Recapping the past few days

This is what we did the day before Berit and Tomas arrived - we went to Mercadillo!   We look forward to this every Wednesday and we're disappointed that all of our visitors missed this market.

So, that was the morning of October 22nd.  That evening, Guillermo and I drove to the airport to pick up Berit and Tomas.  Their plane was scheduled to arrive at 10 to 1 in the morning, but didn't actually arrive until 1:30am!   How nice it was to see them again!  Since it was so late, we just  picked them up, drove them home and we all promptly went to bed!

The next day, October 23rd, (which was really just a continuation of that morning) we took it easy in the morning over a leisurely breakfast.  Then later we took the tram into Alicante, walked down Ramblas Boulevard, stopped to get an ice cream on the harbor promenade and then walked over to the elevator to go up to the castle.

Such a beautiful day it was!  Nice, warm and sunny.  We had great views from up on the castle.

That last picture shows Berit walking along a wall that we took down from the castle.  We had been so looking forward to doing that wall, thinking it would be a pleasant walk and also take us right into the middle of Old Town.   The walk along the wall was ok, there were great views from the wall, but there were too many high steps to navigate going down and once we were at the end, it didn't come out in Old Town at all, but in an ugly section on the side of Old Town that was under construction.  We walked a tiny bit back in to Old Town, (by this time we were all tired and hot) and headed to a restaurant on the Ramblas Boulevard.  After lunch, we caught the tram back to El Campello and then rested a little back at home.

October 24 - Friday - Beach Day in Calpe!

Now we're done with the beach and getting ready to catch a bus back to the tram station.

Saturday - October 25th - Sax Castle

There it is!  The castle we're going to see this day.

No microwave being dragged down the street this time.  But there was a hang glider who flew over us twice with his noisy engine!
There is a big difference visiting this castle on a weekend compared to when we visited it with Andrew.  With Andrew we had the place all to ourselves.  Not so this time.
When we arrived at the door to the castle, key in hand, we saw that the lock was off so we pushed the door to go in but it wouldn't go.  Someone had locked it from the inside.  Great.  Now even with a key, we still couldn't get in.  We banged on the door and yelled for whoever was in there to open the door but it did not good.  3 girls and another guy eventually joined us on the outside of the door and we all contemplated what we should do.  We knew there were people in there, (we caught glimpses of them) but they seemed to be ignoring us.
After a while, the door opened and a bunch of people came out.  It seemed to be a private tour or something.
All of a sudden, visiting this castle didn't seem to be as easy as before.  Now, knowing that someone had locked us to the outside, we were afraid that if we left the door unlocked and placed the lock on the inside of the door, that someone could come up and shut the latch on the outside of the door and lock us INside.  We felt we had no choice but to do what the tour group had done to us.  Leave the lock on the outside so that the latch couldn't be moved and then close the latch on the inside of the door.  And the only reason we did that was because we knew that at least 4 people were going inside with us.  Even though the place was small, we thought there could be the possibility that someone could slip in without us knowing and then we'd leave, lock the door and trap them inside. 

Tomas and Guillermo were the only ones this time who climbed the narrow bars to the top.

When we left this castle, we knew that the 3 girls had left with us, but we never saw the other guy leave.  So, we yelled out that we were locking the door, waited a few minutes and then locked it.  We wondered for a long time if we had locked the guy inside.

Another castle in another town

And approaching yet another castle in another town

Somehow or another we ended up in the Old Town section of Jijona instead of going around Jijona.  But it was worth it.  The streets before the scene below were much narrower than this, but at that point we were too concentrated on trying to miss the side walls to be worrying about getting out a camera!  Here we could breathe easier and finally thought to take a picture!

Sunday, October 26th - Beach by El Campello

Today we had breakfast on the beach and then found a nice little spot where we lay listening to the waves and (some of us) soaking up the sun.  It was so peaceful out there.  After noon, we drove to a nice tapas place to have some lunch and then we went back home.  We walked down to the water and around our neighborhood later that afternoon and enjoyed sitting out on the patio with a drink that evening.

Monday - October 27th - Guadalest

Guadalest is definitely one place we should have visited with Andrew but at the time, when we were deciding whether to go or not, the reviews of the place were saying that it is over-run with tourists.  And we can see how that could be true, if you go on a weekend.  But going on a Monday wasn't too bad and the amount of tourists was bearable.  

It is a very nice drive out to Guadalest, passing through the town of La Nucia which is situated in such a nice area that it is no wonder that so many ex-pats have moved there.  Some pictures of our day in Guadalest....

Heading to the castle

After coming down from the castle, we had lunch in the little plaza in Guadalest.  

After lunch we visited a museum of torture, which was fitting since it was so close to Halloween.

Fortunately, we didn't live in those times and could just play around with this stuff.  

Then, on October 28th, we took them back to the airport.  It was fun having having Tomas and Berit visit us and we are so glad they came.

One last picture at the house before leaving.

Back to just us

We took Eva's parents to the airport this morning.  It has been a wonderful 5 day visit with them.  As time allows, I will upload pictures to this blog and post about what we did the last 5 days.  It was nice having visitors - first Andrew and then Tomas and Berit.   It will be quiet around here for a while and maybe, just maybe Cousin Heidi will be visiting us at the end of November.  It is still very warm around here - beautiful sunny days, thank goodness, but it will unlikely be that way when (and if)  Heidi arrives.

Happy Birthday to Rebeca!!!

Calpe

Today we got up relatively early, drove into El Campello, parked our car and then waited for the tram.  We were looking forward to having a nice leisurely ride up the coastline to Calpe!  The weather was perfect - nice sunny weather and not too hot or cold.  The trip to Calpe was a lot easier than when we had done it a few years ago, perhaps because we read the train schedule better or because the set-up between the buses and the tram is so well coordinated now.  So, as soon as the tram got to Calpe, there was a bus waiting there to take people in to town.

We got off at the stop we had gotten off before and walked down to the beach to have a little drink in one of the cafes.  Then we walked down by the harbor and along the wall by where the fish are brought in.

Afterwards we walked towards the other end of the beach where we found a nice place to have lunch.

Andrew had melon covered with ham

Guillermo had grilled vegetables.

And I had avocado and shrimp

Then we sat along the wall to wait for the bus to take us back to the tram station.

Back in El Campello, we walked on the beach to some jetties and walked along the jetties for a bit.  Then we went to have dinner at an Indian restaurant and that was our day!