Why is Elche also called Elx?

We learned something about languages in Spain when our Catalan friend Jenny taught us how to pronounce a street name that we were stumbling over. Xàtiva sounds like Cha-tih-va. Turns out that almost every region in Spain has two native languages. Castilian (Spanish) and a local language. The local language of Valencia is closely related to Catalan. In those languages the letter X is pronounced CH. So... Elx or Elche different languages, spelled differently but pronounced about the same.

Palm Trees, Lots of Palm Trees

Anyway, Elx or Elche isn’t really a tourist destination. It is, however, famous for its palm trees. The Elche Palm Grove with over 200,000 palm trees has been around since time of Muslim emirate It was proclaimed a World Heritage site in 2000.

The city is a only 26 minute train ride from Alicante. Yesterday morning Susan and I jumped on the Cercanias train and went to see the palm trees. It was worth it.

I’ve never seen so many palm trees in one place. We spent the day enjoying the palm trees, taking in the Huerto del Cura or Priest’s Garden, and just wandering around.

We also enjoyed an inexpensive (1 euro) but delicious glass of wine. The wine was so inexpensive it took me a minute to believe it when I asked for the bill. Dos euros can sound a bit like doce (12) euros.

Jamie Wyant is a retired American. After living in Valencia, Spain, he set out on a long, slow journey with his wife, Susan. He writes about the joys and tribulations of living and traveling gently. Jamie also manages the technical aspects of GentleCycle.net