Sunshine In The Soul Of Benidorm Spain

Sunshine In The Soul Of Benidorm Spain
By Peter Wilson, Mon Dec 26th

With its steady temperatures, Benidorm on the Costa Blanca, hasmore than half the battle won to being one of the hottesttourist places in Alicante on the Mediterranean Sea. I wouldprobably call it the Spanish melting pot because other thanmixing with so many people from all over the world, you can tryexcellent food from all over the world and actively be a part ofmany of these countries' traditions all in one city.

Benidorm, with its Arab name, has just about the same history asall other neighbouring areas around it: first the Phoenicians,Romans, Arabs and the Catholic Kings. And there are stillremains of some of each one of these civilizations andarchitectural treasures, but believe me, Benidorm is not to bevisited for these features, but rather to ' take a walk on thewild side'. Relaxation during the day on its long stretched outsandy beaches and entertainment galore at night. If we stretchour imagination and little knowledge of Spanish, we couldunderstand the name of Benidorm as meaning " sleeping well" (beni=bien=well and dorm=dormir=sleep) but most of the peoplehardly sleep at night there!   Smoothing Sailing in Benidorm  After a 20 minute drive in your car hire from the Alicanteairport, you arrive at one of the many hotels right on the beachfront, but the one that is most outstanding is the Bali, fourstar and the highest hotel in all of Europe. It was inauguratedabout two years ago and its vanguard style, airy atmosphere,luxury rooms and panoramic lateral lifts would make anyone'sstay here more pleasurable.   But you have also come to have apleasurable stay on the 3 mile wide beach in the bay ofBenidorm. The beach there is divided by what was a huge rockyprotrusion, now made into the "Balcony of the Costa Blanca" andnext to the Nautical Club. So when you look at the map, thebeach to the right is called Levante and the one to the leftPoniente. The Levante beach is in front of the newer part withlively restaurants offering all day dance music and good food.At the most northern end of this beach you will find all kindsof watersports: The long banana for kids ( and adults),waterskiing and surfboard sailing. On the other side of thebalcony you will find the quieter beach of Poniente because itis a little further away from the city centre. Another greatadvantage is that you can sunbathe up to around 8:30 in theevening because the building are set in a way that even whilethe sun is setting, you can baste it. And there a few coves tobe explored for those looking for more privacy.   Everyone has alittle bit of adventurer like Robinson Crusoe in their veins andwould probably like to have an island for themselves for a shorttime. Well, the island in front of Benidorm called L'Illa can bevisited in one of the three boats which leaves from the BenidormPort starting at 10:00

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a.m. and the lasting one coming back at5:00 p.m. It takes about 20 minutes to get there, a nice way tospend the day and have a leisurely lunch or snack .   But nottoo far away, taking the highway N-332 up north, you can openyour eyes to more typical towns such as Altea, with its quaintwhite-washed houses leading up to the church square filled withbohemian craftsmen booths and a beautiful view of the sea. Or toCalpe to visit the Penon de Ifach, to Denia or Javea with theirtypical local traditions brought out into the street foreveryone to enjoy. It does not matter where you are staying,there is always something to keep you in high spirits,especially if you have you tummy well attended with a good plateof Paella and some wine to accompany you.

About the author:Peter Wilson publishes for http://www.alicante-spain.com/benidorm.html. Peter covers information onAlicante and the Costa Blanca http://www.alicante-spain.com/costa-blanca.html .