Alicante is a favourite holiday destination and one that I’ve visited quite a few times. I usually take a sketch book and some watercolours along with me, whether I use them or not. On my last couple of trips I’ve also taken the time to do a lot more sketching and this, as usual, gives you a slightly different experience.
With Covid restrictions now mostly absent it has become a little easier to travel – though not entirely hassle-free. Flying around Europe can still be pretty chaotic and airline companies don’t seem to have weathered the Covid storm particularly well. There are still too many missed or cancelled flights, delays and crew shortages – but it is at least better than it used to be. Flights are now largely mask-free and entry requirements to Spain minimal. Masks are however still required to travel on public transport (and taxis) in Spain. This, although perhaps understandable, seems a bit bizarre – especially since they are largely absent everywhere else. Still that’s where we are with modern travel at the moment.
September in Spain is usually a rainier time of year. There were some thunderstorms and localised flooding during our first couple of days holiday but nothing too drastic. The rain here is a little different from English rain – usually it is warmer!
During our trip Alicante was pretty busy – with local traditional dance and costume festivals on and most of the local hotels booked up. There were also several large cruise ships visiting the port. You can really tell when a large ship is in – the seafront and castle become really busy for a few hours. Personally I prefer to avoid most of the crowds if I can and walking and sketching in the old town is a good way to do this. It is pretty quiet and there are just a few of the more independent and adventurous tourists about.
Those of you that follow my posts might be familiar with some of my previous sketches from Alicante. Here are a couple of links:-
Down on the Calle Gran Capitan, Alicante
This time I focused more on the old town and made one or two more involved sketches.
I will put some of these sketches and drawings up as separate posts but in the meantime here are a few photos…
OxfordArtist 