We celebrated July 4th with some of our friends with a picnic. The 12th century castle of Santa Barbara was a perfect spot, for a picnic. We arrived early and began setting up balloons and decorations for the picnic.
Shelley decorating the picnic area with balloons.
The castle has an area with picnic tables and trees which provide shade.
Ray with the picnic area in the background
The Castle of Santa Barbara is located on Mount Benacantil and is a 166 meters above Alicante. The castle provides great views of the area and part of the coast line of the Mediterranean sea.
The view from our picnic area at the castle
Once we were set up lots of our friends showed up to the picnic. It was a pot luck style and there were foods from many different national backgrounds. There was traditional Venezuela, German, Texas, Polish and United Kingdom foods which everyone shared and enjoyed.
Multi cultural picnic meal with friends at the castle
We enjoyed the day celebrating with our multi-national group of friends from different corners of the world.
Barbara and Shelley enjoying a small beverage
The views were also a great addition to a wonderful day, even the locals dropped in to check out the picnic.
Seagull looking for a free handout.View of the Postuget beach from the Castle
One of the many beautiful features of living in Alicante is the breathtaking views and unique features.
Every year for the past 90 years, Alicante has hosted the “Hougeres” and celebrated the bonfires of San Jaun. We were fortunate to be invited to our friends place to watch the “Noche de la Cremà“ which is the burning of the hougeres. We headed there early to take a walk around the hougere before going up to the apartment.
Shelley and Ray at the Hougeres
The hougere was three storeys high and had some beautiful features to it.
Detailed painting of faces on hougereDetailed different features of the hougere
There was also a smaller hougere which was done by children which was also very impressive and beautiful.
Children’s Hougere
It was sad to think that all of the 89 hougeres in the city would be destroyed by fire later in the night. We went up to our friends apartment to spend the evening and watch the activities. We gathered on the terrace to enjoy the party and watch the crowds.
Alli and Shelley on the terraceRay and Augustine on the terrace
The apartment overlooks one of the main hougeres on a large street in Alicante. We had a perfect view from their terrace.
The view of the hougeres from the terrace
The view down the street was full of people and lights.
The view down the street from the terrace
We watched people gather and get ready for the burning of the hougeres. The fire truck arrived and began to set up and prepare for the burning.
Fire truck arriving at the hougere to set up for the burning
The burning of the hougeres begins at midnight and is signaled by a large palm fireworks sent up from the Santa Barbara Castle.
After the signal we watched for the start of the burning of our hougere. There were fireworks going off throughout the city and the atmosphere was incredible. We enjoyed watching the burning of our hougere and seeing the firefighters spraying the crowd with water.
Firefighter spraying the crowdPeople edging the firefighter on and getting sprayed with water
The spraying of the crowd is a ritual in the event. The crowd chants insults at them in jest and they then turn the water spray on the crowd. There is also a song which roughly translates to “Wet me fireman, please wet me. I’m dying of heat, save me from this hot flush”. The crowd also chant “agua, agua, agua”over and over until they get sprayed. It is all done in fun.
Small hougere burning and firefighters spraying the crowd with water
We put the following video together to give you an idea of the extent and amazing nature of the burning of the hougeres. The video is only a small portion of the party that continues throughout the night.
The experience was one we will always remember. It is amazing how the Bonfires of San Juan and the Hougeres in Alicante are celebrated every year.
Sculling is a popular activity in Alicante because of our location on the Mediterranean Sea. The local yacht club has a sculling group which also competes in different competitions. Sonja and I (Shelley) decided to give the sport a try, so we joined the Royal Regatta Club of Alicante.
Shelley at the Yacht club getting ready to start her new sport.
There are different types of racing shell boats from a single person to group rowing. Shelley and Sonja began learning on a double seat shell.
Shelley and Sonja rowing on the Mediterranean
The boat shell is narrow to avoid drag, and is very tippy and unstable. The oars are attached to oarlocks at the end of outriggers extending from the sides of the boat. The oars help to keep the boat stable and takes some time to learn the best way to balance the shell. Sonja and I are taking lessons twice a week in the morning. There is a special technique for rowing in a shell. With a partner both rowers need to be in sync. The technique takes practice and is a good form of exercise.
