This is the "freshest", the most real, #WednesdayWalk! I took it today, and it can't be more authentic than this... Tbh, I hesitated to take photos during the walk, but in the end, I don't regret doing it! The day didn't begin well as I got up with a headache that I didn't want to pass and we had to do a short trip to Alicante, where our son had an access test for University... My wife was his accompanist on piano, so we all went on this trip... Firstly, he had a theory exam which he did alone, so my wife and I took a short walk around the castle that was near the University... After that, she went to follow our son's playing on violin and I went to the second part of the #WednesdayWalk...
As she took photos of the castle, I didn't take any of those... As my son was 5th to play, I had more than an hour for the second part of the walk... So I took a larger area to walk... :)
You know that football (soccer) is the most important sport in Spain, and even the smallest villages have some kind of football pitch... Alicante is a bigger city and it does have more than 1 club, but somehow, they don't play in the highest league... The competition is fierce and, despite having a lot of fans and a football school, you still have to battle with others to get into the first league...
Jose Rico Perez football stadium was the first thing on my route and an official (fan) store... To be honest, I didn't even know the club's name before this visit... As you can see, the official colors are blue and white, which are the choice of a couple of teams in Spain...
I was walking very close to the stadium, and I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with how it looked... Most of the entrances looked abandoned, which shows how much are those "weaker" teams struggling... When you reach "La Liga", you don't have these issues as most of the money goes there... But, to get there, you have to make a huge effort and probably huge investments...
The next building that caught my attention was the Insitute of Geography and Statistics. It was built in 1914, but it was restored 10-12 years ago...
Of course, like any other big city, Alicante isn't different regarding street art... Some of this graffiti is great looking, while some others are just garbage...
This building in the back is Auditorium where most of the cultural events are happening... You can check out the web address from the photo under if you want to find out more about the program...
Along with having great beaches, and an awesome national football team, one of the most important things about Spain is the Spanish Corrida... I know that the whole concept of bullfighting is very controversial, but it is one of the oldest traditions in Spain... All bigger cities in Spain have at least one Plaza de Toros where these events take place... In some cities, bullfighting is prohibited, but in others, you can still watch them...
I have no idea about the different types of bullfighting that exist, but if you do, you can check out the June schedule, or the official website for more details... :)
How to find the city center in any Spanish place? You have to search for the Cathedral or the biggest church and there you are... On the other side, as bullfighting was ultra-popular in Spain, places around the "bullring" were full of important buildings, sculptures, and probably the place of living for wealthy people...
So, this place is perfect for this great sculpture by Ignacio Martín, which has been done in real dimensions! I saw some comments on Google that aren't worth seeing, but it's an artwork and it's done well if you ask me!
While I was on my way back, I bumped into a couple of nicely painted garage doors... Besides things that I mentioned, Spaniards also like speed, which includes not just cars, but also motorcycles too! This was just an "ordinary" garage door...
...while these were painted blinds of a Motors shop...
A few steps more, unfortunately climbing up the hill, and I'm almost back to the place where I parked my car...
The exam was over, and it was time to go back home... I hope you enjoyed this walk around this part of Alicante... I wasn't before in that area, so I did enjoy it a lot!
Thank you for your time.
--ph--
