Del Gallo (the Rooster's Mass in Danish). The tradition of the midnight mass is almost 1.600 years old and got its somewhat peculiar name because it is said that the only time the rooster crowed at midnight was the night Jesus was born. The mass lasted 1 hour and ended with communion. After this, a doll symbolizing the baby Jesus was taken from the nativity scene and given to the bishop. He held the doll in his arms while we fair-goers passed by and kissed the symbol of the baby Jesus.

Another experience was the Christmas lunch at Els Vents, located in the marina.

The third experience began with a road trip to the town of Montanejos. Here springs the Fuente de Baños spring. The water is said to ensure eternal youth and beauty due to a rich content of many different minerals. It is also said that it was the desire for eternal youth and beauty that made the Moorish king Abu-Zayd bring his harem here in the 1.300s.

It was cold up in the mountains and even though the water in the spring is 25 degrees all year round, it required a lot of overcoming to change into swimwear and wade into the clear water.

After 1/2 hour we got as young and beautiful out of the water as we had risen in it, dried ourselves, put on clothes and drove to Valencia.

At the cathedral we met Miguel, whom Niklas had agreed to meet at www.freewalkingtours.com.

He gave us an 2 1 / 2 hour guided tour around Valencia's old town.

Exhibit us Roman Empire Excavations, Captions of the Signs of the Crafts in the Stones of the Great Cathedral, Symbolism of the Spanish Flag, Expulsion of Jews, Muslims and Moroccans (Muslims Forced to Christianity), Inquisition, Civil War, Dictatorship Under Franco, Recent Spanish History, Politics and much much more.

The last experience began with breakfast at the AC Hotel and then a visit to Las Salinas de Torrevieja – a lake with the same salt content as the Dead Sea. The salt in the lake dries out the air and creates a pleasant climate that is beneficial for people suffering from psoriasis, arthritis and lung diseases. The climate is so good that the WHO has designated the area as one of the healthiest places in the world to live. (However it may be calculated)

The water in the lake is pink. This is due to the presence of the halobacterium. It is found in very salty environments, is estimated to have existed for 3,5 billion years and may also occur on Mars.

New Year's Eve we celebrated alone.

We swam from the beach during the day, heard the Queen's New Year's speech while the sun was setting over Alicante, ate a grape for each of the 12 strikes of the town hall bell, as is the tradition in Spain, and wished each other a happy New Year after an eventful and very different year.

Really happy new year to you who have followed us on the blog.