Spain, Day 3: Getting Down to Business

The purpose of the trip was for Will and Brady to check out the doors that would be installed throughout the Koloa Landing project. All of these doors are coming from Luvipol, a factory in Alicante, Spain. So at 5:30am on Tuesday morning, we took off on a 4.5 hour journey to Alicante.

It was smooth sailing through Don Quixote country--despite a small bout of car sickness that allowed me to enjoy the journey from the front seat the remainder of the drive. At one point, we hit a 13 Euro toll booth (calculate that with the exchange rate $1.67=1 Euro to be really impressed)! We knew from Mr. Rick that tolls averaged about $6/hour throughout Spain.

We arrived at the hotel in time to get checked in and send the boys off to the factory.
I paid 9 Euros for a gym pass (what's 9 Euros when we paid 13 for a toll?), and enjoyed people watching--the lady on the treadmill next to me dressed in normal clothes, the women and children in the pool with swim caps and enormous goggles, and the universal man-grunts coming from the weight room area.

Karen S. and I then went out for lunch at a place overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We enjoyed green olives (that came with every meal in Spain--YUMMY!), bocadillos, and itty bitty Coca Cola Lights. We then set out for Alicante's fabulous shopping.

Fabulous shopping? Actually, the shops must only be open during peak season, because we found nothing. Instead, we meandered along the piers and streets, gabbing until it was time to meet the boys.


Brady and Will had a successful day at the factory, and Pablo (their contact) introduced them to an enormous plate of paella. We'll include a picture when we get it from Will. Will filled us in on the experience, complete with getting shrimp poop on his hands.

The four of us were able to explore Alicante's major sight together: Castille de Santa Barbara. It is a castle built by the Moors in the 10th century. King Alfonse the Wise conquered the area on 4 December 1248--Saint Barbara's Day, and the castle was named after this event. There were three major areas--built at three different times, and overall it was a visit filled with pictures and views. The place didn't feel very authentic--I would have rather hiked up hundreds of stairs than taken an elevator, there was too much restoration, and I definitely didn't appreciate seeing a cafe at the top! It was a fun side trip, though.

Check out the bird hovering in this picture:

Our hotel was right next to this harbor. The stairs we wanted to climb along the castle wall:

Brady and his big guns:

Dinner was still several hours away--at 9:45pm--so we detoured on the way back to the hotel for some ice cream. It's true--on vacation, you feel entitled to ice cream at any time of day!

We met up with Pablo, who took us to a restaurant downtown. He ordered tapas for us, and overwhelmed us with flavors--octopus, liver, tomato salad, tomatoes and bread, raw tuna, fried onions, ham, strong cheese and more. During our dinner, he answered all the questions we fired at him--including our bullfight questions (he loves a good bullfight, and apparently right now there is a daring bullfighter causing quite a bit of controversy for his gusty moves). He told us his kids' sleeping habits (they go to bed around 10 or 11pm), laughed at siestas (a stereotype, he says), and even promised Karen S. a pan to make paella. At one point in the dinner, he told us about a special fish we should try while we were on our trip. I said something about it sounding delicious, and next thing we know, he had an order of it on the table. Up to this point on the trip, I liked the food. After this meal, I loved it! The meal absolutely made the day.