I have never attended a Davis Cup semifinal match so with Spain hosting Israel in Torre Pacheco (about 30 minutes south of Murcia) and only a 2.5 hour drive from Benimassot, I planned to attend. The match was at the Polaris World la Torre Golf Resort. What I did not realize was that it would take me a lot longer to get there than I first thought. We did not arrive at the resort until 12:30 pm (the first match started at noon). And after figuring …

For the second time in a week, I attended a soccer match at Villareal. Last Sunday was for a La Liga match. Last night was for Villareal’s opening match in the Europa League versus Levski Sofia.
Parking at VillarealWith the Ultimate Sports Wife with me and torrential rains falling, I dropped off Nicole at the box office before I parked on the street. As was the case Sunday, I parked a few blocks from the stadium.
Obtaining TicketsOnce again, I bought tickets in the visitors section for the match – 30 euros …

After taking a weekend off for World Cup qualifying matches, Spain’s first division was back in action this weekend. The closest match to where we are staying was in Villareal last night – a 2.5 hour drive from Benimassot.
Parking in VillarealAs with the other Spanish soccer matches I have attended, cars appeared to park anywhere around the stadium. However, this time there was not enough room on the street for cars to double park or enough room on the sidewalk for cars to park there. I parked …

For the fifth consecutive day, I attended at stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Today, the tour started in Alicante – a 90 minute drive from where the Ultimate Sports Wife and I are staying. As I wrote when the tour was in Valencia, I would normally not drive 90 minutes to attend a cycling race that only lasts a few minutes (especially when there are other stages to attend within a shorter drive). However, Nicole and I wanted to visit Alicante at some point during our …

For the fourth consecutive day, I attended a stage of the Tour of Spain. Today, the tour started in the city of Alcoy – a 30 minute drive from where I am staying. This was the fourth time Alcoy has hosted a stage in the history of the Spanish Tour. The last time Alcoy hosted was in 2004. Even if I had not planned to attend the other stages, I would have definitely attended this one based on Alcoy’s proximity to Benimassot, Spain.
According to lavuelta.com …

Although we would not see the start or the finish, stage 8 was riding through the neighboring towns from where we are staying. We are staying in Benimassot and the next towns to the east are Tollos, then Facheca, then Famorca – three towns which the tour was riding through.
We were in the process of deciding which town to watch the race from when our neighbors knocked on our door at 11 am. They asked if we wanted to watch the tour with them. Of course, we …

After stage 7 of the Vuelta a Espana was over, I met Nicole at the El Corte Ingles. Rather than drive to Valencia’s city center, I thought we should check out the area surrounding Levante’s home stadium – Estadio Ciudad de Valencia. However, there was not much in terms of restaurants so we drove back to the city center.
Pre Game DiningLast Sunday, before the Valencia football match, we spotted a couple of pintxo restaurants opening as we were leaving for the Mestalla. Thus, Nicole wanted to try …

Very rarely is there an opportunity to attend two sporting events in the same day while in Europe. Not that two sporting events do not occur on the same day, but getting the wife approval is more difficult. Under normal circumstances, I probably would not drive 90 minutes to attend the Tour of Spain – given the fact the tour was in other areas closer to where we are staying. However, Valencia’s second division soccer club, Levante, had a home match scheduled for Saturday night – meaning …

On a weekend when La Liga is not playing due to World Cup qualifying matches, the perfect distraction is to have the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) come through our area. The current plan is to attend five consecutive stages within a reasonable driving distance (no more than 90 minutes away).
The first stage within a reasonable driving distance was stage 6, which began and ended in Xativa – a one hour drive from where the Ultimate Sports Wife and I are staying. Xativa hosted its first stage …

With a limited number of sporting events in the region, I chose to attend the Copa del Rey second round match between two Segunda Division B teams (Spain’s Third Division) – CD Alcoyano and Villajoyosa C.F. Last year, Villajoyosa was in the Tercera Division (Spain’s Fourth Division), but was promoted to the next level this after they won the division last year.
I chose to attend this match because, 1) Alcoy is the closest city to where Nicole and I are staying in Spain (about a 30 minute drive) and …