October !

 

We are entering a more active time now!  We are filling our days with excursions.  On Thursday (Sep 29) we went to see El Castell De Guadalest.  We took the coastal scenic route to get there (about 1.5 hours).  On the way we stopped at a little cafe in Popol for a refreshment before going up to the castle.  

The castle was amazing!  Pat said it was the best castle she has seen, and she has been to 417 of them!  This one is nestled up in the hills overlooking a beautiful blue lake. There are a number of vantage points all around the castle to take in the amazing vistas! I am always awed by the effort and ingenuity that must have gone into the construction of these castles, all done by pure man-power!  I often wonder how many lives were lost during the building of these impressive structures situated on cliffs and crags! 

This weekend there were a couple of old tall ships in the harbour.  A working reproduction of a Spanish galleon and a 3 masted schooner that used to transport salt from this coast to north Africa.  The galleon is called the El Galeon Andalucia (check out this link: https://www.fundacionnaovictoria.org/el-galeon/ ) and the schooner is the Pascual Flores (https://www.pascualflores.org/en/ ) We went to have a look on Friday (Sep 30) and were able to see the Andalucia.  The Flores was out "at sea", doing a sailing tour over to Tabarca.  The galleon was impressive!

We also met a wonderful new friend, Neha!  She lives in Toronto and told us a bit about her tremendous life's journey.  She is seeing the world and taking on different experiences as she does.  She was one of the crew on the galleon!   

We took a little trip up to the light house.  I've been up there on my bike a few times.  This was Dave, Pat, and Munchie's first time to check out the views!  Needless to say my darling bride did not venture all the way out onto the lookout platform!

Another mini highlight for Brenda, finding a VLT!  Even with the language barrier, she enjoyed the brief (very brief!) interlude!  She was trying to get Pat to share her enthusiasm for this "sport"!

Took in a sunset on the beach!

Pals, waiting for the sunset!

The city of Elche is just a stone's throw away (about 20 minutes by car) and just on the outskirts is an outlet mall!  When I discovered this I made a rookie mistake and mentioned it out loud!  Well, this gave my bride a focus and mission!  And so, we took a trip up to the outlets!  

While Pat & Munchie were checking out the place, Dave and I went on our own quest.  We needed a basketball!  We went into Elche and located a sporting goods store, Decathlon.  It is a huge store, similar to our Sportchek/Atmosphere in Canada.  We were able to complete our quest and return triumphant to the outlet area.  

Well Munchie also was able to satisfy her "foot wear jones" and came away with a couple of pairs of Wonders shoes.  Wonders is a Spanish company and we were standing on ground zero, the manufacturing plant!  As it turns out, Elche is the centre of the spanish footwear industry!  Pat found some new kicks for herself as well!  I'm sure this will end up being one of Munchie's most memorable outings of our Spanish vacation!

We took a drive down the coast to Cartagena on Tuesday (Oct 4).  It's about an hour & twenty minute drive, so for us Albertan's, a short commute!  The highway system here is quite good and we made the journey without incident.  Although the gps in our rental, on occasion, has been indicating we are driving out in the middle of the Mediterranean!  Being who I am, I already have used my google maps to chart out the trip so I have a fairly good idea of how to get where we need to go!  

Cartagena was a fabulous little port city, steeped in history dating back to pre-roman settlement.  It has been a key sea port for southern Spain and the geography of the area with the sheltered natural marina shows why.  

Our day in Cartagena was terrific!  We strolled around the old part of the city, the marina and took in the old castle (https://www.castles.nl/concepcion-castle) and the roman amphitheatre (https://teatroromano.cartagena.es/historia_hallazgo.asp ).  

Cartagena is also known for the street art!

A closing note:

Dave and I did get to use the basketball!  The day after Cartagena we stayed in Santa Pola.  The boys started the day with a morning of round ball skills, it was very apparent I haven't had a ball in my hands for quite some time!  The girls marched down to the beach and laid claim to a sandy spot to soak up some rays.  After our strenuous work out, we joined the girls on the beach, and I tell you, that cooling plunge in the sea was fantastic!

This evening we took a walk down to  the marina and had a great meal at the Tsukimi Asian restaurant.  

All in all, another great week.  Will be posting next week, stay tuned!