Benissa To Albir, Two Tourists On A Train

Occasionally, as the weekend beckons, we have absolutely no idea what we’re going to do to make the most of it. This was the case a couple of weeks ago. As you probably already know, Sunday is usually our day for walks, outings or spending time in the “huerta”. But it had crept up on us pretty quickly and we got up in the morning without a clue of how we would spend the next few hours.

We both fancied going on a walk somewhere followed by lunch on a restaurant terrace (hooray, they’re open at last). But by the time we were ready it was gone 11, it would’ve been a tad tricky to fit one of our long walks in before lunch. As Pep drove through Benissa (we still didn’t know where we were going) I was googling short walks close to Altea.

I can’t remember what I saw to make me suddenly think of the Benissa train station but the spark of an idea appeared in my mind. Something I’ve been wanting to do for I don’t know how many years now. I hadn’t been on the Denia-Alicante train since I was about 15! A friend of mine and I used to hitch from Jalón to the Benissa Station (walking a lot of the way, no doubt) where we would take the train to Benidorm to spend the day. I can’t remember what we used to get up to while we were there, all I remember was spending rather a lot of our pocket money in the joke shop. Just how many whoopee cushions does a teenager need?!?!

But roll on 30 years to a couple of Sundays ago. I mentioned the train journey to Pep (he seemed quite keen on my idea), so I quickly googled the timetable (check out the website here for info and times, there is an option to change it to English). We could just about make it to the station to catch the 11:28 train. Fabulous. So exciting 😁. There is plenty of room to leave your car at the station. We had no idea where to purchase tickets though. The station wasn’t open, nor were there any machines selling them. We presumed we’d have to buy them once we were on the train. We presumed right.

The journey is really lovely. A return ticket costs 2,30€ each (Benissa to Altea). Not bad for a pretty run along the coast. We felt like we were on holiday!! Here are a few pics taken through the grubby, greeny/blue tinged train window. But you’ll get the gist of the delightful scenery we were privileged to be greeted with.

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It was a glorious day so we got off the train in Altea, had a wee drink on a “terraza”, and walked to Albir. We thought we’d either have lunch at the Mexican restaurant or at our favourite Indian, Tiffin.

We managed to get a table at Tiffin. I won’t go on about the food again, you can read about it on my posts here and here if you want. After lunch we strolled back to Altea to catch the train. Seeing as we hadn’t had a dessert though (it just wouldn’t be Sunday without one) we thought we’d have a quick stop at Opera (Facebook page here). This cafe/restaurant is one of my favourites for fantastic salads. I’d been recently with mum and had sampled their delicious king prawn curry (it was too chilly that day for a salad, especially as we had to eat outside).

They also serve homemade cakes and desserts (how convenient). On our walk back to the train station we popped in for a coffee, in hope that they would still have something delicious in their sweet cabinet. They did 😁

We would have caught the train from the closest station, but seeing as we were rather full we thought we’d best walk to the station we got off at, we needed to burn some of the calories we’d just devoured. It’s also lovely to wander through part of Altea’s old town. You can see more photos and read more about Altea in this post that I wrote last summer.

Still enjoying being tourists (it’s amazing how a short train journey can make you feel) we sat back and enjoyed our return trip to Benissa, relishing the sights we’d missed earlier on.

And that was our little Sunday outing. I’m so pleased we went and now can’t wait to go again. It’s a shame the photos aren’t that great. If I could have opened the train window I would have but I don’t think the driver would have been too happy. We only spoke to him once, at the beginning of our trip, when we asked if we had to buy the tickets on the train. He sternly replied “Yes, now hurry up and get on the train, I’m leaving”! Maybe he was cheesed off ’cause it was Sunday but I would avoid talking to him if I were you 😁.

Right, well that’s about it for today. One more thing though 😂. In my last post I mentioned how I like to serve sautéed wild asparagus in a “cloud omelette”, better known as a soufflé omelette. Now, you all probably know how to make said egg dish but I had no idea. I must have lived quite a sheltered life and such delicacies have passed me by 😁.

Facebook seems to know my interests (not sure I’m too pleased about that) and fills my news feed with loads of video tutorials for all sorts of dishes. I’ve altered the recipe slightly (the original one I saw had quite a lot of sugar in for some reason) but it’s incredibly easy to make so I’ll show you the few steps you need to follow to make one. Obviously, if you already know how to prepare it you’ll want to skip the next few paragraphs!

For one person you’ll need two eggs. If I’m making it for both of us I use 3. Any more and I’ll need to use a bigger pan. Start by separating the eggs, placing the whites in a larger bowl and the yolks in a smaller bowl. Whisk the yolks with a small pinch of salt for 30 seconds or so. Next, whisk the egg whites till they form stiff peaks (or when you can turn the bowl upside down and none falls out).

Gradually fold the yolks into the whites.

Heat a medium sized, non-stick frying pan (mine’s approximately 25cm in diameter) over medium heat, adding a drizzle of olive oil. Once the pan is hot, turn the heat down to low and add the egg mixture, levelling it out as much as poss. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Now you can either fold it to make a half moon shape and serve, or like me, add sautéed Swiss chard, asparagus and garlic on top of half the omelette, fold over the other half of the omelette and serve.

It makes a change to the usual omelette. As I said, It’s like a soufflé, hence why some grated cheese in the egg mixture would go down a treat I should imagine (I’ve never tried it). I love how springy it is (as in bouncy, not the season) and I make it quite regularly now, compensating for all the years I missed out! It’s quite an obvious recipe so I’m probably one of the only people who had never made it. If it’s new to you though and you like omelettes I encourage you to give it a go.

And now I’m definitely going to shut up. I will be back on Valley FM this Saturday between 12pm and 2pm if you fancy a listen. If you would like to subscribe to this blog you can do so at the top right of this page and also at the bottom. If you’re on a mobile or tablet then the subscription form is at the end of the post. When you subscribe you will receive an email every time I publish a new post. You can also like our Facebook page to see new posts.

As always, thanks for reading. Any suggestions or questions please feel free to get in touch. We’d love to hear from you. Take care all of you. See you soon. Lots of love, Georgie and Pep (I’m off for a walk)xxx