Weekend in Alicante

Last weekend of September we were in Alicante. Or better said, around the Alicante area. We chose a hotel closer to the beach, in the Albufereta area. It is called Hotel Port Alicante City and Beach . I don’t remember if before having kids we were so picky with accommodation. Just taking a second to reflect on that…NO; we weren’t. But, since the birth of our first child, we consider a good accommodation an investment for having a great time on a trip. 

Funny enough, Noah’s first trip was by train to Alicante. He was almost 1 month old. And we went out of our home, of our city into the wilderness of the world with such a small baby … I’m exaggerating of course. It is nothing wild to travel with a small baby. Actually, until 6 months of age, it is the best time to travel since there are no “meals” involved, no need to crawl, no need to run after the crawling or almost waking baby … You have the baby wherever you put him/her, drinking only milk and you can enjoy her/him many siestas. 

At the end of the article, you can check some photos over the years of our trips in Alicante, in September

I remember that in 2018, the hotel we had in Alicante was old and everything was small: the elevator which didn’t even fit the stroller and the room. So I guess on that trip, we took the decision to never save money on accommodation when travelling with kids. But this is a topic for another article. This time we stood at Hotel Port Alicante City and Beach – a decent hotel, recently renovated. It has a very beautiful pool and an amazing baby-pool. The most beautiful baby-pool ever! Just check the photo! I was happy that the room was very big, so we didn’t struggle to move around before and after siestas. There was the bed, the sofa and a crib. It was still space left to walk and for the kids to play around. 

Traveling for React Alicante

The reason we are going to Alicante, every year and always in autumn is due to a conference, React Alicante. A programming technology that my husband uses in his work. His thoughts about the conference? Mixed feelings and thoughts: good talks and not so good ones; some interesting companies and nice seeing again some folks that are also coming every year to the conference. 

This time I had to stay with both children at least until lunch time while my husband was at the conference. I think I handled them well. The hardest moment was after breakfast, when my energy was dropping and I was in the mood to sleep or do nothing on the couch. Luckily, the baby was having a siesta right at that moment and the oldest was having his TV time. After that, we went to the pool and had fun there.

What can I say about “having fun at the pool” with a 4 year old and a 6 month old? Since the second baby came into our family, I feel like a spider(woman) with 8 legs or better said 8 hands doing thousands of things at the same time. I arrange the goggles of Noah, while by foot I’m moving Oliver’s stroller. While I’m answering Noah that “Yes”, I saw him sliding; I am also changing Oliver’s diaper. I’m sipping from a Coke, while rocking Oliver to sleep and pretending that I’m hunting Noah. Well, I guess you get the picture. 

Seeing friends again …

One evening, we went to the old city to have dinner with a friend. He is from the States and we actually met him at another IT related conference around 2013 in Barcelona. Now, he is also having two children and the conversation was around life with kids, life in Spain, and taxes. I was delighted by the dinner, even if it took Oliver one hour to fall asleep. Kevin, our friend, shared some beautiful insights about being a parent. I so enjoy these insights! They make me so alive … He told us what helped him to keep calm in those moments when it’s 3 o’clock in the night, you are exhausted physically, mentally and you are rocking the baby, trying to maintain as calm and peaceful as you can, BUT the baby is not sleeping. HIs tip: He was visualising himself older and thinking that in 30-50 years he won’t be able to do that anymore … like this he was reminding himself that time was passing so fast with kids and he better enjoy it. Even those moments in the middle night when the baby is not sleeping, and you are in the mood to screaaaam.  

Another afternoon we saw a very old friend of mine. Literally, she knows me since the day my mother came home with me from the hospital. I had a chance to see her and her family again, after more than 3 years. Because of the pandemic, we didn’t go to Alicante, and we didn’t see them. It was lovely to see her again. Even if time and a pandemic have passed, I found her to be the same – the same energetic spirit, perfectionist, joyful and talkative.

Some restaurant recommendations

My favourite restaurant in Alicante is Bodhigreen. This time, we couldn’t reach it. It’s absolutely amazing. The times when we had accommodation in the center, we were eating there every day. It is vegetarian and the best from all I’ve tried. However, very good food we found at La Taverna Dell´ Artista – it seems that’s new. It’s a restaurant specialized on gluten free meals. None of us have any allergies, we chose it because they had free tables in that busy square 🙂 But all dishes can be also “normal”, I mean with gluten and so on. It was really very good! I’ve ordered the rissotto with mushrooms and truffle and it was delicious! And another place that we’ve tried this time was Asika Lounge Bar – OMG! It was fantastic: The food was so so good and the place itself really original. I liked everything: the place, the waiters, the food, ambiance – really, I was impressed! I totally understand why my friends eat there every week – plus, they also leave 3´minutes away from the restaurant.

Some reflections

On our ride home, I was talking with my husband about the days in Alicante. We were gossiping about the people we saw around the hotel: the lady who was drinking too much, literally starting her day at 11 with cocktails, the people who were reading books (!), the youngsters with their phones, the guy that was making a video of the breakfast buffet, perhaps a story for Instagram… and so, we reached one of our favourite topics: social media usage. Better saying how peaceful are the days without social media. 🙂 There was no need to take a specific photo or video just because I want to publish it. There was no need to lose the present moment, or to “lose myself” using social media but instead when I had free moments, which I did, I was just looking at the water, at the sky, at the palmtrees, at the people and of course, at my baby sleeping…..

These are the moments when my brain relaxes. This is the time when I can notice my thoughts, my emotions. Time when I can recharge with gratitudine and calmness. These are the moments that make my heart beat slower and my brain can tell to my body “All is good” ….