in this issue

Benidorm is a nice change from the hectic, gatling gun check lists of Paris and Barcelona. There’s really nothing to do here but eat. And lay out on the beach. And eat. Which, at this point, is a welcome evolution in our travel.

Forty minutes outside of Alicante on La Costa Brava, Benidorm is – for all intents and purposes – the Key West of Spain. It is Shell Beach realized. People from all over the EU flock here (but mostly from the UK), walking the boardwalk, packing the beaches and the bars. And like many parts of Florida, the population here is 90 odd percent advanced in years. But unlike many parts of Florida, the beaches here are topless. And I’ll speak no more of that.

But it’s generally pleasant.

And I’m starting to wish I hadn’t charged my way through Moby Dick – I would have liked to have read some of it on the beach, so I could dive into the water when my eyes grow tired and taste the salt and think and float.

Now all I have is Nina’s Vogue. With its special on wedding dresses…