Guadalest

Wednesday 31 July
Today we drove about an hour to the wonderful mountain top village of Guadalest, or Castell de Guadalest to give it its full name, up in the hills behind Benidorm. The village was originally founded by the Moors. The Castle of L’Alcazaiba was built in the 11th century. The Alcala Tower is the main part of the castle that still remains. The views from the top are amazing -:the surrounding mountains, the river below (now dammed to form a reservoir) and the hillsides terraced by the Moors to grow crops. The reservoir is at a low level now, quite late in summer, but pictures of it when it is full, with its turquoise waters, make for a stunning image. On our way up to the castle, we visited the Orduña House, a municipal museum located in a stately home, built by the important Orduña family, which had its origins in the 17th century. As you near the top, you follow the path of the Stations of the Cross, lower right image. On the way up, Jen had spotted what she thought would be a good place for lunch, and she was right - lower left photo. The view was amazing , it was shaded, and being on the cliff edge, there was even a bit of a breeze. In addition to that, the food was excellent. Jen and I both went for salads, not feeling like anything hot, but Roger went for Rabbit, and Jason went for Lamb, which were both very good they said. After that, we did a little more wandering through the narrow cobbled streets lined with whitewashed houses with terracotta roofs