It was raining when left Alicante yesterday. Our plan was to walk from our hotel to the train station to pick up our rented car. When we got to the Europcar Rental Desk we learned that we’d actually rented the car from the airport rather than the train station! So we regrouped, grabbed a taxi and headed for the airport. We got a later than expected start but the cab driver was very kind, the rental car agents at the airport friendly, and we finally headed out on the highway.
We we’re impressed with the Alicante Airport!
It was still raining when we arrived in Peñíscola and the hotel was a steep climb uphill but once we arrived, we were welcomed by the owner Chris and all was well! Peñíscola is a beachy town with a castle (they’re popular here) but a bit dreary on a rainy day. It’s off-season and we learned that we’re the only guests staying in the hotel.
Today it looks like a different city! The sky is blue and there are lots of tourists milling about.
The castle is on top of the biggest rock,
and surrounded by the sea so it was easy to defend from outside invaders (and there were many). The castle was protected by Templars or warrior monks who were young, battle hardened, and super-disciplined.
The Old Town near the castle is small with steep, narrow winding streets.
In contrast, there are many high rise hotels along the beach. It’s quiet now but in the summer months 9,000 residents expands to 50,000.
We’ve enjoyed a couple of delicious seafood meals…the food here has been great.
We have one more day here before we move on the Tarragona. We’ve secured a free parking spot so we’re leaving the car just where it is!
