Because of the large cost of getting a taxi to Alicante to take my cruise, I booked a hotel room for the night before I leave on my cruise & went to Alicante a day early on a coach. I saved myself €160 by doing this which will be money spent doing something else on my cruise.
Los Alcázares to Alicante.
My friend Bob picked me up around 13:30 to take me to the bus stop by the town hall in Los Alcazares. He dropped me off & I sat waiting for the bus to Alicante which was due at 2 pm. At about 1:45 pm a Spanish man asked me if this was the stop for the Alicante bus. I told him it was & we both waited impatiently. The bus was late & by 2:20 pm when it arrived, we were both hoping it was the correct stop.
Apart from being a slow journey stopping at many stops at different towns, it was an uneventful journey. I did realise as the bus went through Los Alcazares that I could have got the bus at the top of the road by my apartment. It was not a choice given on the booking website but the bus stopped at many places in each town we passed through.
When I got off the bus in Alicante the map app on my phone gave me directions to my hotel 1.3 km away so I began the slow walk. It was not a difficult walk but the construction work & closed pathways made it longer than it needed to be. I arrived at the hotel puffed out & breathless even after stopping, it seemed, at every bench, I passed.
The hotel lobby at The Esplanade Hotel was nice & the girl at reception was helpful & friendly. To get to my room on the third floor I had to navigate several steps on each floor & use a small very slow lift. I had to hunt around on the landing for light switches as the lighting in the dark hallways was off but after finding my room I had a rest for a while. Room, 306, was very small & I had to leave my suitcase on the floor as the wardrobe was too small to accommodate it. There was a small fridge I could use in the room, this was also on the floor as there was no table it could fit on.
After resting I went for a short walk around Alicante. I was staying a short distance from the street with the large model mushrooms. As I was walking around, MSC called me to inform me that the ship would be leaving before the scheduled time tomorrow because of the strong winds in the Mediterranean. They told me to check in earlier than previously instructed. I had a look around the area of Alicante that the hotel was in & then went for dinner around 6:30 pm.
Photos from my stay in Alicante.
I went to an Indian restaurant called New Delhi. I was not disappointed, my meal was beautiful & the service was good. I chose a mild Kashmiri lamb curry. I had it with mushroom rice & Peshwari Naan & washed it down with a pint of San Miguel. The curry & rice was beautiful, possibly the best curry I have ever had & the naan bread was wonderful. I finished the meal with a coffee & rum before returning to the hotel.
The hotel bed was quite small & very lumpy, I could not get comfortable & ended up doing crosswords on my notepad until I fell asleep.