May 27 - El Castell de Guedalest

 Todays adventure was to visit a mountain town.  We were very fortunate that the town we chose, El Castell de Guedalest, has an easy to find parking lot which is right on the road going through it.  You have to park there and then walk up through the medieval part of town and on up to the castle.  We headed for the part of the parking lot that looked like it had a lot of empty spots - only to find that it was blocked off.  You had to go to the busy parking lot.  This was not fun.  Parking anywhere in Europe is a challenge as space is always at a premium.  You can always count on tiny parking spaces, narrow lanes and lots of 31 point turns to get around corners.

I had told Michael I did not want to do a lot of steps today as my thighs are still sore from our trip to the tower in Elche.  Why I even thought that we could go to a mountain town with no steps or steep inclines is beyond me!  

El Castell de Guedalest is very cute, but very touristy.   Everything in this town was either a gift shop, a museum, a restaurant, or a historical home.  

Our view of the castle on the hill from the parking lot.

This is a real tourist town.  I have never seen such a tiny place with so many weird museums.  The first museum we came across was the Museum of Micro Miniatures.  I loved the list on the sign just outside the entrance.  We did not visit any of these museums.  Other museums in the town or just outside of the town include, the Museum of Nativity Scenes and Dollhouses.  The Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers, the Museum of Medieval Torture and the Museum of Collection of Historical Vehicles.

One of the many gift shops.

We were in a mountain town so there were great views.  It was gray and overcast - but no rain!

Terraced hills.

There are palm trees everywhere in this area.  Because of the steepness of the paths I was able to get a closeup of the tree limbs.

The gate into the walled town is built right into the rocks.

A chapel in the town with modern paintings.

More views of the countryside.  The turquoise water at the bottom of the valley is a reservoir.

So many tourists - I don't know where all the bus tours came from as we are not near a port that a cruise ship can anchor at.

Michael has been using the fish eye - but I borrowed it for a while.

And now the same street with my regular lens.

We stopped at a viewpoint several miles away.  Michael had plugged into the GPS to take the less windy roads on our way home - but I am pretty sure we took a wrong turn right out of the El Castell de Guedalest parking lot as the road was non-stop turns and twists.  

But we made it back to the AP 7 and quickly made our way back to El Campello.  We were very hungry at this point.  We needed to get groceries today as all grocery stores are closed on Sundays.  But, first a stop at our flat to drop off things, then a walk to the seafront to find a restaurant.  I had lasagna - but they make them here with a ton of cheese.  I can never finish a serving!  This one was still bubbling when they served it to me.  Of-course I burnt my tongue!