Xativa Castle

Dennis and I woke up with plans to go to the tourist office to get info on a hike close by and to the local grocery store.

We didn't have any luck communicating with the tourist office gentleman so we moved on to the grocery store.  Silly us, we had been driving 12 minutes to go to a huge grocery and this one was only 3 minutes from home. 

At first we thought it was closed because all the lights were off but the door swung open when we pushed on it.  Our eyes adjusted to the dim lit store.  We wondered around looking at the half stocked shelves.  I was relieved to see yogurt but it was out-dated.  We meandered back to the meat counter and I wondered what delights my eyes would find.  A whole chicken.....yes the WHOLE chicken, no feathers of course but the long neck and beaked head were just lying in the counter and next to it were six hooves with five inches of leg attached to each waiting to be purchased. 

I tried to find something in the store to buy but it was just pre-packaged food.  I'm not sure I'd want to buy anything in a store like this.  There were two older and two younger people at the front of the store going at it like a bunch of cackling hens.  I thought a fight was going to break out.  Oh, how I wished I knew Spanish.  It was a heated exchange of some sort perhaps over the cost of electricity.  Robert, our land lord, said that electricity is very expensive here. We walked out with a bottle of water.

So the hike was out because we couldn't understand the directions on how to get there.  Dennis said he'd fix breakfast while I researched a plan for the day.  After wallowing in wonderment I prayed that God would show me what he wanted for us that day.  Dennis and I just wanted to have fun with the kids.  The girls had talked about the beach but it was a little cool so I mentioned to them a castle hike and they loved the idea.....whew.
Over breakfast we decided on a trip to the Xativa Castle.  Getting there was insanity.  The buildings on each side of us hugged the car.

 A lady started to step out of her home and then ducked back in to save her door from being clipped off by our car.  People stared at the size of our car going through the narrow streets like it was a UFO that just landed.  We cranked the Audi around corners, questioning our every move until we started to see signs for the castle.  We stopped at the first parking lot we came to.

This church was on the way to the castle.  The castle is in the top right corner of the picture.  We walked about 20 minutes in the wrong direction before we found our way back to the road that led to the castle.  We could have driven up it but we decided to hoof it.  The road switched back and forth several times, we were tired and we had hardly started.  One of the girls saw a little path going straight up.....so that's just what we did.  I would get behind Dennis and push he and Raleigh up the nearly vertical path.  We were laughing hysterically at how we must look but we were saving ourselves atleast a mile so we continued. 
The funny thing is that people along the road were getting a chuckle at watching us plow right up through the bramble.  We are such dorks.

There was a doorway in the city wall where the girls found a kitty.

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A puppy finds the girls.

Yes, the girls are taller than me and Annie is measuring herself every morning waiting for the day until she is also taller.

 The views from the castle were impressive.

Look out, she's gonna blow!

The trek was quite extensive.  There were 3 different routes to take and when we saw the words, "very difficult" we knew it was the hike for us!

We were fortunate that there was a restaurant a-top the castle so we settled in for a refreshment.  The girls were elated to get a Coca-Cola.  It was served with a lemon, how delightful.

They had a few sips then removed the ice so as not to dilute the precious pop then moved the their glasses to our table so they wouldn't be tempted to drink it all before their snack came.
Funny Girls!

The girls took off running, opting for the road all the way back to the car while Dennis and I took the path trying to race them.  We got to laughing so hard and didn't even come close to beating them.  Poor Raleigh was in the pack as were going straight down, his favorite phrase was, "Whoa, whoa, Daddy!"

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galations 5:22-23