Benidorm

We hit Beni from the wrong road. I'd been down it a few years before in a taxi and marvelled at the fact you could get a car through there. We turned right according to the Google map, at a sign that said buses and coaches and 100 yards later were on a one way street to mental breakdown.

The van is 7.5 meters long and 2.3 meters wide. This road is 2.4 meters wide and twists and turns like a corkscrew. Not just that, at every bend is a wall, or a tree, or both.

I was bricking it! I was down to 0.1 mph, with at least 20 cars behind me and could only go forward. There is noway I can put on record the terror that I felt for the 15 minutes it took to get to the end of this alleyway. But we did it, and the relief I felt that I hadn't ripped the sides of the van out at least ten times was amazing.

For the unknowing, Benidorm is Europes answer to Vegas. OK, it's not built around gambling, but the lights are as bright, the buildings are much taller and the best and the worse people meet side by side to enjoy everything that is on offer. And trust me, everything is on offer! We love it. It's an adult playground, in the sun, where being broad minded and accepting of all the bad things in life, where no one shakes their head and tut tuts at what is going on around them.

And above all, it's bloody cheap. The cheapest place in Spain for drink and food and just going out. It's cheaper than anywhere in France and anywhere in the UK. One Euro will buy you a good sized glass of wine, or a pint of beer or a coffee. That's in the bars. In the supermarkets, one Euro will buy you a bottle of wine, 2 Euro's will get you a six pack of beer and 4 Euros a bottle of Vodka!

Menu del Dia ( Google it) can be anything from 4 Euro's for a three course meal, with wine or beer for gods sake.

And people watching is just The Best! You couldn't pay to see some of the sights here. Fact, there are more mobility buggy's hired in Benidorm than anywhere in the world. In fact, there are Limo buggy's here that seat three people! There's stag party's of blokes, twenty or more, all on mobility buggy's hammering along the boardwalks. And Beni is built for this. There are ramps into everywhere and everything. It means you can get paralytic and go from bar to bar, without ever leaving your seat. Just brilliant.

Of course it's not all good. The only three hangovers we've had since leaving the UK have been here in the past four days! But if you can't stand the heat an all that.........

Getting one of my tattoo's expanded whilst we are here. Darren runs cobra Tattoo and he's done work for me before and he's a great guy to have in Beni.