Today December 6, 2016, is an official holiday and fiesta in Alicante. It was a beautiful sunny day and we decided to take a walk downtown. Along the way downtown, we came across an artificial hill made for sliding. It was decorated to look like a snow hill and people were using tubes to slide down the hill.
Artificial hill made to look like a snow hill for sliding.View of artificial sliding hill in Alicante
The sliding area of the hill was made with white plastic and provided a slippery surface for the tubes. It worked fairly well and the children were enjoying the slide.
We then headed to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento which is located beside city hall. Christmas music was playing and a large Christmas tree was on display in the center of the plaza. We also found in the center of the plaza an outdoor skating rink with real ice!
Outdoor skating rink at city hall in Alicante
People could rent ice skates and go skating on the ice rink. We watched as people enjoyed skating on the ice. It was strange to watch because the sun was shining and the temperature was 19 degrees celsius.
Ice rink with Christmas tree and orange tree in Alicante
After watching people skate for a while we started heading home. As we reached the main street there was a parade taking place. We stopped and watched the parade which consisted of a religious procession. They played music and carried a large religious statue.
Religious procession in Alicante SpainReligious statue being carried in parade
At the end of the parade was a truck which was throwing into the crowd small gifts to the children.
It was a nice and relaxing way to enjoy the holiday in Alicante.
We went and completed the driver theory exam for a second time last week. The test location and the process were identical to the first time we wrote the exam.
Ministerio del interior Centro de Exanenes
We entered the testing room and wrote a paper exam with completely different questions than the last one. Some of the questions were on motorcycles, traffic statistics, and illegal drug use. We completed the English version of the 30 question exam and returned home to await our results. Two days later we received notification that we both passed the exam and could move on to the practical training.
In Spain, it is mandatory to take driver training through a government recognized driving school. We signed up with a local driving school called “Autoescuela Pausa” which is walking distance from our home.
Ray and Shelley in front of the Autoescuela Pausa
There are few things that make driving a challenge in Spain. There are no English instructors and all lessons are conducted in Spanish. The final exam testing is also completely in Spanish and you are not permitted to have an interpreter present during the exam. The road system here is very different from Canada. The traffic lights, signage, and intersections are dissimilar to what we are accustomed to. Finally, the majority of vehicles in Spain have standard transmissions, there are very few automatic transmissions. The issue here is If the driver’s exam is done while driving an automatic transmission then you are only licensed to drive an automatic. In order to rent vehicles and have the flexibility, we are both taking our exam with a standard transmission vehicle.
On Tuesday we went for our first driving lesson. Our vehicle was a smaller compact car with standard transmission.
The driving school training car
Our instructor’s name was Oscar and he could not speak any English. He was very good at explaining things using hand language and clear Spanish. He was very helpful and had lots of patience with us.
Ray was the first to drive while Shelley sat in the back seat waiting her turn. Oscar would give directions in Spanish.
Here is a very small list of some of the Spanish driving words:
Gire a la izquierda (Turn left)
Gira a la derecha (Turn right)
tome la segunda a la derecha (take the second right)
tome la segunda a la izquierdo en la rotonda (take second on the left in the roundabout)
perada (stop)
Tranquilo ( calm or relax)
Espere (wait)
Mas rapido (faster)
Mas dispacio (slow down)
Empuje el embrague (push the clutch in)
Suelta el embrague (let out the clutch)
Cambiar a tercera marcha (change to third gear)
This is only a very small portion of the language we need to learn before taking our practical drivers exam.
We headed on to the roadway and drove through the streets of Alicante. After about 45 minutes we stopped and switched seats. Shelley has never driven a standard before and Oscar was very good at explaining the gear shift and clutch process.
Shelley and Oscar reviewing the standard shift and clutch process before heading onto the road.
Shelley drove around the city and did very well navigating the clutch and standard shift. After about 45 minutes we headed back to the driving school and finished for the day. It was a nice pace and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We are looking forward to more driving and getting the driving test completed.
We went with Brad and Louise to the Santa Barbara Castle to see a Sci-Fy display, which featured memorabilia of different Sci-Fy movies. We walked up the steep trail to the Castle which takes approximately 45 minutes.
Trail up the mountain towards the Santa Barbara Castle
When we arrived at the Castle, stopped to admire the beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea.
