Last Friday I had the opportunity to take a relatively short walk in the city of Alicante. I was looking for a peculiar street with giant mushrooms that you might see in this post. As my time was limited, I had to be quick. Walking from the harbour toward the promenade and the city hall, finding the funny fungi street and getting back to the car. The day had to continue with all its tasks so Alicante will wait for another occasion to be Hive-photo-discovered. If this word makes any sense... 😂
About the name of the city, Alicante...
A few years ago I watched a documentary on the local TV about the city where a legend about a princess was told. You know, the typical - there is a pretty princess whose father promises her hand to a man who can complete a given challenge. Usually, at least two young men compete to conquer the princess, which also happens in this legend. Almanzor and Ali both wanted to marry her, the pretty princess Cántara. Almanzor went abroad to bring species and silk and the other one, Ali stayed in the city and was building the irrigation ditch.
The latter was close to the girl so naturally they fell in love, but a legend would not be a legend if finished with a happy end. Almanzor came back after a year and brought wealth so the father gave her daughter's hand to him. What do you think - how this story ended?
This is what I offer you to choose from:
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The daughter was obedient and married the one who fulfilled his task and they lived together happily until the end of their lives.
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The father was kindhearted so he listened to her daughter and let her choose who she wanted, despite the promise to Almanzor.
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Ali suffered from the news that Cántara would marry Almanzor so he ended his life. Cántara ends her life too, knowing that her love died. The city's inhabitants as a tribute to these two lovers decided to give it a new name - a fusion between Ali and Cántara - Alicant.
There are more details that you can read about here and you will see that the third option is what the legend says, but there is also a different explanation about the name which includes facts and history instead of dramatic fantasies.
So, let's see the facts.
It had several names. The Latin name was Lucentum but with the arrival of the Arabs, this name evolved to al-Laqant. In the Valencian language, you actually pronounce it in that way, Alacant, but the Spanish version of it is Alicante, so I tend to believe in these facts, but the legend is also compelling.
It would be interesting to talk more about the origin of the city's name but you remember, I had to be quick as work was waiting for me. Luckily, once again I had a kind young helper at home to prepare the lunch while I was heading toward this nice architectural gem, Casa Carbonell which you see in the next photo.
While I was waiting for the traffic light to turn green and cross this street, I saw El Adivinador (The fortune teller) - an interesting bronze sculpture and approached it to take a photo.
It seems that it is missing one part, as I saw it a few years ago with a rounded thing in his head, with numbers. When I saw him last Friday, I thought the poor guy had been injured by some vandals. But this source says that it was a storm that brought down the top of the artwork two years ago.
Finally, I crossed the street and went toward the building of the city hall. How nice it is with its towers and the clock.
It was 2 pm. My son messaged me that the food was ready...
My side replied that there was no time for being hungry or thinking about food. 😂
Anyway, the narrow streets in the city centre were full of bars and restaurants and people enjoying their meals. I passed by them, as well as by several nice shops. This was my favourite, because of the massive wooden door shutters.
In this short walk, I also passed by a few little squares with huge ficus trees that couldn't fit into the frame of the photos... but this statue - a lady with a jar, can come to the post as she has not been moving from her place I guess for a very long time. A pigeon visited her head though.
Is it a living hat? 😂
Not far away from this little square with the fountain and the statue I found the mushroom street and later I had to walk back to the harbour. This time I chose the promenade.
The pavement of Paseo de la Explanada is really impressive. And it is not a surprise it looks this great - six and a half million tiles were used for this splendid wavy mosaic, plus four rows of palm trees run for almost half a kilometre of the length of this promenade.
On the same promenade, we can find a stage for musical performances, called The Auditorium la Concha. No concert or musician was there... and I am happy about that as this way I just kept on walking and arriving directly at the parking lot. I paid for the service and left the city with its mysterious name in a rush. Next time, I owe this place a longer visit!
