Alicante

Alicante, All Poems, Humor, Spain, Trips and Places

Two Castles

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Alicante is cradled between mountains and sea.

Between two castles.

Castillo de Santa Bárbara.

Castillo de San Fernando.

You can look down on the city from both.

From below, you can spot Santa Bárbara.

Called the Face of the Moor.

It’s easy to spend hours wandering Santa Bárbara.

Climbing turrets.

Gazing over walls.

Bumping into surprises.

Like the saxophone and clarinet concert in a hall.

Or the cartoonish film on the history of the fortress.

Or just the many birds gliding overhead.

We didn’t even have to pay to get into this monument.

They ushered us in without a ticket.

Our friends urge us to carry ID to prove our ages.

Instead, Bob starts by announcing somos viejos.

We are old people.

I nudge, correct him.

Somos mayores.

We’re seniors.

But likely, we could be silent, say nothing.

One glance, and it’s obvious.

White hair, walking stick, wrinkles.

All there on display.

We, like pigeons and seagulls,

enter without pay.

 

Lynn Benjamin

January 28, 2024

 

Alicante, All Poems, Health/Illness, Spain, Trips and Places

Wandering Through Alicante

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We walked down the mountainside.

From the Castle of Santa Bárbara.

To the neighborhood of Santa Cruz.

Poked through the two storied Central Market.

Then walked uphill again to San Fernando.

We’re getting to know Alicante, said Bob.

A bit of triumph in his voice.

And the Catalán’s becoming more familiar.

Wandering around a new city energizes us.

Getting to know streets, plazas, monuments, foliage.

Unaccustomed rhythms, tempos.

The quiet before dawn.

Surges of activity.

Mid-morning, comida, aperitifs, dinner.

Crowds thronging to cafes, restaurants.

Inside or outside.

Then shopping till stores close.

Especially during January rebajas, sales.

Reassembling for dinner at 9:30.

It’s hard to predict

how much touring remains.

It depends on vitality.

Wanderlust in our veins.

 

Lynn Benjamin

January 28, 2024

 

 

Alicante, All Poems, Emotions, Spain, Trips and Places

Benvinguts a Alacant

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Benvinguts a Alicante, reads the sign.

As we step off the train at Alicante.

After a two-hour ride from Valencia.

To visit another Catalán speaking province.

Get a feel for this city with a port.

With its long seawalk.

A castle high above.

We wandered the ramblas.

On Avenida General Marva.

Cyclamen, hibiscus, senna flowers dotting it with color.

Palms swaying on either side.

A whimsical sculpture in the Plaza de Luceros.

Lending a magical touch.

Playground pieces popping up at intervals.

Pigeon coos, seagull wails commingling.

We moved toward Canalejas Plaza.

Morton Figs spreading in every direction.

Living sculptures growing from the ground.

Down to Esplanada de España.

Opposite the harbor.

More palms.

Wavy mosaic floor.

We felt disoriented in a new city.

One we talked about in conversations.

With a friend, long gone, from Madrid.

Who used to vacation in Benidorm with his wife.

Strange to have arrived here in old age.

Too late to tell our friend.

For he’s the one we want to know.

Dark eyes wide, awakened.

 

Lynn Benjamin

January 28,2024