View of the Mediterranean Sea from the Santa Barbara Castle.
The display was held in an original area of the Castle which had a smaller entrance door. We had to duck when we entered the room in order to get through the doorway.
Brad and Ray at the entrance to the Sci-Fy display area
We are a big fan of certain Sci-Fy movies including the Matrix, Terminator, and Back to the Future. When we went inside we saw an exhibit of original movie props of some of the classic Sci-Fy movies.
Exhibits of Sci-Fy movie props in Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante
Some of the displays were movies that were unknown to us, while others were of our favorites.
back to the Future memorabilia
The Back to the Future Flux Capacitor and if you look close you can see someone from the future.
Flux Capacitor from Back to the future
We walked through the rooms looking at the unique and different props on display. Some of the props were very large and lifelike, while others were small.
Props from Iron Man movieProp from RoboCop movieProps and script from the movie “Blade Runner”Motorcycle used in the SyFy movie “I Robot”Movie props from “I Robot”
We came across props from some of our favorite movies including “The Matrix”, and “The Terminator”.
Head plug from the Movie “the Matrix”
The Terminator Movie props
There were several smaller props from the Terminator movie.
Terminator skullSome movie props with Shelley in the mirror
The Sci-Fy exhibit was very interesting and there were some very neat items on display. We enjoyed the free exhibit and walked around for about 45 minutes looking at all the props and reading about the movies.
We have registered for night school to improve our Spanish. We started our classes last week. The “Centre de Formacio de Persones Adultes” is an adult school specifically for foreigners trying to learn Spanish or complete other educational classes.
We attend twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 10 pm.
Ray and Shelley going back to school to learn Spanish.
The location of the school is also excellent for us. We are able to take the public transit system to the mall which is very close to the school.
The school is fairly large and contains a coffee shop, library, and a beautiful outside courtyard.
The interior of the school is modern and nicely decorated which makes it a joy to go to school.
Hallway in the adult schoolModern art on display in the school hallways
Our class is conducted entirely in Spanish and our teacher has a very good sense of humour. He keeps the class interesting and fun. We are thoroughly enjoying the classes.
We went to a museum in Ronda called “Museo de Caza” which translates to the Hunting Museum. We thought it looked interesting so we went to see it. Once we entered inside the museum we were greeted with a large stuffed grizzly bear.
A stuffed Grizzly Bear at the Museo de Caza in Ronda
We paid our two euros each and began exploring the different rooms which displayed an enormous amount of stuffed animals.
One of the rooms in the Museo de Caza in Ronda
As we walked through the museum we came across more and more stuffed animals. There were animals from all over the world and displayed beside the animals were plaques identifying their origin and where they were killed.
Plaque displaying the area where the animals were killed.
We came across tigers and lions in one of the rooms and an alligator in another room.
Lion on display in Museo de Caza in RondaLarge cat in Museo de Caza .in RondaShelley with an alligator on display at Museo de Caza.
The animals on displays were all over the walls and there was very little free space in the Museum. It was a bit unsettling being in the rooms with so many dead animals displayed as trophies. There were some areas where we needed to watch our heads in order not to bump into an animal on display.
Some of the animals on displayed that were on the wall causing a low overhead when walking.
Walking through the different rooms we came across animals from all different areas of the world. We came across monkeys, gazelles and wild boars from Africa.
Monkeys, wild boars, and other African animals on displayWild boar in Museo de Caza in Ronda
There were water buffalo and other African animals, some which I have never seen before.
There was a pair of Elephant tusk that was on display which was enormous. The plaque indicated that the tusk were obtained prior to the ban on ivory.
African Elephant Tusk on display at Museo de Caza in Ronda
We even saw animals that were from North America and Canada in particular.
Brown Bear that was killed in CanadaBlack bears and assorted gazelles on display. Note the elephant foot used as a table on the right.
There were walls full of mounted skulls with horns displayed from all over the world.
Horns and skulls mounted and displayed in Museo de Caza
They had every imaginable type of animal displayed including waterfowl, groundhogs, and birds.
Waterfowl on display at the Museo de Caza
The museum was full of animals from around the world. It was hard to imagine that such a collection of animals were on display in the small mountaintop town of Ronda Spain.
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