Guadalest, Fuentes del Algar, y Calpe

On top of Guadalest, Mediterannean in the background

This past weekend USAC took us on a fieldtrip to three of the most beautiful places I have seen in Spain. Guadalest is an amazing village that is perched on a hill in a deep valley surrounded by lush mountains. Although I have never been, I imagine Hawaii would be similar to this place. We climbed up to the Castell de Guadalest after our bus finally made it down the narrow winding roads. The castle was built over 1,300 years ago. It has beautiful cobblestone paths and many stairs that lead up to some of the most amazing views of the Costa Blanca. If you look to the south you can see the Mediterranean Sea. Catholicism has a large history in Spain and climbing up to the top of the castle there are the Stations of the Cross. I never heard about them but I received a quick history from some of my USAC friends. They were stunningly beautiful. There was also a little graveyard at the top. They were absolutely beautiful with pictures and flowers decorating the tombs.

The second place, Fuentes del Algar, translates to the Waterfalls of Algar. It is a breathtakingly beautiful spot hidden in the mountains. On the walk, I found my dad’s house, appropriately named Casa Gregori. We had to hike up some stairs to reach one of the upper pools. And with the dark clouds looming in the sky, we jumped in the freezing cold water anyway. It did sprinkle on us a little bit, but the cloudy skies reminded me of Portland and illuminated the beauty where the sun shone through. After changing clothes and warming up we headed down to the restaurant were USAC provided us with an amazing lunch of salad, croquets, paella, and a delicious ice cream cake like dessert. I had not eaten so much since I arrived in Spain! Even the views in the restaurant were picturesque.



Casa Gregori



From there we headed towards the beach at Calpe, an ancient fishing village. As we approached the beach you could look to the right and see houses built all up along the mountainside. What a view for them! To the left was the Rock of Ifach. This huge Rock juts out of the ocean and it is an amazing sight to behold. There is a hiking trail that you can take around it. Luis, the head of our program took us on a little walk towards the rock. Below the pathway, the water would come right up to the wall if it made it past the rocky coves. Some places even had mini geysers that when water would get far enough in, it would shoot out of one of the holes. It was simple stunning.

I am so glad USAC took us on this trip. All I had seen of Spain was the tram and bus station in Madrid and the desert from Madrid to Alicante. I was not impressed until this trip (part of that could have been a little resentment about my camera). But I feel so blessed to see God’s amazing beauty reflected in these places. It makes me wonder how much beauty waits for us in his world if he has created this in ours. Thank you to all who read my blog, and please check out my extensive pictures on facebook, because I don’t think words can do these places justice. Much Love <3