Road to the Ocean. Part 2
It was the thirteenth day of our journey... We had already left Portugal and continued our way through the southern part of Spain. The weather blessed us with sunny and cloudless days, and the previously unfamiliar landscapes introduced new images to our minds.
We spent the last night in tents near two reservoirs - Guadalteba and Guadalhorce. The name of the first reservoir comes from the geographical name of the area, and the second from the name of the most full-flowing river Guadalhorce, located nearby.
How wonderful it was to run to Lake Guadalteba in the morning and swim in its clear and warm water...
And climbing up the ridge, enjoying the views of the Guadalhorce reservoir...
The main goal of today's day was to walk the "King's Path" or in Spanish - "Caminito del Rey", which ran at a height of about 70 meters, along the vertical walls of the El Chorro canyon...
For the first time, the path was built in 1905 as an auxiliary route for workers who were involved in the construction of the Conde de Guadalhorce dam... The path ran from one wall of the canyon to the other... After the king of Spain walked the path during the dam opening ceremony, it began to be called the King's Path... In 2015, the path was reopened after reconstruction, and now it runs one and a half meters above the old, historic one...
Finishing our royal journey through the canyon, we continued along the roads of southern Spain...
For the night, we camped on the Mediterranean coast, near the town of Cartagena...
Traveling through the arid Spanish places...
Stopping by almond trees had already become a tradition... Almonds went down a treat...
The fruits of pomegranate and mandarin trees delighted our stomachs, and our stomachs delighted us... Also, along the way, we encountered many date palms...
That day we ran through the mountainous region of "Xorret de Cati", located in the "Sierra del Fraile" mountains. This area also hosts one of the toughest stages of the famous Spanish multi-day bike race - "Vuelta"...
In Valencia, we stayed overnight at the apartment of Ihor's friend. We had dinner together and asked her about life in Spain.
The next morning, we went for a walk-run around Valencia, starting from the park area, which is about 10 km long and runs through the entire city. Interestingly, the park is located on the site of the dried-up bed of the Turia River...
Over the park, there are many bridges that impress with their design...
The main square of the old part of the city, and the entrance to the cathedral...
Our next stop was Barcelona. This time we stayed with a very nice couple, Nazar and Tamara - Serhiy's friends. Upon arrival, Tamara prepared a very delicious dinner of rice and mussels for us, and Nazar helped us park the car. We had a pleasant conversation and heard many interesting stories from their lives...
The next morning, Dmytro and I went to explore Barcelona, while the guys went to Montserrat to visit the monastery of the same name.
We spent the night near the Hospital of Saint Paul, one of the city's landmarks...
After walking a bit more, we reached the main symbol of Barcelona - the "Sagrada Familia". Its construction began back in 1882 and is planned to be completed in 2026...
Thus began our acquaintance with the creations of the world-famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, which impress with their originality and uniqueness...
The next Gaudí creation we visited was Park Güell...
After finishing our tour of Gaudí's architectural works, we walked through the narrow streets of the old part of the city, the so-called "Gothic Quarter"...
It was quite interesting to constantly see Catalan flags hanging on balconies and windows, which constantly remind of the desire of part of the population of this region to secede from Spain...
After spending two nights in Barcelona, we left Spain and headed along the highway along the southern coast of France. That day we planned to travel as much as possible because the time allotted for the trip was running out... Yet, passing by the Nice promenade, we did not miss the opportunity to swim in the sea.
We spent the night in a rather unusual place - at an exit from the highway in a designated rest area... From which, in the morning, picturesque views of the Italian coast opened up...
Driving along the highway past Genoa, we got stuck in a traffic jam and, taking this as a sign, decided to visit the city and stroll along its promenade...
Similarly spontaneously, we ended up at Lake Garda. Serhiy looked at the GPS, saw that we were passing nearby, and said - "I want to swim in Lake Garda"... That's how we all found ourselves in the clear and cold water of the largest Italian lake... A trouble...
The weather at the lake inspired us to make a small change in plans. Instead of heading straight home, we decided to make a small loop and go to the mountains for a day... We headed to the Dolomite Alps, to the "Tre Cime di Lavaredo" rocks. However, the weather here was not as joyful as at the lake...
We spent the night in tents in the national park. In the morning, it turned out that it was an unauthorized place for camping... We just didn't notice the prohibition signs at night... But we got away with it, quickly packed up, and moved to an authorized parking lot, after which we set off on the route...
Part of the ascent went through a tunnel carved into the rock... I hadn't climbed like this before...
Reaching a height of 2600 meters above sea level, we turned back, as zero visibility did not motivate us to continue the ascent...
The cold mountains at the end of the journey became a kind of acclimatization to our "Ukrainian climate"... Literally three days ago you were swimming in the sea, walking in shorts and a T-shirt, and here it’s minus degrees, and you need to keep moving to avoid freezing... And so the whole trip was most memorable for its contrast, both climatic and social... For example, taking such a banal moment... You drive through Austria, Switzerland, France... People sort their trash at home, there is not a speck of litter on the roadsides... You find yourself in Portugal, Spain - trash on the roadsides, no one sorts trash at home, almost like here, except for good roads and a higher standard of living...
And in general, there is no point in comparing people or countries... Maybe not everyone knows this and tries to follow imposed societal patterns, but any person is unique, and every country has its own original flavor... It all depends only on our perception. Close your eyes and the world around you disappears... And if you don't know how to enjoy where you are now, changing places is unlikely to help you...
For twenty days we lived in a rhythm detached from our routine, enriched with new stories, impressions, and getting to know ourselves a little better...
Дякую за спогади! Просто супер!
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