gaztelugatxe

What luck Monday has brought me. First attempt: successful.

The adventure began like this:

Ali // well guys, we can either follow this road here to our right

or we can hang close to the coast. either way, we'll get there . .

We decided it was best to stay near the ocean, as we were heading to an island of sorts,

which kinda lives in the ocean, that was about all we knew.

After rounding our third or fourth curve atop one of the many deadful hills,

we caught a glimpse of our destination.

It was at or around this point that we came to a beaten path through the woods

and a decision was to be made //do we think this is the right way,

or should we continue up the hill of certain death and see what's up there . . ?

Continue we did. Sweating bullets and shedding attire,

not quite sure how far we had gone; not entirely sure where we were going,

we stumbled upon some random //tree-boat// restaraunt hidden amid the sloping hills and mountainous flora. 

It must be mentioned that it was Patrick, I believe who voted we press on,

as this was clearly a popular venue and with this many people visiting the church every day,

the path would CLEARLY have to be paved, therefore the beaten trail through the woods

is DEFINITELY NOT the way to go.

From said restaraunt/parking lot where all varieties of Spanish peoples congregated after driving a mere 5 minutes up the mountain it took the three Americans a good half hour to climb, we found excellent photo taking opportunities. Many minutes were spent here pondering the certain pleasure that would surely follow an event such as rolling around on this luscious lawn for an indeterminant amount of time.

After taking stock of our position in relation to the church, which I may point out is now hidden from sight,

we realize that we have passed it and we have now successfully made it to dillemma #1.

Was that really the trail we were supposed to take?

The one BEFORE hill-climb from hell?

sweet.

We decided to head back to the trail that OBVIOUSLY was NOT the right way, although clearly, it was.

This is a glimpse at the bottom of steepest hill of my life [until that point].

Stumbling through rough terrain,

avoiding picker-brushes and slippery ruts cut between rocks and tree roots,

we finally came to a cliff overlooking the ocean . . dillemma #2.

The church was, yet again, just beyond our grasp.

Buuut, we did have the opportunity to take in some breathtaking ocean-views

and joke about our unnecessary trip back to the unpaved path,

and what's more, our ill-fortune with once again having to endure

THAT BLASTED HILL. from hell. of death.

awesome.

I may have forgotten to mention that it was rounding 80 degrees this day.

Please take into account my sweater and jeans at this time. Thank you.

After re-scaling Mt.Everest - we returned to the //tree-boat restaraunt// and discovered, quite simply, acutally, that had we gone a mere 20 feet further, we would have discovered the paved trail leading directly back down the mountain of gaztelugatxe, you know, the one we just climbed. Yeah, at least it was paved. Thanks Patrick, you were right . .  

Continuing along this nearly 50 degree slope toward the center of the earth,

we come across yet another beaten diversion

away from paved footpath we were currently following.

Do we continue on or should we venture off?

Given recent events, logic dictates that we stay on the path MOST traveled. 

Which brings us to dillemma #3:

the. path. ends.

You have got to be joking me at this point.

Oh, but wait, Patrick, what was that about a touristy location being so busy,

they MUST have a paved path all the way there. CHEYAA!

I prayed for death at least three times making my way down this ragged crevasse

cut away by years of errosion and rainfall.

notice how there used to be a handrail to guide your way . .

yeeeah, thanks Spain.

Alas, finally we met our destination:

La iglesia de San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.

P.S. The answer is yes, to those of you who may be wondering if I contemplated collapsing into a slow, comatose like death at this point. Thank goodness, however, I denied myself that simple pleasure, as the view from above was worth the trip ten-fold. And had I simply fallen to my demise, you would all be unable to experience those envious feelings of NOT being on this island so as to take in these beautiful ocean-scapes in real life.

aaand, this was the way back - -

. . with cows.

In all seriousness, this was probably my favorite day that I have spent since coming to Spain.

It was a beautiful day, the weather was absolutely amazing, the countryside was breathtakingly gorgeous.

And if it weren't for the hills [of which, there were many] the reward wouldn't have been nearly as sweet.

I'm looking forward to a couple more adventures similar to this in the near future.

Then, I will be ready for my girls to come enjoy some of this wonderful country and culture along with me,

and after that: Snow. Bing Crosby. Christmas lights. Home.

Thanks guys!