Benidorm.
A city that many love and come here every summer, and the same city that many reject because of its "cheap" tourism, which seems not so cheap anymore. It depends on your budget and your taste, because the truth is that it has completely different sides.
Skyscrapers predominate; they are the ones you can see the most, but there are also hidden corners that are gems, especially if we experience them in winter, without so many tourists.
The general image?
Crowded beaches, equally crowded bars, often filled with drunk tourists. If you don't know the veins of this city well, if you don't travel like a red blood cell transporting oxygen and don't reach its beating heart, you could get lost in its cold extremes. You can end up in its ugly parts. In sticky, from sweat on a humid day, like today. Sticky, from beer spilt on the pavements.
Whether you are in the group of people who like Benidorm also depends on the direction in which you walk. Towards the setting sun, enjoying this hazy view, or you walk in the other direction, where you see things more clearly.
I preferred the clear view while I was there this afternoon.
I wanted to see blue skies, which couldn't happen with this humidity in the air and haze. But seeing the cloudy air now, from home, maybe it wasn't that bad. It had a different, mystical touch.
The most famous and most tourist area of this city is Levante. Separated from Poniente by the old town, which we won’t visit in this post, there is another corner, rocky and rugged, located below the Sierra Helada. Rincón de Loix.
Ah, well, it seems there are new corners for me in this concrete jungle of buildings too. I have never seen this painted stone wall.
Let’s get closer.
There were people here, bathing, fishing, passing the afternoon on the rocks. It was a bit awkward to take pictures of the details, but I was lucky with this detail; the phrase I liked was free of people. Life… is also free.
Hmm... apart from free life, we also have here a free T-shirt, free shorts and free flip flops.
And this vibe..? Isn't it already better than the skyscrapers?
I was tempted to stay here a bit more; however, I had to meet someone who would take me home. We had the time and place agreed, so I had no choice but to walk a bit more for this Wednesday walk until reaching the meeting point. Then, I met a herd of goats and sheep, guarded by their shepherd.
Right here, by Don Pancho, I was asked "cómo vas" - if I was close to the meeting point. Of course, I was at one minute of arriving.
I can walk quickly or slowly, depending on the freedom I want to walk through life.
