This week, we’re in Cape Town! I’ve teamed up with Fadwa from helloworldbreakoutgirl.com to bring you the similarities and the differences between living in Alicante, Spain and South Africa.

Don’t forget to read Fadwa’s to read how Fadwa’s day went!

Sunday 11th November 2018:

We woke up late. It’s becoming common to sleep in now the sun isn’t fighting its way through the window forcing us to awake. It’s a lot quieter and darker these days.

We’re in no rush to move today. We have plans for later on, but nothing as of the moment.

Alex takes the dog for his morning walk and he comes bounding back in, excited as ever. There’s not a lot of movement in our house, not before 2pm anyway. We have hot chocolate and play Clash Royale. It’s becoming a Sunday tradition.

We get ready and head out into Benidorm to meet up with a member of the community. Jane is staying in Benidorm and always supports my blog, so whilst she’s over we arranged to meet up. It’s nice to see who the person you know so much about.

We arrive at the bus just as it arrives. You know it’s going to be a good day when that happens. The bus costs just 1,50€ no matter how far along the line you go.

We pass by the town hall and see the fair for the Benidorm November Fiestas 2018. It’s at Plaza de Los Toros, which is the same place the fair will be for Benidorm November Fiestas 2019. Plaza de Los Toros is the bullring located at the back of Julio Iglesias Park. We catch sight of the Ferris Wheel and decide that we definitely need to head there later on!

We head to Hotel Ambassador Playa and are greeted by their staff members. The reception is simple but bright and clean. We head out into the pool area, where there is an indoor and an outdoor pool. The TV’s are showing the football and it’s like summer is in full swing.

Do you think we stood out a little bit wearing jumpers and coats whilst everybody else was wearing bikinis? Probably a little.

It had been so cold yet at the pool, it was such a suntrap. Would you believe I got a tan line?! In November!?

Jane brought me over some Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut, which we all know I love! *Do you think I should share this to Cadbury’s like a hint?* So many people bring me over bits of Cadbury’s now, it’s really sweet! I enjoy every square of every bar!

After a while, we head out of the Ambassador and make our way to Nag’s Head, Benidorm. It wasn’t the easiest place to find, we ended up walking around the block along Avenida Europa, which wasn’t the easiest in high-heeled boots! Eventually, we found it tucked away on the main Avenida Europa.

The Nags Head has an archway that leads to their pub garden. It has a very British feel about it. We gave their carvery a whirl. We’re enjoying our Sundays trying different Sundays Roasts preparing for creating “the best places to go for a roast in Benidorm” post.  Research is going well.

The carvery was good, the starters and puddings weren’t as good as the main attraction, but there was a wide selection. I had a little piece of each meat and they were all good, the gravy was thin, which is how I like mine. They also had lovely roast and mash potatoes and a good range of vegetables, I only had cabbage though!

The carvery is 9,99€ each, which is all you can eat. I think it’s good value for what you get. You do pay for the drinks separate, which are really reasonably priced.

Feeling a little stuffed, we walked to Plaza de Los Toros, walking off our Sunday lunch. It’s a fairly steep walk up to the fair, which wasn’t the easiest in my boots!

The fair was great fun! Filled with plenty of rides, stalls and food spots, it was a great place to spend a couple of hours. It’s our first time visiting as part of the Benidorm Fiestas and we definitely enjoyed it.

Alex is the lucky one, he doesn’t have work this week due to the fiestas, though we don’t have any plans to head into the parties.

Roasted chestnuts and swirling candy floss filled the air crashing with the sounds of pop music blaring out of the speakers. The whirls of the rides swish past us as we walk around, getting a feel for the place.

We mediate towards the Ferris Wheel. Tickets for the rides were between 2€-3€ each. I was surprised at the low-costs. The Ferris Wheel spins round at what feels like 80mph. It wooshes round and round, much quicker than the ones in England. The views outside are just a blur. Once we adjust to the spinning after a few rotations, we manage to focus and see the views below us. It’s a good viewpoint for the bullring.

I spot the dodgems below and rush towards them. There isn’t any “one direction” or “no bumping” here. This is bumper cars and this is savage. There are at least 30 bumper cars going around, bashing from all directions. The screams of laughter are nice to hear.

I’m cruising along, filling each space dodging those around me, trying to get speed up. I manage it for a little while. Until I’m bumped. Then, my bumper car switches to reverse. I turn the wheel too far and that’s it, I’m stuck in reverse. Imagine me, a target for all to bump into, then becomes a sitting duck. Somebody going backwards. Yes, I looked stupid. But, it was great fun. Finally, I work out how to go forward again and it’s game on. I’m bashing into everyone. My time came.

We finished off going on the ghost train which was hilarious. I screamed majority of the way around. They had 4D effects, things jumping out, things touching your feet plus it was pitch black.

We finished off grabbing some candy floss on a stick. After all, what is a fair without candy floss? I was holding it for so long for photos that it did start to run down my hands, arms and jacket. The candy floss was 2€ and had every flavour you could possibly think of, I didn’t know so many flavours of candy floss existed!

There were so many other rides around, like the pirate ship and a spinny ride that has you going upside down – not for me! There was also bingo, bouncy castles, stalls and a funhouse amongst other bits and pieces.

We really enjoyed the fair and it was something different to what we’ve done in Benidorm before.

We headed back home around 20:00. It got dark a few hours ago but there are so many people about. The lights of the fair are so bright that you don’t even notice that nightfall set in long ago.

We arrive back home and binge-watch Celebrity Hunted. It’s an interesting show that has got us hooked. We also finish Celebrity Bake Off before heading off to bed.

Alex takes the dog for his last walk of the day. It’s time to call it a day in Benidorm. It’s time for bed. Felices Fiestas.

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Differences and Similarities Between Cape Town and Alicante

The most striking difference for me is the change in the seasons. Summer in South Africa begins in November and lasts until February, like the rest of the Southern Hemisphere. So, whilst we’re starting to reach our cold fronts, South Africa is starting to heat up. Though, saying that, this week we have had temperatures of 20-22 degrees. But, that doesn’t come close to Cape Town’s 27 degrees. It’s similar to summer here.

South Africa is one hour ahead of Spain, two hours ahead of the UK. However, the flight is lengthy and strenuous. There are no direct flights from Spain to Cape Town, so it’s a case of stopping in Johannesburg or Doha. The shortest journey is 16 hours!

Although Fadwa and I both had what we would call a Sunday lunch, both were very different. I can’t imagine having yellow rice with my roast like I’m sure Fadwa can’t imagine a roast with Yorkshire puddings and gravy! Food is one of the most interesting differentials in life, we all have what we like and what we’re accustomed to. I find it so difficult to try different foods whilst travelling, though admittedly less so in recent years. In Amsterdam, I couldn’t even bring myself to try a stroopwafel and there was absolutely no chance I was trying Gulyás in Budapest!

Interestingly, Cape Town has had a major boom, similar to Benidorm back in the early 70’s. According to News24Wire, the population of central Cape Town has boomed from 750 to almost 7,500 in just over 10 years and the demand for people is continuing to outstrip the supplies available. [business tech]

Is South Africa on your list of places to visit?

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Hasta luego,

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