Alicante Mercado.

The second day in Alicante was beginning to bore me. Three times I had been to the Basilica de Santa María and there is literally no open door - which seems odd for the main church in the old town? For sustenance I've eaten some seafood by the Mercado, which did repeat on me slightly, and later on I had a simple dish of Patatas Bravas, which was all good.

(Perhaps I will try once more at the Basilica or maybe early tomorrow? Do they do Mass around 7:30am? Forget it for now. Back in room 3, where the younger hostess won't turn down the air-conditioning, I'm going to try to chill a bit...)

***

Pre-dawn day one. After a good night's kip I'm ready to start this thing! I'm so predictable. Once I touch down in a new town I end up worse for it, suffer consequently the next day and regret it. Happily now I have a means out of the trap of hedonism: setting myself up for the day when I will need to be clear headed to walk and pay attention to now. This morning is still. It's just me and a Spanish gentleman getting ready to leave: he with a huge case and I with everything on my back - but I locked myself out of the room until the Swede above me let me in (phew)!

A coffee next to the Mercado prior to sunrise, where I split my first brewski. Señora speaks plenty good English, but that's the null set. However they respect me as a peregrino. Fatboy Slim on the radio. Praise you. It's a long road ahead, but it's "demasiado frío para pantalones cortos" this morning: and that is fantastic!