10/11 El Castell de Gaudalest

 This is a town we have been to before - it is very touristy.  It appealed to Stephanie so we are going together.  John is doing the driving and finding the parking as that is always an issue and he is in charge of that - so Michael is OK to go as well.  Parking was fine - but very slow.  Stephanie and John decided to see the castle ruins and Michael and I just walked around.

I took photos of the reservoir below.

Other mountain towns.

The church entrance is a non issue - Just modern doors leading in.  This is the Church of El Castell de Guadalest which was built about 1734 on the site of a previous temple.

We are now starting to get hungry - but want to do want to do one more thing - the Museum of Torture.  I took pictures of a lot of the torture devices on show.  Later John did some research - most of the stuff in these kind of museums is fake!  So I'm only going to put two photos.  I have seen this black outfit in history books.

This is a stretching board.  Not sure about those peg like things.  But I know these actually existed.

We found an open table at a pizza restaurant close to the parking lot.  We all needed to eat!

We drove home and then rested until dinner time.

We walked down the beach front and found a restaurant for tapas.  Stef had a sardine on crispy cracker with other stuff.  She loved it.

John had a pastrami sandwich and a empanada.

Michael had a sandwich on crystal bread!

I had two empanadas.  One with chicken and other flavorings and the other was spinach and cheese.   And then we called it a day.

11/10 El Campello

Today we are going to El Castell de Gaudalest later on.  But first some photos from our windows.  Our guess was that a lot of the action in the water this morning is practice for the big event that happens Monday morning.  This is the big battle on the beach between the Moors and the Christians.  The Moors will be attacking from the sea and the Christians defending the land.  This whole week is the Fiesta of the Christians and the Moors.

Sunset last night.

Lots of action out at sea.

I have not seen a helicopter out on the water for this long time.

And finally a lone sailboat.

10/10 Another Morning Walk

 I have really enjoyed my morning walks.  Too bad the pavement/sidewalks are so hard on my hips!

I took another walk along the waterfront - ending up by the marina and going beyond it.  It is early morning and the sun is just starting to come up.

I stood watching for some time before I finally caught all the birds with the tower.

Version 1 or

Version 2?

Just like Turkey.  Cats abound by the waterfront.

Looking towards the archeological site.

The little mermaid.

Then I walked up to the back of the tower.  I don't show it in this photo - but they have started putting up the tents for the Christians to camp out next to the tower.  The Fiesta starts this weekend.

Looking back down at the marina.

10-8 Morning Walk

 First a couple of sailboat photos from the 4th.

None of these photos ever looks great as the boats are so far away.  I do enjoy watching them.  

Now on to this mornings photos.

These two photos were taken at the edge of the dog beach.  Here the beach turns quite rocky.  The rocks continue for a ways until we get to the next cove - where again the beach is very smooth sand.

Still quite dark and you can barely see the people at the end of the walkway.

Turning the other way to face the next town which is lit up by warm sunlight.

Back to sandy beach.

A restaurant named after me!

I walked a long ways along the beach.  Way off to the left you can barely make out the tip of Alicante.

Looking back the way I had come.

Heading back home - the sandy beach tapers off beyond this point and changes to rocks.

I love the shadows - but the light is blown out.  

My walk was about an hour and a half.  After breakfast I felt so wiped out that I took a long nap before I took my shower.

Stef and John are on their way to Spain.  They will arrive in Alicante very late tonight and spend the night there.  We will see them tomorrow morning some time.  And so begins our family time in El Campello.