Espana - Alicante

After being in Valencia for a week, and finally managing to tick off the sights, I decided to head down to Alicante, somewhere I hadn't heard of previously to going to Spain, however several of the girls I had chatted to in Valencia (strangely enough, all girls) had mentioned they were checking out Alicante, so I consulted my Lonely Planet, and decided also that it was worth a visit.
So I jumped on a bus, where this photo was taken - The Bull silhouette on the hill is a common sight in Spain.

The bus trip only took about an hour and a half maximum. At the bus station I casually asked the 3 Aussie girls whom I had been eavesdropping on for the majority of the journey (they were Aussies, they don't exactly talk quietly) if they happened to be staying in the same hostel as me, which they were, so we decided it was probably worth us sharing a taxi there, rather than risking the bus, with all our luggage in tow.

On arrival at the hostel, (which probably isn't an accurate description, I think a pension is the correct word - as I didn't have to share a room with anyone) I checked in, and subsequently meet 2 more girls, sisters, originally from Malaysia, but now residents of England (one of them was actually studying in Germany). The 3 Aussies weren't so keen to trek with me up the hill to the castle, but the sisters were, so off we headed.

It was ridiculously hot, and rather hard work climbing up the hill - which wasn't to bad, but combined with the heat was hard.The view at the top however, was well worth it, and being a castle, was naturally awesome. Needless to say, on reaching the bottom, we had a well deserved swim in the ocean.
The next day I did a trip to the Isla de Tabarca - a former pirate haven - an island about 10kms off shore. It was nice, again rather hot. In retrospect I would leave earlier, in order to have more time to snorkel around. But it was rather nice regardless.
The following day I went about organising transport to Barcelona, and subsequently a hostel. I decided on an overnight bus, saving on time and a nights accommodation, which meant, I had another full day in Alicante. Unfortunately I was starting to feel the effects of the germs from puddle-soaked t-shirts at La Tomatina, combined with the heat. Again in retrospect, I would definitely spend more time in Alicante, just because of its paradise-likeness, and reasonable price tag.