"On the Edge at El Caminito del Rey"

The final activity I had planned for the trip was a walk on the El Caminito Del Rey walkway near El Chorro, Spain.  The "King's Little Pathway" is a 3 foot wide walkway pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge about 330 feet above the river and rocks below. It has been refurbished in the last few years, mostly because people kept falling to their deaths along the old path. While some of the danger has been taken away, it still looked like it would be massive fun.

The day before I was supposed to do the hike, I received  an email telling me that my day had been cancelled, due to expected high winds. I had bought my ticket as soon as they came out for the year, in March,  but the tickets are hard to come by if you don't get them early. Most are snapped up by travel companies who then sell them as part of travel packages. The email was in Spanish of course, and also instructed me to rebook for another day. After much consultation with Google Translate,  I managed to book for the next day. It was the only day I had left, so it was either that day or not at all.

The morning of the hike was bright and sunny, and not too windy where I was, but I had an hour up into the mountains to drive, so I really didn't know whether I would be hiking or not. The drive was gorgeous,  rugged mountains and beautiful valleys with various crops and terraced rows of olive trees. Finally I came to a lake with bright turquoise water and was soon at the trailhead. There were many people headed towards the trailhead, so that was a positive sign.

The trailhead had a small sign, which was outside of a bare rock tunnel entrance. Then you walked for a couple of hundred yards through the tunnel and came out by a pretty lagoon, and then walked for about a mile before you got to where they actually signed you in and checked your ticket. I was a little worried because I kept passing people coming out who looked dejected. As it turned out they were actually rejected, because they didn't change their tickets on the website and tried to use the ones for the day before when their hike, and mine, was cancelled.  Red tape and fine print is everywhere.

They divided us up in groups of guided hikers, and like I chose, unguided hikers.  The day was especially busy because of the many groups that had rebooked from the day before. That was really the only negative, too many people.  After we had received our hardhats and a brief lecture on safety,  we unsupervised hikers were let free to go on the walkway. The gorge was dramatically beautiful,  there were waterfalls and rapids below us and towering cliff walls above us. If you didn't think about the fact you were hundreds of feet above the water and on a walkway clinging to the side of a cliff, it was just a pretty hike. Of course that was hard to do! I loved it, and kind of wished it was just a little scarier.

My favorite parts were when they had actually made part of the walkway have a glass floor when we were at an especially treacherous-looking bend in the path and at the end when you cross the gorge on a slightly swinging wire suspension bridge. That was fun! After the last of the walkway, you hike back to the highway, which was a half hour or so away. Then you had to get on a bus, with surly employees who apparently hated their jobs, for the ride back to the trailhead.

So that's another item off my bucket list, and well worth the effort. I can hardly believe all the different adventures I've had over the past month, and still have a few days to go before I head home. I'm headed off to Madrid next, one of my favorite cities.  I'll be looking for new things to see in the city, so I'll let you know what I find!

"A Little Down...A Lot More Up...in Ronda"

There were two more things on my Spain bucket list, the first was in Ronda, a town perched across a chasm with a famous bridge joining the two sides. I saw a picture of the bridge several years ago and vowed I would go see it. It tied in well with the second bucket list item, so off I went to Ronda. The road to Ronda was a twisting mountain road, the scenery was beautiful.  I'm constantly amazed at how different Spain has looked in my trip from north to south.

I set off from my campground about two miles from the city center and started the hike to the chasm and its bridge. It was easy walking, the road was all downhill.  I turned off the road to see Villa Apolo, only a half mile or so out of my way. I had no idea what it was, but it was on the map and piqued my interest. I first saw the old Moorish torre that stands near it, and veered off the road and through the woods to see the Villa and torre. When I saw the Villa, my first thought was "I wonder why?" Judging from the ornate facade,  it must have been quite the little palace in its day. I couldn't imagine what circumstances could lead to a house like this falling into such decay.

Little was left standing other than the front, the rest was falling in on itself.  There were also remains of a swimming pool and tennis courts. I then went to see the Torre, and it is still in great shape considering it's about a 1000 years old. Of course someone has been along to tag it with some graffiti,  but even the steps inside are still there to take you to the top. They were, of course, missing any sort of railing but were wide enough that it was reasonably safe. I climbed to the top and was rewarded with beautiful views of the city and the chasm, I wasn't at the right angle to see the bridge yet though.

