Espana: Days 10 & 11

Day 10:
It's Saturday morning and the celebration of Virgen del Carmen continues with a band leading the Virgen statue to the port where the crowd was able to pay respect. This is all in preparation for the boat parade later!

Knowing the celebration that's to come this evening, we tried to keep things as mellow as possible. We had a nice lunch at Max Pizzeria Restaurante where I ordered my pizza Margherita without cheese! Scott enjoyed his pasta (minus the shrimpy heads). We are starting to become regulars here...

Pizza Margherita Sin Queso

Spaghetti with olive oil & gambas

After lunch, we took a little siesta at the beach and I got some new shades. These aren't just any shades, these are Royobom. Very reminiscent of Rayban! I needed to get a cheap pair for when I go in the ocean beause I don't like taking my Cavalli's in!

As the sun is starting to set, tons of the boats below our apartment make their way out to sea for a little boat parade for the Virgen del Carmen. She is also on one of the boats! People are crowded around the dock to watch this tradition of bringing the Virgen back to land. As the boats make their way back, the Virgen del Carmen is lifted from the boat with candles lit all around her. They hold her high and walk slowly from the port down the promenade as the band plays.
We have the advantage of watching all of this from our balcony! Later we get to also watch a beautiful fireworks show from our balcony...

Day 11:
We decided to go to a city about 45 minutes (by tram) outside of El Campello called Benidorm. I had done a little bit of research on some grow shops in the area but more importantly, I've read that you can easily find Marijuana there at a flea market called El Pueblo. I've read posts from people saying "just ask the looky-looky tanned guys".... no joke. Scott clarified that looky-looky means the guys selling the fake watches. LOL 😂 Not only did we not see any of these guys wandering around, the market is absolute shit. Fake designer purses, terrible clothing, fruits sitting out in the scorching hot sun, and so much more shit I would never buy. On top of that, there were A LOT of people. Real great for my anxiety....especially when I cant find my herbal medication to calm me. If anyone reading this is wondering why I'm on such a search for this all-natural remedy called cannabis, it's for 3 medical conditions I suffer from: 1) insomnia 2) back pain and 3) anxiety. Back in the States, I had a medical Marijuana card and I was able to safely buy and educate myself on the different benefits of each strain. I knew what was good for my conditions and I had people around that would help if I had any questions. So, some of you can only imagine how difficult this is for me to even try to find Marijuana on the black market.  I dont like it but its all I can do. Dont get me started on prescription medications that doctors can load you up on. All more reason I prefer to go a natural route.

Anyways, the town of Benidorm is an absolute disgusting armpit of a place, in my opinion. I think if they didn't build up the way they did beginning in the 60's, it could have been a much cuter town. It used to be a small fishing village and that could've been preserved however, now it's overrun with tourists and skyscrapers. I also read that it has the most high-rise buildings (per capita) in the world but I find that hard to believe so I'm gonna need to do some more research on that. Now dont get me wrong, I'm sure there may be some beautiful places somewhere in Benidorm but I'm not sure that I need to go back to explore that. We walked about a half an hour to get to this market so I can say we did walk through a few different neighborhoods. I like to walk a little to get a feel of things. Like life itself.
Only found in Benidorm...

A street corner in Benidorm. At least they promote safe sex!

On the tram ride back, I started to feel some terrible pain in my left foot. Its definitely from walking way to much in sandals instead of proper shoes (says the former Shoe Buyer). We returned to El Campello just around lunch time so we went to il Cuore di Napoli restaurante once again! This is the first time we tried their sangria and it is muy deliciosa! I tried their cod for the first time and I'm sad to report that it wasn't that great. I think it was only because there was way to much sauce. It had nothing to do with the quailty. We still love this place and have become regulars so we'll be back for more. We love the woman who works there/runs stuff. Her name is Cynthia and she is so sweet...we tried to talk with her a bit but its difficult because she doesnt speak English. At the end, cynthia brought over a little treat for us....Sometimes at Italian restaurants, they will bring you Limoncello after your meal (on the house 😆) and this is one place that keeps that tradition. Although I'm not sure who is Italian there....They all speak Spanish and not much English so I've put Scott on a mission to find out more about this nice little restaurant and the people who work there / run the place!

Sangria at il Cuore di Napoli

Penne Bolognese

Sauce with cod

After-meal drinks compliments of Cynthia! On the left: Crema de Orujo (a Spainish type of Baileys) and on the right: Limoncello (lemon liqueur of Southern Italy)

For dinner it was back to restaurante Cavia for the greatest paella in town.

Arroz con pollo y pimientos

Papas con mojo picon (potatos w/ mojo picon sauces)

Tomorrow is Scott's first day of school and I will be having a first meeting with a private Spanish teacher we found. I dropped out of the school Scott is still attending, Enforex, because it is just so expensive and I'm not going to do the intense courses he's doing. I also just prefer to work one-on-one...I'm not much of a class setting type of person.

Buenos noches!