Altea. A Quick Shopping Trip (Dinner And Ice Cream Included, Of Course!).

Every summer in the “rebajas” (sales), my mum and I spend an afternoon and evening wandering around a nearby town, enjoying a gentle stroll (mum might beg to differ with that), the odd “granizado” (slush) followed by dinner in a restaurant that takes our fancy. This year we chose Altea for our ventures.

Whenever we’ve driven through this pretty town I’ve made a mental note to check out the shops that are scattered throughout the urban centre. Until last Wednesday, I’d never got round to it. When I mentioned to mum about going there instead of our usual places, mainly Denia and Gandía, she said she’d only just mentioned to a friend that she’d love to go and see the shops in Altea. That’s telepathy for you!!

With our masks on in the scorching heat, off we set to go and find some bargains. Regarding the shops, one of the charming things about Altea is most of the boutiques are run by “autónomos” (self-employed). There are hardly any franchises or chain stores. I spotted two whilst we were roaming the streets, which in today’s day and age is pretty rare in towns with more than twenty thousand inhabitants. It was a breath of fresh air to not see the usual stores with all the same garments, regardless of what town you’re in.

Despite visiting all these lovely shops, neither of us purchased a thing. The mixture of the heat and having to wear a mask was enough to put us off trying different clothes on. We had a quick “granizado de limón” in a rather noisy cafe (there were only four people but that was still four too many) and commenced our climb up to the “pueblo antiguo”, the old town, known as “El Fornet” which translates to el hornito in Castillian Spanish, and little oven or little bakery in English. I have no idea why they have given it this name. If anyone knows the reason, please inform me!!

Trending

Benidorm, A Day Trip, With A Mexican Lunch Included

This part of Altea is, in my opinion, the most beautiful. An old fishing town, it’s one of the prettiest in the Alicante province and has a real bohemian vibe. Painters, sculptors, artisans, poets, etc have lived and live here, often selling their wares in little shops or stalls (Altea is the cultural and artistic capital of the Costa Blanca and is also home to the Miguel Hernández University of Fine Arts).

I’ve always envied these people, wishing I had some sort of artistic bone in my body to be able to live that type of mode de vie, but to this day I still draw like I did when I was three years old and the closest I ever came to making anything artsy-craftsy was a sort of ashtray “thing” I made for my nan with the kids game “Alfanova”!

Before I bought my apartment in Oropesa I fancied one of the gorgeous little white houses that adorn the Ibiza style streets, the prices were just a tad over my budget though! Thankfully, only a 20 minute drive and I’m wandering the streets in one of my hippy skirts and flat sandals, pretending I’m one of the locals. It’s marvellous to get lost around the cobblestone streets, occasionally getting a glimpse of the sea and the more modern part of the town, before you end the evening in one of the many restaurants that you’ll find along the way.

As for eating out, you really are spoilt for choice here. There are some very chic restaurants to chose from, although at this time of year it’s best to book. Even with everything that’s going on in the world at the moment, Altea doesn’t seem too affected by it. The streets were pretty full of visitors and holiday-makers, all wearing masks I must say, and if it weren’t for only seeing half of people’s faces, you’d think nothing had changed.

Mum and I hadn’t booked anywhere so, once we’d had our fill of strolling the streets and looking in quaint little shops we had to find somewhere that still had a table for two. Mum fancied a lasagne but, although Altea has a vast amount of Italian restaurants, they all seemed a bit too modern to offer such a retro dish! Eventually we found one that included said dish on it’s menu, along with other traditional pasta dishes, pizzas, sweet and savoury crepes, meat, fish and salads.

Restaurante Stromboli opened in 1996. It’s situated along one of the cobblestone streets that lead up to the church square. It has an inner courtyard (which was fully booked) and a few tables inside. All the waiters were extremely friendly and helpful and the prices were very reasonable compared to other restaurants in this area. I ordered Tagliatelle Primavera Con Gambas (prawns) and mum went with the lasagne, the main reason for us stopping at this particular eatery.

The food was served quickly considering they were pretty full and was very acceptable. My pasta dish consisted of plenty of green tagliatelle, big prawns and tasty, fresh vegetables. Mum said her lasagne was delicious. The two dishes plus one 50ml bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water and a 50ml glass bottle of Lanjarón still water cost us around 26€. Not bad at all when you take into account where the restaurant is situated.

We didn’t order dessert as there is a marvellous ice cream shop only a few metres away which Pep and I often go to when we’re in this area. Heladería QVO was founded in 2009 by Argentinians and has the most delicious ice cream and sorbets which they make themselves. Depending on when you go they have a different flavour sorbet made from seasonal fruit. I’ve had plum before earlier on in the year which was spectacular, this time they had fresh fig. There are also plenty of other sorbets and ice creams too.

Another amazing point to mention is that they let you have two assorted flavours in the small “tarrina” (cup) or “cucurucho” (cornet) (simple things please simple minds!), most ice cream parlours will only let you have one for some reason which I find a bit silly. I chose the aforementioned fresh fig sorbet and lemon sorbet. Mum went with lemon sorbet and pineapple sorbet. We sat next to the archway overlooking the Sierra Bernia, taking in the lovely views (and doing a spot of people-watching) while slowly devouring our cool sweet.

Although it seems quite strange, even surreal when you venture out the house lately, mask intact, it’s still worth visiting the lovely places this area has to offer. We really must make the most of it, privileged souls that we are.

Again I haven’t mentioned the T word but in my next post I promise, it will be back with a vengeance!! And possibly a few other veggies too. Bye for now. Thanks for reading. As usual, any questions, suggestions or you know why the old part of Altea is called El Fornet, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we’d love to hear from you. Take care and see you very soon. Love Georgie and Pep xxx