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April 21 – Murcia to Alicante, 2525 km
We are gradually improving at getting earlier starts most mornings. Sometimes we do our grocery shopping in the evenings, and banking too if we can. Today we leave at 10am, not our best but still a fine start.
We are using local highway N340, the Ctra de Alicante, that leads north-east in a straight line for the first few kilometres. At the edge of the city, we encounter four small hills that the road weaves between. The first, at Monteagudo, is topped by a large statue of Jesus with
his arms spread wide staring down as though he is about make a dive to the valley below. Gawd nose, during the next big earthquake he just might. Past these hills, the highway bends in a more easterly direction but it stays quite flat for a while longer. It is mostly overcast and quite cold today, but that is definitely better than being too hot. We both leave extra layers on all day.
After the town of Santomera, the road follows the south edge of the jagged Sierra de Orihuela, which is pitted with caves. At the end of the 10 km ridge lies the small city of Orihuela. The road
rounds a rocky bluff 20m above the palm-lined streets of the town. It’s a brief but lovely view as we sail downhill, across a scenic river into the centre of town. We are now in the district of Alicante, in the Province of Valencia, our 9th district and 3rd province. 
On the valley floor east of Orihuela, there is forest of palm trees. We choose a quiet route through the palms and the farmlands to the north side of a marshland called El Hondo. Our route merges with the coast highway 11 km before the centre of Alicante. We arrive in late afternoon.
Alicante is the second largest city in the Autonomous Community of Valencia. The Michelin Guide says the area has about a third of a million. It is very new looking, with skyscrapers and high-rise condos, but its development has not left it ugly like Torremolinos. There’s a lovely pedestrian walkway called the Esplanade Espana with patterned sidewalks, street vendors and tall palm trees. There are several stately and decorative buildings from the past couple centuries and a castello perched high above the city only a kilometre from the city centre. 
Our Servas hosts in here are the Gonzales, Jacinto and Burquita. Their line is busy when Mike tries to call them so we wait. It is to damn cold once we’ve stopped cycling. I add a long-sleeved shirt and jeans over my cycling garb and I still feel cold. We check the RENFE (the train station) and the bus depot because our hosts have warned us that they cannot keep them in their apartment. Neither place has storage space available.We finally reach our hosts by phone and they invite us over. They are a very friendly, middle-aged couple a bit older than myself. Jacinto has found a place in the parking garage for our bikes. They have made a meal for us and we stay in the rest of the evening talking with our hosts. It’s a cold Sunday evening so not much would be open anyway. The Gonzales’ have a hundred questions about our trip so far, our planned route and especially about Canada. They have never been before but they are planning a trip this summer.
PHOTO 1: billboard ????
PHOTO 2: Jesus of Monteagudo
PHOTO 3: Sierra de Orihuela
PHOTO 4: canal through centre of Orihuela
PHOTO 5: Orihuela
PHOTO 6: palm forest
PHOTO 7: beach at Alicante
PHOTO 8: Esplanada Espana in downtown Alicante
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