POS 38:50.387N 0:7.165E
Wednesday 11th August
The rain didn’t come to much and the storm had abated when I took over at
4am. The sea was a bit choppy but the wind
was warm. I could see the bright
lights of Benidorm on the shore to the left and was glad to be passing it
by. Clear skies allowed for a good
sunrise at 7 15 and there were only a few fishing boats to steer clear of. The sea traffic had increased by 11 when
I went back up – in the form of speed boats, jet skis and huge luxury yachts.
Stylish-looking villas lined the coast as we approached our destination and we
began to sense we were entering a distinctly upmarket place full of wealthy
people. The boats in the marina
confirmed this – although naturally Lady Stardust has much more character and
history than the big ‘millionaire’ boats in the huge Marina de Denia. Berthing was a bit different – we had to
go in ‘bows to’ instead of onto a pontoon and grab a lazy line to pull on in
order to get lines to attach to the stern.
A man from the marina was at our allocated berth to assist so all I had
to do was throw him the lines. The
heat by this time was suffocatingly hot – there was no breeze at all and it was
very humid so after lunch we slept for a while but woke up even hotter. It was over 40 degrees at 4pm but Paul had to fit a new shore power
connection on the boat which proved to be a tricky job. He really struggled in
the stifling heat. I could barely
move without feeling exhausted and we drank the boat dry of cold water, juice,
beer and cokes in a very short time. By 7 it had cooled down sufficiently for us
to venture into town. The marina is
surrounded by stylish bars and cafes – all pricey and serving such staple dishes
as pasta, pizza, chips and tapas.
The centre is a ten minute walk and it was thronging with people when we
got there. At a tourist information
kiosk we picked up a map and some information about markets and places of
interest and then had a look at a lively street market. Stalls were selling hand
made and authentic Spanish gifts and the usual bags, hats t-shirts etc. Paul bought himself a Panama-style hat
and we had a drink in a café watching more green parrots in the palm trees
squawking and swooping down to grab food scraps.
Denia’s town centre isn’t exactly
pretty but has broad streets with designer shops, coffee shops and bars and is
richly decorated with overhead lights (xmas style), leafy trees and bronze
statues. It isn’t pedestrianised so is a bit noisy too. We ate at a restaurant at the end of the
main street in a small square with beautiful pink flowers and a fountain. The
friendly waiter recommended Paul try a starter that looked like razor shell fish
when it arrived (he wasn’t keen on them though). I had fried camembert but instead of
cranberry it came with a ‘marmelade’ which was green and had a slightly perfumed
taste to it – it tasted much better than it sounds.
Flamenco in Cartegena
