TRAVEL REPORTS
From Jean Laikin - Travel Co-ordinator

We all braved the freezing cold early this Friday morning as we met at the Esmeralda Hotel and the Texas bar. It snowed in Calpe on Wednesday night and we awoke to a covering of snow and ice all around here.

Villena is almost due west of Calpe, but the journey took us to Alicante and back out on the Madrid road as being the easiest and quickest route there. We climbed up to the 11th Century Castle de la Atalaya, which is considered one of the best preserved castles in Spain. Then, of course there was more climbing up the flights of stairs inside the square tower to look around the internal three storeys and the roof area with its 360 degree views of the surrounding areas. This was quite small inside as it was a military castle and not a home for Royalty.

We then went in to see the inside of the Church of Santiago. Before we could look around we had to supply money for the meter for lighting! This church was built between the 14th and 15th Centuries. This is one of the most important buidings of Catalonian Gothic architecture with its helicoidal (twisted spiral) columns with sharp edges, and beautiful stained glass windows. The other outstanding feature of this church is the alabaster font, beautifully preserved.

Unfortunately, we did not see the treasure, including gold articles weighing almost 10 kilos, in the museum because it was still closed for renovations. Undeterred, we visited the bullring, relaxed in the odd bar or went shopping. Apparently this is one of the main centres in Spain for the manufacture of children’s shoes. We enjoyed a typically Spanish lunch before we boarded the coach for Calpe.

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