As most of you already know, I grew up in Valencia, Spain. But my favorite place of Spain is Denia, a small coastal town within the Alicante province, an hour away from Valencia. And why is that? I believe most people like places mostly because of the memories they carry with them. A place being pretty is definitely a big part of liking it, although I’m convinced that the biggest factor tends to be what you’ve lived in those places.
Since I was born, I spent all my long summer holidays in Denia, and by long summers I mean the 2 and a half months Spanish kids get in the summer (June, July, and August). My parents were never city people and my mum’s family spent their summers camping by the beach since she and her siblings were really young. So we continued that tradition. My grandparents were in an apartment by the sea and so my little family stayed in the apartment next to them. During those precious months, we used to do all sorts of things. The beautiful sandy beach was right in front of our apartments and you could hear sea waves come and go all day long, and night!
We always had breakfast watching part of a film in English, as my mother was keen on us improving our English. Then we’d go to do crossword puzzles under a parasol or make sandcastles at the beach all morning. In this humble but lovely neighborhood, there was also a communal swimming pool, so right before lunch, we would go swimming with our friends from the area. This was a family place for us, uncles, aunts, and cousins would come down to Denia all the way from Zaragoza, Valencia, and Alcoy and we would all have lunch together with the grandparents. Right after lunch, all the adults would do their siesta, the sun is very strong at this time of day so they’d do this whilst us kids watched a film or played cards on the grass in front of them.
After siesta time, we would all go to the beach again and do a sporty activity like playing badminton, going snorkeling, getting on the kayak, surfing, sailing on grandpa’s boat, or just walking by the sea. It was a wonderful time to be alive, being taken care of, surrounded by family, friends, and laughter.
Denia also has a beautiful town center with plenty of shops and local markets. In the evenings we could also walk the streets of Denia town center, long streets full of restaurants, ice cream shops, and beautiful trees either side of the street. Denia has a lovely port where boats come and go, and wonderful restaurants where you can eat all kinds of seafood overlooking the sea. Do you understand now why Denia is a wonderful place to visit? Particularly in the summer! What is your favorite place in this world?