Alicante Spain for the weekend. Is this real life?

real work.

My third week at SWIFT started very slow- not a lot of work for me to do but then by Wednesday I had a "To-Do" list with at least 10 items on it. My first priority was to edit the context and copy of four different online job descriptions that SWIFT was going to post on websites like Monster.com and Linkedin.com. The job postings were for general young college graduates, IT specialists, marketing positions, and finally designers. I had to word each job posting in a language that would be most appeal for each different job posting category. I also had to write two articles for SWIFT's internal website: one was about a new pension plan and the other was a reminder article about employees needing to set up a one-on-one meeting with their managers. The work seems really easy but honestly it takes a lot of research to figure out what type of language I need to write in to attract the different categories of people.

dream vacation.

Last Friday, June 10^th, Lisa, Jordan, Melanie (my roommates) and I left the real world and went on a mini vacation to Alicante Spain! We took a late flight on a cheap airline called RyanAir. I’m not sure if it was the beautiful destination we were headed to or if people were already in the vacation mind-set but the people on our flight were very...happy. They were laughing, cheering, clapping their hands... it was a bizarre experience. Every flight I’ve taken in the States has always been quieter and a lot more reserved. It was kind of refreshing to see happy Europeans.

The view from our hotel...thanks lisa for the picture! 

Once we arrived at our hotel, EuroStar: Mediterranean Plaza, in Alicante we could immediately feel the ocean air. It was glorious. It was so nice to finally be in a country where I could read the street signs and actually understand a restaurant menu.

saturday.

After sleeping in through most of the morning, we headed down to the beach and what an experience that was. The first thing you see at La Playa de San Jose is the crystal clear water. The water was a perfect temperature, not warm and not cold, just somewhere right in the middle. There aren’t any big waves to Lisa and I bought a green floatie and took turns relaxing in our 5 Euro investment.

I know I’m a beach girl. I’ve spent every one of my summers relaxing on a beach. So when it comes to beach, I’m usually in my comfort zone. However, there is one thing that totally slipped my mind while planning this Mediterranean adventure.

Topless beaches.

All I am going to say is this: Going topless on a beach really isn’t a big deal in Europe...it’s a normal act here. However, after saying that, I will still admit: there is no way I will EVER be mature enough to handle it. Never.

Anyway, after getting burned on the beach we took a much needed siesta in our room until dinner. Dinner does not start in Spain until at 8:30 at night so we took our time, had some Sangria and ventured around the city.

sunday.

On Sunday my roommates and I explored a castle. The more I try to explain El Castillo de Santa Barbara, the weirder I make it sound. To keep it simple: it is a huge castle that sits on a mountain right next to the shore line. It was a fortress that was used to defend Alicante whenever ships would invade the city by coming through the Mediterranean Sea. The views were amazing. We had to take an elevator because the castle sits so high up that it would take hours to climb all the stone stairs.

Castillo de Santa Barbara on top of the mountain. 

The castle is so big that it even has a restaurant. Since it was a very hot day and we were tired from all our exploring, we took a little break at the restaurant and ate much needed ice pops.

View from the castle. 

Once our three hour exploration of the castle was over we relaxed on the beach until dinner time.

After dinner, which consisted of paella, sangria, pasta and frits, we walked along the shore and shopped at little stores that lined the boardwalk.

spaniards love life.

Every street in Alicante is different but always full of life. Live music was everywhere. Family and friends were everywhere. Food and drinks were everywhere. Festivals and celebrations were always going on. One night there was fireworks...for what reason..I don’t know... I just know that Spaniards love to live and they love to have a good time. I definitely want to return to Spain sometime in this lifetime. It was beyond beautiful and definitely one of my favorite places I’ve ever been.

***pictures are posted on my facebook. Link to my facebook album.