A RISKY PUB VISIT

A RISKY PUB VISIT. Part 1

Saturday at last. Let's go out again. I don't have to cook and you can indulge in street food, I whisper to my younger partner Gina. Oh yes, let's finally get out of the flat again and take part in outdoor life. Shall we leave around seven in the evening? Okay, fine, I quickly reply, already looking around for suitable clothes to go out in. It's still damn hot here on the Costa Blanca in the evening. The thermometer will only fall slightly below thirty degrees Celsius. Clara opts for a summery short trouser suit in a pale green colour. The lower part appears to be a skirt, although they are actually shorts. The light cotton fabric is printed with artfully arranged light red hibiscus flowers. The colourful motifs blend into the green of the fabric, giving the impression that you are looking into a blooming garden. I put on a pair of beige-coloured shorts that cover my knees. My knees always have to be just barely covered when I wear shorts. These are my favourite legwear for summer. I throw on a wide, bluish Hawaiian shirt with sailing motifs printed on it. I bought this last week after successfully completing a two-week sailing course for beginners in the neighbouring small marina. We fill our small rucksacks with the essentials for the evening, put on light blue and yellow canvas slippers with cork and rubber soles and pull the front door on the sixth floor shut behind us. Off we go into the weekend hustle and bustle.

We live not far from the Mediterranean Sea, have a fantastic view of the water from the flat and directly opposite, between our building and the vast sea, there is a large plot of land owned by the municipality that cannot be built on. All year round it is simply an empty space with sandy, uneven ground. Parts of the site are overgrown with weeds and bushes. What do weeds mean? Small colourful flowers, grasses, herbs, wild orange trees and a rabbit hole can be admired there. It's always fun to see the little rabbits hopping about when there are no dogs around and the area is simply quiet. Then they dare to leave their cover and search for food. On the other side of the property is another uncultivated wasteland with large wild plants, bamboo bushes and small trees. A family of wild boar obviously lives there, well hidden from view. Shortly before the start of the summer, we were able to observe big and even very small ones sometimes well after midnight, as they sprinted one after the other in search of food across the then empty roads and vacant plots. Now they probably stay in their safe hiding places and only come out when everyone around them is asleep and they can run around unnoticed.

Every year, an opulent summer market with around fifteen parked street food stalls takes place on this large municipal site opposite. These are mostly small and large converted campers with or without a tractor unit. They have set up a kitchen inside and sizzle, fry and grill for all the hungry visitors who crave such food. They offer everything from pizza and hamburgers to steaks to keep visitors happy. Of course, there are also ice-cream vendors. At the end of the festival, usually around midnight, they simply fold down their large hinged movable front wall from top to bottom and close it from the inside and outside. Music events, drinks pavilions and children's entertainment such as inflatable bouncy castles round off the market's offerings. The market is open until the early hours of the morning every evening for almost two months. To the left of the large square is a built-up area with low-rise buildings, including a shisha bar and a restaurant serving local cuisine on the two street corners. Between the market and the sea nestles a modern, recently built four star two-storey aparthotel between tall date, bottle and triangle palms in front of the dunes. The place is well booked almost all year round. Construction is constantly ongoing in this neighbourhood. A few cranes stroll into view in the light evening breeze, as the building sites have already been abandoned and the workers are enjoying their well-earned rest.

Behind the hotel you will find the sand dunes covered with marvellously flowering small climbing plants, where small snakes, even more rabbits and hares and birds have made their home. From the residential areas, paths laid out with wooden planks wind their way through every two to three hundred metres to provide easy access to the Mediterranean Sea. On this side of the dunes, there are almost always small pillars with water showers along the paths to rinse the sand off your feet and legs when you leave the beach. A generous gift from the municipality to visitors to the coast. Once you reach the wide white sandy beach, there is a so-called chiringuito a few metres to the south. These places are beach bars with music, tapas and plenty of cold, mainly alcoholic drinks on offer. Such chiringuitos can be found all along the coast. When I cycle north and south to keep myself reasonably fit, I pass a total of nine of these noisy beach bars within sight. They are all slightly different in terms of layout, music style and small meals on offer. Some have even set up wooden hulls from former fishing boats in which sardines sizzle on barbecue utensils.