ALICANTE

Being the intrepid traveller that I am, I decide to catch the bus to Alicante and then go camping at a spot 30 minutes south. Some crazy idea I garnered in Barcelona where I bought a tent for 15 euro. Camping out in a tent with no utensils - now that's travelling I think!

With horrendous PMS, the closer the bus gets to Alicante, the more bad-tempered I become. Some horrible child is sitting in the seat in front of me whinging and crying and I have to control my urge to scream at it to shut the fuck up! It is at this point I decide my resolution to never have children is probably fairly wise. I suspect the ugly touristic high rise buildings and absolute butchering of the beautiful Spainish coast are also not helping my mood. I HATE Alicante!
Never in my life have I seen such rampant, senseless tourism - ugly tower blocks standing alone, jutting into the sky, destroying any sense of beauty and tranquility. People come here to holiday? To stay in a shitty apartment, in an ugly city, with awful theme parks filled with millions of other tourists! Thank god I will soon be camping I think!

With a sense of relief, I arrive at the camping park, thinking serene thoughts of pitching my tent and how cool it will be to have some peace and privacy at last. Its only when I check in I realise its a pity I dont read Spainish. Yep - the website said its only 7 euro an adult per night to camp, the bit I missed was the 23 euro site fee!

Well its a this point that for the first time in Spain I actually consider bursting into tears - but in a split second moment of fortitude of character, I ask the man how the hell I get to Granada! I'm outta this ugly town and going to Granada! And like magic, my bad mood disappears. Its now about 6pm in the evening, so I catch the bus back to Alicante and book a ticket to Granada for 11pm.

I'm stuck in Alicante for six hours, and believe me - that's long enough! So what does one do in Alicante for six hours whilst waiting to catch the bus? Head to the local tavern aross from the bus station and proceed to enjoy 1 euro wine! Shortly I am joined by another traveller, waiting to get the hell out and we while away the hours drinking and discussing how much we hate Alicante!