We went to see the funeral procession and burning of the Sardine which was on Valentine’s day this year. We decided to head down early and meet up with friends for a drink and then see the burning of the sardine.
The funeral procession is a symbolic end to indulgence and the start of lent, People dress up in black and wear veils and walk behind a wooden effigy of a sardine.
Funeral procession of the sardine
The funeral procession walks through some of the streets and then ends in the Plaza Del Carmen. This is when they commence the burning of the effigy. There is a person who says some prayers and chants on the loss of indulgence and the beginning of lent.
Person saying the prayers at the burning of the sardine
There are people dressed in red devil type clothing who run around the effigy with burning fireworks in their hands. It is quite something to see people dancing around with live fireworks going off in their hands.
People with live fireworks in their hands running around the effigy
After some time they set the sardine on fire using the fireworks to start it.
Lighting the sardine on fire with fireworks
We watched the entire burning of the sardine near the front and had a great view.
We stayed until the end of the sardine burning and enjoyed the party for a while.
Our group of friends at the burning of the sardine
Here is a short video of the burning of the sardine.
We had a great time and enjoyed “burning the sardine”
We went for a walk exploring the heart of the city of Alicante on Sunday. The walk was a leisurely one and started out walking down some of the side streets. Along the way we came across some interesting things. The first thing we encountered was a protest against cruelty to animals.
We watched the protest for a short period of time and then headed toward the old quarter. We walked down a side street and we could see something beside a garbage container.
As we got closer we could see that it was a leg of ham still attached to the gondola ham stand. The gondola ham stand was new and the price was still attached. This one was worth almost 30 euros.
A gondola ham stand with ham left beside garbage container
After we walked by the gondola ham stand, we came to a neat little muslim bakery called “Pasteleria Oriental Alicante”. We decided to go in and check it out. We bought a few tasty treats for later in the day.
Shelley in the Muslim bakery
We walked through the old quarter of Alicante exploring different streets. We came to the barrio of Santa Cruz and explored some of the streets there. We walked through the narrow streets admiring the flowers and decorations, it was quite beautiful.
Santa Cruz sign on the side of a building in the barrioTypical street in the Santa Cruz barrio in AlicanteStreet in Santa Cruz
We walked through the streets and eventually worked our way to the oldest church in Alicante.
Oldest Church in Alicante in the barrio of Santa Cruz
There was a great view of the city and the castle from the church.
View of the Castillo de Santa Barbara from the churchView of the city of Alicante from Church in Santa Cruz
After exploring the barrio of Santa Cruz, we decided to go to a terrace to enjoy a beverage. We went to the hotel called “Les Monges Palace” which has a great roof top terrace. We sat on the terrace enjoying a glass of red wine and the views.
view on the terrace of the hotel
After having a glass of wine, we headed to one of our favorite restaurants called “La Matanza Castellana” for something to eat. We enjoyed a nice meal and then headed home after a long walk though the city. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday.
Friends invited us to go to a class on the art of wine tasting being held in El Campello. We decided to go and check it out. We headed down to Luceros to take the Tram to El Campello. Luceros is located in the center of the city and has a beautiful monument located in it.
Monument in center of Luceros in Alicante
We took the Tram for approximately 20 minutes and arrived in El Campello. A short walk and we were at the wine school. We entered the classroom which was set up for the event.
wine glasses, water, and bucket for spitting out the wine.
The class which was entirely in Spanish was interesting at times and at other times we were lost and not able to understand the class. The instructor was speaking very fast and he also had a heavy accent.
The Instructor for the wine class demonstrating how to open a bottle of wine.
There were four different types of local wines from Alicante. A Shiraz, Merlot, Monastrell and a Sauvignon.
Wines from the Alicante Region that were sampled during the class.
Each wine was poured into a glass for sampling. The instructor then went through how to hold the glass to the details of tasting the wine. Each person had a small bucket beside them for spitting out the wine when they were done. Ray did not need his bucket because none of his wine was wasted.
Shelley sampling her first glass of wine in the class.Ray sampling his wine.
After the wine tasting we discussed the flavours etc of the wine. We would then move on to the next wine for sampling. The evening with friend was enjoyable and it was an interesting experience.
There was a replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon sail ship docked at the Alicante marina. We decided to go down and check it out. We could see the galleon from a distance and it was quite impressive.
A replica of the 16th century Spanish galleon Andalucia
We went on board and took a guided tour seeing what life was like working and living on a 16th century shipping vessel. It was an exact replica with cannons, rigging and wooden decking etc. We walked up the ramp onto the main deck of the ship. This area of the ship is known as the Quarter deck. On this deck there is a main mast known as the Mizzen mast.
Mizzen mast
It is also the wheel that controls the ship is located. Officers would command the direction of the ship but would not actually handle the wheel, which was done by sailors.
The tour guide showing us around the Galleon sail shipNavigation wheel of the Spanish Galleon Andaluciaquarter-deck of the galleon sail ship
We could see the bell which they used for different communications on board. It was on the forecastle deck. This deck has the front sail mast, known as the fore mast, the bell and two anchors that weigh over two tons each.
Iron anchor with wooden shaft weighing over 2000 lbs.Ray on the quarter-deck of the Spanish Galleon Andalucia Sail shipBell used to communicate between ships in fog and for work shifts etc.
There was the poop deck at the stern of the ship which we did not have access to. The origin of the name poop deck is from the french word “poupe” which over time was shortened to the common term of poop deck.
View of the stairs leading to the poop deck
The poop deck was where officers could view the crew and the maneuvers of the ship. There is a large lantern which was used to identify the ship at night and to communicate with other ships.
Main lantern on the poop deck of the galleon ship
Below the poop deck was the “Noble Area”. This area was restricted to officers, and high ranked passengers.
Noble area below the poop deckArea for Nobles and officers to relax
We went down one level to the gun deck which is where the cannons for the protection of the ship are mounted. The galleon ships travelled in large groups for better protection against pirate attacks.
Gun deck cannons
The guide explained how they used different types of cannon balls for defence. There was the standard cannon ball which would make a single large impact. There was also a cannon ball chained to another cannon ball, which was used to destroy sails and mast of a ship. They also had a special one with small iron balls bunched together for a shotgun effect.
Different types of cannon balls used for defence against pirates
The deck below the gun deck is called the Hold. It is an area of the ship which holds the precious cargo.
Cargo area in the Hold of the ship
The cargo could be wine, oil or other products from Europe heading to America or it could be gold, silver and other precious metals from America. Only a small part of the hold was used to store basic food for the crew for the journey across the ocean.
As we got closer we could see that it was a leg of ham still attached to the gondola ham stand. The gondola ham stand was new and the price was still attached. This one was worth almost 30 euros.
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