altea!

oh my word! i have finally discovered kardemomme by (cardamom town) on earth! the fantastic little town of ALTEA, on costa blanca in spain, is the closest I will ever come to my childhood dream...

so. this is what I left (norway of course):


this is how much fun I had on the plane:
(very good book, tomm you are amazing!)


and this is what I arrived to!!:


a spanish lad came to pick me up with a minibus (- JUST me! ahahah I felt like a queen!). we drove in the heat listening to spanish music heading north from alicante - past benidorm, to albir, with altea as the destination... my mother met me with kisses on both cheeks, semi-spanish as she has become!! ;)


it was so good to see her again! and as we walked through the portal into the core of the old city, it was like walking into a fairytale!


when I was a child I loved the story about "folk og røvere i kardemomme by" (peeps and robbers in cardamom town - definately my translation there, yes) by thorbjørn egner. I still remember most of the songs, the three robbers, little kamomilla, old tobias with the beard, politimester bastian and all the others - and to this day I sometimes take the book out to have a look at it..

altea's old town consists of whitewashed houses, narrow streets, artist shops, portals from the middle ages, red flowers, old people with walking sticks and lots of nice small restaurants and shops. we have a little apartamento by calle major, with a gorgeous terrace overlooking the mediterranean on one side, and the view to the small streets and the mountains on the other. in the late afternoon the empty streets turns into restaurants as the waiters carry out their tables with white cloths and delicious foods.. and the energy is totally kardemomme by! :)

the two little windows you can spot (on the picture above) on the top floor to the left of the artistic pole is where our little apartamento is! its magical to walk through these narrow quiet streets in the day, unlock the brown door, climb up the stairs made of stone and then...

....having the best mom in the world welcoming me with cava (the spanish version of "champagne" or sparkling)!!

POPP!!! ... and of course its essential with some jamon serrano, queso manchego, melon, bread&allioli!


.. and also signing out of the outer world with rosèwine and olives on the terrace overlooking the mediterranean!! sjelefred!


stunningly beautiful altea, with its narrow streets and fantastic energy:

the first day I noticed this little chilled fellow (above) living in the street below. every time I saw him he slept. and he slept. and he slept. every day when it was siesta, from about 1pm till 5-6ish pm he was sleeping in the grand flowerpots outside on the plaza, I could see him from the window. however one day when some construction lads occupied his "bed" he found out that this was just as convenient:
and I named him "mister sovehode"! (sovehode is justins own translation of the english word sleepyhead, hahah)
here (under) he was actually awake enough to even speak to me! ;) sweetass! (you talkin' to me??)

hola turista!



altea means "health to all" or some people says "the one that heals". when you walk to the highest point of the old city you get to plaza del convento - kirkeplassen! here lies the church of 'Virgen del Consulo', the virgin of solace. its such a gorgeous church with its blue-tiled domes!! (parish, russian catholic..?)

... and on the seaside there is a gorgeous pebbled beach!:



essential spain: tapas, vino rosado, cava, agua de valencia..!
we went to a fab tapas bar (biggest I have ever seen!) in benidorm, quite an experience! (notice the jamon serrano hanging from the roof behind my mamma!)

... and more tapas on the streets of altea...


and this is the way a proper spanish cortado looks! yummyeeeeeey!



me in front of the tacky however fascinating manhattan skyline of benidorm!


artigkar!



so for now, barberer sørensen (nice job on the clarinet!), tante sofie (didnt see you this time), kasper, jesper og jonathan and waitor luis! I will be back in a flash!

by the way - I am considering to start my own travelling program - the hungry traveller!! ;) eat my way through the world (with more style than the thirsty one.... ) whatcha think?