I returned to the road and started off again, making my way to just before the city gates, where I turned off on a cobblestone road that led down into the valley. I knew this road would take me to a spot I could hike up to the bridge. I wasn't too thrilled about how far down it took me though,  knowing that I would have to go back up somehow! I finally reached a spot where I got my first look at the chasm and it's bridge. The sight was everything I had hoped for, truly one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. It was still quite a ways away, so I set off on a steep trail leading to it. Steep...very steep, and I only hoped it was the right trail.

My perseverance paid off when I eventually crested a hill and got the picture postcard view, one that only can be seen by the few who take the hike. I will say that I was a good 30 years older than anyone else I encountered who had done the hike, makes me kind of proud of myself! I found other paths leading down around the side, looking into the pool at the base of the waterfall, Yes, it also has a gorgeous waterfall under the bridge, several actually.  I spent a couple of hours just taking it all in. In one spot, you have to walk across a concrete bridge about two feet across, with one side being a cliff, to get the view.  That made me a little nervous! I had to laugh when several people actually refused to do it, can't say that I really blame them.

I finally made the climb to city level, and then wandered around the city a bit. I was too tired to take it all in at that point though,  so I decided to walk back to the campground.  I stopped first and picked up some water and cokes,  then set off on my walk home. Which I had forgotten was all uphill, and now I was tired and carrying a ridiculous amount of weight. It was nearly two miles, uphill. I literally thought I wouldn't make it. I finally got there and collapsed for the rest of the night.  I did return the next day, saw a nice church and climbed to its roof. Saw several other buildings and fountains, the usual Spanish old city.

For once, seeing something in real life managed to live up to everything I had hoped. You never know, but it is certainly worth the effort to find out.

"Marbella, Marbella"

I planned my last two days on the Costa del Sol to be beach days, and that's exactly what I did...well mostly. I found a really nice campground by the beach and hoped it would work out that I also had a good beach nearby.  I did! It was a beautiful long sandy beach backed by dunes and pine woods. There were wooden boardwalks to take you over the dunes because they are protected. There was also a Torre, or old tower there, but it was a shape I hadn't seen before.

I spent one afternoon and then the following morning at the beach and it was fantastic.  But then I needed to get out and do something. The town of Marbella was only a few miles away,  so I hopped the local bus to get there. I didn't really know quite what to expect, as I had heard it called the "Beverly Hills " of Southern Spain.  As I saw, the suburbs do indeed remind you of Bel Air or Beverly Hills,  but the old city is rather something else.

I knew as soon as I stepped into the old city that this place was special. There was just this romantic, laid back and somehow perfect ambiance that hit me instantly. Granted, the shoppers and restaurant goers were a little better dressed than the average, and there was no shortage of the beautiful people either. But it was the streets, the tiny, tiny little alleyways that somehow were able to fit in delightful places in uber-small storefronts and then be lined with flowers and pots that made this setting near magical.

I wandered aimlessly for a bit, stumbling across some beautiful ancient walls and delightful little plazas such as the Plaza de Naranjas which was surrounded by orange trees. I then got a glimpse of the church tower and headed to see it. A pretty, little church on the outside, not ostentatious at all. But go in, and it is amazing in its gold leaf! Oh my, there has been money around here for a very long time.  Inside is a simple white, which certainly sets off the massive amount of gold in the church.

I wandered some more and even found the two things I had been hunting for, a very particular item for Tim and something nice for me to remember this trip. Something very cute about the old town is the blue pots they use to line the walls here and there, I wanted one but also didn't want to lug it back to Hawaii, so no pot for me. I saw amazing fountains (my favorite was Medusa riding a dragon) whimsical tiny plazas in the many small parks and a little chapel on a side street that was so pretty. I walked down to the seafront and it was just as lovely as I'd hoped, a perfect Mediterranean view and I just sat and stared for a good, long while. Then it off to have a pizza and a long bus ride home.

I kept saying one thing over and over all afternoon as I wandered Marbella... "I want live here,  I want to live here!" And I still do. You never know...