Hannah's Blog

On today's blog post I shall be talking about health and fitness here in sunny Spain!

I think we can all agree that your health is important and that you have to look after yourself through having a balanced diet and getting plenty of exercise (something I'm sure you've heard hundreds of times before). So how do you go about that when the foods and environment are completely different?

One thing that I have found from living in Alicante is that fruit and veg are everywhere! Out and about I've seen lemon trees (yes, really!), avocado trees and mandarin trees aplenty! They are readily available if you go into the markets or supermarkets and very affordable!

 
(sunshineandsiestas.com)

There are also different types of vegetables that I haven't seen before coming here such as the Romanesco cauliflower (which tastes similar to what we know as an ordinary cauliflower and actually comes from Italy) – pictured below.

 
(albertgascon.com)

You can find artichokes ("alcachofas" in Spanish) here too which to me look like giant asparagus (image below). It's somewhat difficult to describe the flavour of an artichoke – but believe me, when cooked with spices it is delicious! And an excellent way to get one of your five a day!

(sunshineandsiestas.com)

I have found that from going round the local supermarkets here, fruit and veg are definitely an affordable staple and the unhealthier things such as fizzy drinks, cake and crisps etc. bump the price up. This I have found to really encourage me to eat healthier and I think that it is a fantastic idea that we should perhaps apply in the UK. It's nice to have a treat every now and again but with these costing more, it does become a treat and not a habit.

Following the same theme of food in supermarkets, there are a LOT more foods available to those that need to be dairy free or gluten free and here they are so much more affordable. Many things are even in with regular food and taste just as good that you might not even notice the difference – but the difference is apparent for those who have come from the UK or elsewhere that don't have quite as many choices as here.

It is also incredibly important to drink plenty here; they say you should have 8 glasses of water a day, but I think on hot days you should be drinking more than that! When I first arrived here at the end of August the average temperature was about 35°C! That's very hot! And I was going through several litres of water a day! Even now, in December, as I am writing this, warm days are about 19°C which feels warm as the sun is low in the sky. It's a very different atmosphere from the frost and even snow that we are used to in December.

With that, exercise does become more difficult. It's difficult to enjoy a morning jog or an evening work out when the air is so humid that you find it difficult to breathe. During the summer even the nights were very warm and so it was difficult to be motivated to keep active. It is, however, essential to a healthy lifestyle and even if I wasn't running I took my 2 litre bottle of water and went for a long walk; living in Alicante there are so many places that you can discover by walking be they cute back streets or mountain views. It is much easier to keep active at this time of year as the nights are about 12°C which is much more bearable!

This was the view from part way up the Calpe rock (not too far from Alicante) and I think you can agree that the walk was worth it! (Even if it does make you a little red in the face)

Sometimes a walk along the beach can be just what is needed to cool down after a long day and what better way to see the sunset over the horizon than surrounded by the sound of the waves and the beauty of the palm trees?

 

The island that can be seen here is the isle of Tabarca, just an hour's boat ride from Alicante.

If the sand isn't quite your thing, a walk up to the castle surrounded by beautiful landscapes and a chance to discover the history and culture of the city can be just what is needed.

 

Just don't forget your bottle of water! Even in December it's T-shirt weather!)

And if walking is boring to you or you'd rather try a different type of exercise there are so many to choose from! There are volleyball nets set up on the beach or you can hire a bike from most places where you just pay a small deposit. The scheme in the town where I am living is highly successful and it's quite common to see students on bicycles with the San Vicente logo on them. (Universidad de Alicante website)

For me, the only downside of this scheme is that there is nowhere to rent a helmet and I definitely think it is wise to always wear a helmet when you are riding a bike! In most places the pavements are wider and there is a portion of the pavement dedicated to a cycle lane and I've seen people on rollerblades come skating down this path too! I think this is much safer than having to be on the road next to the cars.

If all this doesn't sound exciting enough you can also take dance lessons in Alicante and one of the most popular types of dance that my Spanish friends have introduced me to is the art of salsa. This is something that you can see many, many people dancing to if you go to the "discotecas" in town. The music they dance to is different than what you would find in the UK and lends itself very nicely to salsa. Salsa makes you use your whole body to dance instead of just your feet and so is a great way to get your heart rate up and exercise many different parts of the body.

I hope I've given you something to think about here and some insight into the health and fitness side of living in Alicante, Spain.

Thank you for reading! Until next time amigos!

Back to the top!

This shall be the last post I write from Spain, as my adventure here is unfortunately slowly coming to an end, however I shall then be writing to you from Germany! In this post, I'll be discussing festivals and celebrations here in Spain.

Throughout my time in Spain I have experienced many different festivals, some of which I will explain and describe for you. Some of these are huge festivals with music and dancing and others are smaller celebrations.

The first one that I am going to talk about is one of the biggest that I have experienced – la fiesta de San Juan (the festival of San Juan). I happened to be in Spain on the 23rd of June last year when I was doing an intensive course in Galicia and experienced the festival. It was one of the biggest things I have ever seen; there were bonfires in every square and all along the beaches, and this was before any of the festivities even began! In the evening, we wrote our wishes on a piece of paper and put them into the big bonfire which would be later that night. The festival centres itself around the summer solstice and supposedly rids the towns of evil spirits and witches. There was a procession in the middle of town of people wearing masks of wolves and "demons" and witches et cetera carrying flaming torches, cauldrons of smoke and various musical instruments.