The views are amazing as we row along the marina.
Shelley and Sonja rowing in the marina
We have been rowing for only a few weeks now and already I love the sport. It is quite the challenge, but is also a lot of fun.
We went to preview the fogueres on display and take part in the judging of the best fogueres for 2018. Each year a miniature copy of the full size fogueres are made and put on display for judging. Each ticket entry fee comes with two ballets for voting. One ballot for the adult fogueres and the other is for the children’s fogueres.
We went into the large building and came to the first room which contained the adult fogueres.
Shelley and Ray in the entrance area of the fogueres
There were rows of the fogueres on both sides of the room .
Rows of adult miniature fogueres on display for judging.
We went through the room slowing looking at each one. There was one which caught Ray’s attention.
Ray with firefighter foguere
What was unique about the firefighter foguere is what was not visible at first. The back of the foguere was surprising. The firefighter was wearing a thong and angel wings. I think the meaning behind the foguere is that a firefighter could be a women and may be the firefighter you see in gear.
The view on the back side of the foguere
We walked through the room and admired the amazing details of the fogueres. Some of them were very beautiful and extremely detailed.
One of the fogueres with amazing detail
We then went through to the children’s fogueres area. This was also a large room with fogueres on both sides of the room.
Children’s fogueres on display for judging.
The children fogueres were very interesting and there were many beautiful designed fogueres. We looked at each one and made our votes for what we thought was the best in both categories.
Each year we enjoy seeing the different and new fogueres. Some of them are made to make political statements or to make fun of a particular person or group. One which was particularly interesting was of the poisoning of the oceans through plastics and pollution.
A foguere in a tube design with a skeleton of a fish inside
At first glance it is a message about pollution but on a closer look you see a sign which makes a strong statement.
Sign with ominous warning of the pollution and plastics of the ocean.
It translates roughly in english as follows:
“just wield the last tree Follow death, the last poisoned river and the last trapped fish.
You will notice that you can not eat money”
Looking inside the container you can see the bottom which represents the ocean floor and is full of plastics, paints, hazardous materials and other pollutants.
Plastics, paints and other pollutants on base of foguere
Plastic has become a major issue here and across the globe. We see it on a daily basis living on the coast of the Mediterranean sea.
There was another foguere which made fun of a female politician named “Cristina Cifuentes”. She had made a false statement that she had obtained a master’s degree. When she was challenged by the media she produced a certificate which was later proven to be fake. It was a major issue here in Spain and caused a lot of turmoil, she eventually resigned.
Effigy foguere of Cristina Cifuentes a politician from Madrid
In the hands of the effigy are two different “certificates” which do not hold back the feelings of the public.
The “certificate” translates to state ” Master Cristina Cifuentes “major troll of the kingdom”Fake certificate which translates “Cristina Cifuentes, “a very legal blonde”
It is these type of fogueres which make seeing the different ones so enjoyable.
Below is a gallery of some of the fogueres on display for the voting in 2018.
We were walking down some of the old streets of Calpe and came across a small outdoor classroom called “Placa de mestre D Francisco Llopis”
Small outdoor classroom in the old streets of Calpe
We decided to go in and take a look at the classroom, It was very unique with tiled walls and benches.
Open arches surrounding the classroom
Each of the three tiled benches had a different table design. Each one was a specific board game layout.
Ceramic benches and tableceramic tiled benches with a centre table with board game design
In addition to the tables, there was a chalkboard and a map of Spain displayed on the wall.
Map of Spain and Blackboard in the outdoor classroom
The map of Spain was made with painted ceramic tile and was detailed with images of the mountains and rivers.
Ceramic painted tiles of the Map of Spain with mountain ridges and rivers
It was a great classroom where students could enjoy the outdoor breeze and the shade on a hot Spanish day. It was neat spot and we are glad we stopped to check it out.
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