What a wonderful week my friend Susanne and I have had. Adventure, time to talk and get deeper into our relationship, shopping and down time too. We are well matched in our energy level and what we like to do, which made it easy to be together. We think similarly and able to give each other insight and boost each other up. We are both on healing journeys. We have had a wonderful time together. I feel very grateful for this experience.

Susanne was kind enough to let me lead her in two practice sessions of BodyPump as I prepare for an audition in April. I realized I need a great deal more practice but the second day was better than the first. We also got to swim in the indoor pool here, although it was a bit cold I enjoyed it.

We had steady heavy rain on Wednesday. Some areas we planned to visit we saw on television were flooded. We had decided it would be our rest day and so we trained, swam, rested and then went shopping. It was was a great day. We found a shop in a nearby mall which we both liked. Colorful clothing and affordable. We went back the next day to exchange a jacket for her and ended up with a few more things. We went back again Friday for a gift and found more treasures.

Thursday we went on a driving tour. We went south to Calp where there is an interesting cliff. We walked along the beach and took our shoes and socks off to walk in the water and even saw a bit of sun peeking through the clouds. One of my favorite places I think. Turns out my Aunt and Uncle have been there as well. Love thinking we have shared some experiences in travel.

We traveled a little further south to Altea where we had heard it flooded. We saw evidence of it but it had run its course. It was 19.5 degrees (70 F) there. We drove up into the mountain hills to Guadalest and saw the temperature drop to 10.

It was beautiful on the way up. Heavy clouds hung on the cliffs which were dotted with vegetation. As we approached the small town we saw the magnificent castle we came to see perched on top of the cliff. It was incredible and worth the trip. A bell tower and small medevial town on the top where the castle had once been. There was also a grand manor house.

The only disappointment was the turquoise water we were promised was green from all the rain runoff. Still saw magnificent views. On our way out we thought we were trapped in an area we thought was the exit. We asked a man for help. He came back just after we realized we could actually get out. We spent some time chatting with him to thank him for his help and discovered he was from Ireland and living in France. We had quite an interesting conversation with the man who came to rescue us.

During the 5 or so minutes we thought we were trapped. We tried many times to take a serious picture of us trapped but we kept laughing. Finally after many tries we got one.

We took an alternate route back and stopped at a small citrus orchard and took some photos. We heard water running under a thick ravine covered in brush but were unable to see the water.

As we wound down through the mountain we saw orchards thick with oranges, mandarins, lemons and figs. What a delicious sight. Some citrus trees were covered with netting. Houses hung on the cliffs with terraced gardens. It was picturesque and worth seeing. We did encounter a lot of bicycles we had to share the road with as well which was a bit nerve-wracking with the small roads.

We arrived back at our apartment tired and hungry. Dinner is served starting at 8 pm which is much later than we are used to but the dinners have not been disappointing. Roasted chicken for me and Susanne had lamb chops. However eating that late and being tired made made it difficult for me to sleep so Friday I did better and ate less.

Our final evening together on our smart phones. We both look forward to going back home but have had a great time. The photo (courtesy of Susanne) of the pool does make it look better than the actual experience but the castle on the hill in the background is amazing. We went beach combing for shells earlier as well and watched the kite surfers in the wind. Fantastic end to our time together.