To the person that googled ‘bit missing in hills behind Benidorm’ and found my blog

I had a laugh yesterday. In the search terms box of my blog- the bit that tells you what people have searched for to find your blog- I found the following:

I instantly knew what this meant.

Benidorm. In English translates to ‘land of grace and sobriety’. At least that’s what my bartender said as he asked me when to stop pouring. But I remember taking the above photo from our roof top pool like it was yesterday and because of the amount of beers we had, I am surprised I remember anything at all on this trip.

The mountain was unique as it looked to have a perfectly cube section missing, as if it was cut out by a stag group overnight for a laugh. I am not one to post about the same thing twice, so if you want to take a look at the original post from June 2017 it can be read by clicking here.

I found it funny that someone else on what is blatantly a boozy holiday looked up with probably chronic room-spin and wondered why a mountain had a bit missing. Sometimes alcohol makes us ask life’s biggest questions…

 

 

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Happy blogging,

Sam

Why this mountain has a chunk missing

After seeing what appears to be a huge piece of mountain missing I had to give it a Google. It seems there are some very interesting legends as to why.

‘The local version says that the French hero Roland, commander of Charlemagne’s army, became embroiled in a sword fight with the head of the Moorish army and the duel finished on the top of the mountain. At one moment in the battle the Moorish leader was flung to the ground and Roland lifted his sword, Durandarte, in order to deal his enemy a final blow. However, he missed the prostrate figure and the force of the blow cut a chunk out of the mountain, which fell into the sea. This rock is still visible as Benidorm Island and the gash that Roland made in the peak of the mountain still bears his name.’

Here is Benidorm Island from our rooftop pool. The mountain is directly behind me.

Another legend states that Roland’s lover Alda was fated to die when the last of the sun’s rays shone on her so Roldan cut out part of the mountain in order that the sun would take longer to set ensuring that Alda would live a few moments longer.

Quite beautiful and further proof if we needed any of humanities obsession with love and war.

My ice is too cold!

I love to give TripAdvisor a good browse in the weeks before a holiday. Nothing gets me in the mood to explore than to hear from those that have left fresh footsteps in the sand. The problem with this of course is sometimes people stand in crap on route.

I confessed recently that I was going onto an 18-30’s holiday, what I won’t confess is the hotel. I don’t need to, it’s basic and will only be used for sleep. Nothing exciting here I’m afraid! On this kind of trip, the hotel isn’t often the luxury, more of the necessity. I did of course look at the reviews, which are decent considering our busy location. Close to the beach and close to vibrant areas. Hilariously and as always, there were some not so happy guests.

‘It was too noisy’

You’re in Benidorm!

‘If I had a pound for every time I heard doors banging from youngsters, I would have been able to pay for another week there’

You’re also in Benidorm!

‘There was only one English TV channel’

You’re in Spain?!

It is as if some people close their eyes and book whatever hotel receives the first click, expecting it to be everything they want. Of course if people want to go to a resort of this nature and have a quiet holiday I am sure it is possible with a little research. But to book such a hotel in such an area and complain about what was probably obvious and predictable all along, is a little strange to say the least. Some reviews I have read seem pretty unnecessary.

I personally cannot wait to get there and complain that the sand is too hot, the food too Spanish and that the English accent a little weird. I wonder how much of a refund I will receive…

The internet is an amazing thing. I remember my first holidays as a child, jumping straight onto a coach from the airport, not knowing anything about the hotel we were going to until we arrived. Thankfully the hotels were great so it defeats the point a little, but stay with me. To be able to look at honest reviews from actual guests and make a decision before getting there truly is remarkable. No longer do we have to rely on companies to give undoubtedly biased descriptions and images, the internet is too powerful. Make use of this amazing opportunity and choose what is best for you and where. There is less and less excuse to have a bad holiday in 2017.

I am not going to get much sleep there, at least I have read the warning signs in advance!

 

 

 

A confession

The truth always comes out. I have lied about things in the past, hiding from reality is exhausting. That is not the only reason I value the truth, I want to be the best person that I can. So with this in mind, a little confession.

I am going to Benidorm this month. There, I said it. I hope you’re all happy now. It feels so good to just say it and get it over with, as if the weight has been lifted. An 18-30’s holiday with seven lads, this isn’t going to be a holiday to learn about the local culture or to find ourselves. I am going to hopefully spend my time not being tied to a lamppost and having more full-english breakfasts in a week than I have here in England.

I will, as I always do, try to speak a little of the language and learn about the people. It is just a little difficult when the locals are British, although certain accents can fool me into believing they are from a different country. Our accents are fascinating like that.

I am reminded of a funny joke Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle made on a panel show, talking about the time a Scotsman had a fight with a terrorist after he tried to blow up Glasgow Airport. That isn’t the joke. That actually happened.

‘Apparently the man saved hundreds of Scottish people from getting badly burned by attacking the terrorist… How? These Glaswegians were flying to Malaga!’

During this period I will try my hardest to take interesting photographs and keep questioning life without the obvious influence of alcohol. I am confident there is more to Spanish resorts than sunshine and British people.

Photo credit: Ran Berkovich– Unsplash