There was such a lot to see, including people walking through the streets with bagpipes and other musical instruments. At the same time as this, there were fireworks going off all around the city so there were plenty of things to catch your attention!

After the procession, people made their way down to the nearest square where there was a huge bonfire (bigger than any that I've ever seen on November the 5th celebrations) where a stuffed "man" was placed – the very same one where we put our written down hopes, as you will be able to see in the following picture.

The crowds were huge and people were about ten deep! There were stalls selling nuts and seeds to munch on and confectionary for those with a sweet tooth, and so much more. Everywhere you turned there was something different; even a magician doing magic tricks while we waited for the fire to be lit and the celebrations to start.

When the fire was lit, it took very quickly due to all the paper with peoples hopes and wishes being in there, and to our (well, mostly my) surprise more fireworks were set off! When the fire had died down a little bit, some of the glowing embers were shovelled into smaller piles around the square which people were jumping over as it is thought that this brings luck for the coming year. After this was some traditional dancing which was so fun, even if like me you have two left feet.

The next celebration that I would like to talk about is birthdays. In Spain birthdays are celebrated slightly differently than in the UK. The first thing that is massively different is the type of cake; we're used to sponge cake which is typically a Victoria sponge with icing or chocolate with more chocolate, however in Spain it's made of layers that sometimes have sponge in them but also are more like a mousse type consistency, like the picture below (I can assure you that it tastes much better than I am able to describe).

(yourspanishrecipes.blogspot.com.es)
As far as I can tell, the rest of the birthday traditions are similar, such as when younger playing "pin the tail on the donkey". A way that is different is that some, not all, celebrate their name day as well as their birthday though not to the same extent as a birthday. A name day is the day a celebratory meal is had to celebrate the saint who the person was named after, for example, someone named Jorge (George in English) would celebrate their name day on the 23rd of April.

The next celebration I'd like to tell you about is Christmas. Now although many people in Spain, especially our generation, don't go to mass every Sunday or follow all the rules of the bible, Spain is a Roman Catholic country and therefore Christmas is traditionally celebrated in a religious way. This might involve going to midnight mass and a church service on Christmas morning, though this is the same in many countries for those that follow the Christian faith.

Decorations in the home are different, for example most homes feature a miniature "Belén" (a nativity scene) typically made of porcelain and although many homes do have a Christmas tree, it is usually not put up until closer to Christmas rather than at the beginning of December as many do in the UK.

Christmas is spread over several days rather than one big event like in the UK, and some days are national holidays meaning no work and no school.

On the 8th of December is the celebration of the "Immaculada" (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception – where the bible tells Mary finds out that she is to expect a baby).

On the 21st of December, some places celebrate the Winter solstice in a similar way to the festival of San Juan but on a smaller scale by jumping over smaller fires in a hope to avoid illness over the winter.

On the 22nd of December although not a national holiday, it is one of great importance for the Spanish people as it is the day that the Christmas Lottery is drawn. This is similar to the national lottery in the UK but almost every person in Spain buys a ticket and the prizes are huge.

On the 24th of December, Nochebuena (or Christmas Eve as we call it) is the main day for family celebrations. It is quite common for friends to meet during the day to have a small celebration but the big celebration for family is held in the evening with a huge amount of food to accompany it. A small gift may be given on this day but it is mostly about being with family. The food typically consists of prawns to start, roasted lamb for main and turrón as a dessert/sweet (turrón is a nougat made with sweet almonds, and trust me, sickly if you eat too much). This day is not a national holiday though in the past it has been.

On the 25th of December, it is a calm day after eating so much food and is a national holiday so shops are closed though some restaurants may open. It is a day to spend the day as a family and go for a walk or play board games etc.

On the 31st of December, it is a big celebration for Nochevieja (New Year's Eve) where there are street parties and all manner of festivities. People tend to stay at home until midnight, as it is tradition on the stroke of midnight to eat grapes – 12 in total, one for every strike of the clock. This is thought to bring luck for the new year. Then many people go out to celebrate the new year.

The 1st of January is a national holiday where people tend to stay at home after the late night from the night before. They may do things such as go for family walks or just watch the television.

On the 5th of January, there are processions with floats depicting the arrival of The Three Kings or Wise Men. Sweets may be thrown from the floats to the crowds where there are typically large turnouts.

The 6th of January is the main event for the Spanish. The Día de los Reyes Magos (The Day of the Three Kings or Epiphany as we call it) is where children wake up to find the three kings have left them presents (Father Christmas or Santa Claus may leave a small present on the 25th of December, but the 6th of January is when the main thing happens). The day after, the celebrations are considered over and everyone returns to work and school if it is a week day.
There are, of course, many more festivities and celebrations in Spain, however I could be writing to you all day about them. These are just a few of my favourites.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to speaking to you from Germany!

Until next time amigos!