I Is For....

ISLA DE BENIDORM!

La Isla de Benidorm - or Benidorm Island to the British tourists - lies directly off the coast of the seaside resort of Benidorm, (where I live) in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

It is one of those sights that seems to follow you wherever you go - like the Mona Lisa's eyes - and is considered a natural landmark.

Last year, when my Mum and stepdad were visiting me from England, we decided to take the trip to the island, on the boat above, the Bay of Benidorm.

As we left the Old Town harbour, we were able to get some unusual views off the mirador, or lookout point, that juts out into the sea.

The journey took about 15 minutes in total, which we enjoyed with the wind in our hair,

and the views of the coastline were superb; this is the Sierra Helada mountain range, meaning "icy mountains".

As we got closer, we could really see the ruggedness of the rock itself,

and the many hundreds of seagulls that swirled and called overhead.

Included in the fare, was a short trip in this small glass bottomed vessel called the Aquascope,

and despite fears that we may all feel a little claustrophobic bobbing around under the waterline,

we felt just fine, and saw several shoals of small fish, dancing and bobbing in the surf we were creating. The island is in fact a bird and marine sanctuary.

Colloquially, the isle is known as Peacock Island, and there is a small "collection" of peahens and peacocks in a cage, who are beautiful - but I feel, however, that they would be better off roaming freely elsewhere...

The landscape was very arid, and rocky, and full of flourishing cacti,

and we headed upwards, taking the pathway to the island summit

stopping for plenty of camera opportunities along the way.

The view from the top was superb, and it was fantastic to see the Puig Campana mountain (the one with small chunk out of it!) from so far away, and from such a different angle,

and the high rise apartments and hotels looked so blissfully far away.

On our return to shore, we could just make out the silhouette of the Penon de Ifach in the distance, this is a huge rock (sometimes called a mini Gibraltar!) in the seaside town of Calpe, and a huge protected natural reserve,

and as we pulled into the harbour, the concrete giants loomed large again!

The old quarter of Benidorm looked particularly appealing as we surged towards dry land; with it's white and blue turrets and old fashioned lamp posts looking out to sea,

and of course the stunning domed church of St James, which was built with the profits from tuna fishing way back in 1740, and is typical of the area with its' white walls and blue tiled roof.

Hope you enjoyed my ABC Wednesday post, please drop by again, or go to this link for more fascinating blogs on the theme of the letter I!

http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/