We came back down to earth with a bump after our time on the Orient Express! First off, as we arrived at Venice Santa Lucia station the heavens above us were black and storm laden, so much so that the storm managed to disrupt the Italian Railways. We lugged our bags back and forward from train to train in order to get across to the mainland from Santa Lucia station to Mestre for around an hour before we finally set off. Even the Italians looked exasperated at the lack of information forthcoming at the station.

After a night in a simple but clean hotel we headed to Treviso airport, about an hour by coach from Mestre, in order to get to Spain for the next part of our trip. One two hour flight with Ryanair saw us arrive at Valencia which was followed by a quick metro journey to the brand new Joaquin Sorrolla station in the city centre for our onward train to Alicante arriving around 9pm. This was just in time for dinner as the Spanish do like to start these things rather late so after tapas, cerverza, vino and some raciones we said good night to Alicante.

Being so close we just had to make a visit to Benidorm, not somewhere that we would normally visit as it is far too 'package holiday' for us. That said it was more Spanish that we expected, but the clientele did fit a certain age bracket that we certainly were not in and good on them for getting some sun - it has to be better than sitting in the dreary UK. Nationalities seemed to be a good mix although there were the signs for full English breakfasts on offer at more than one cafe we passed by and they seemed to come in small (one sausage, one egg), medium (two sausages, two eggs) or large (three sausage, three eggs) sizes. This did howeever remind us of watching Carry on Abroad with Senore Pepe, the hotel waiter, offering the food choices of "beans and chips, sausage and chips or sausage, beans and chips" and Mr Farquar (Kenneth Williams playing the role of holiday rep) saying "but we came on holiday for some foreign food Senore Pepe" - "this is foreign food, you don't expect us to eat this muck" was the response. Classic!

The tram journey from Alicante to Benidorm of around 38km took 75 minutes each way and cost just over £5.00 return so was a real bargain and a pleasant way to see the coast and rather barren countryside. We were going to continue to Denia another 75 minutes by train from Benidorm but that will need to be on a future visit, if there is one, to this area.

Alicante was a more pleasant place to spend some time, certainly less 'package holiday' but also there are plenty of back streets to wander, squares to sit in, tapas bars to try and restaurants a plenty. Prices are also rather reasonable in Spain, definitely compared to the UK. It is also warm and there is nothing better than eating al fresco in mid October when you know back home it is cold and grey - those OAPs in Benidorm have the right idea by booking a three month winter break in Spain. It is also probably cheaper than being at home.

Next stop is to see friends a little further south of Alicante so am looking forward to some good conversations, a few drinks and maybe a barbecued salad or two. Adios amigos!