We soldier on, even in flip-flops

Yesterday Maite tried to kill us. But she lured us in slowly, with food and wine and the beach, so we followed her like lambs to the slaughter.

The day started off innocuously enough, with sleeping in a bit and then heading downtown. The head of the travel agency that sent Maite's group to Lancaster this summer wanted to meet me and talk about some "business". Turned out that talking about business took place at a lovely little outdoor plaza while drinking coffee. Not too rough.

We went back home, had lunch and this was when the first red flags should have started going up for us. She told us we should eat a "good lunch" as we would be doing a lot of walking later on in the day. Cue ominous, forewarning music here. We headed to a little beach town less than an hour from her house and spent some time lazing on the beach (read: Sarah and I conked out). Of course the one time we all brought our bathing suits, it was way too cold to swim in the water. Figures. And then more foreshadowing of what lay ahead: Maite and I took a stroll on the beach and she pointed out a little chapel on top of a fairly high hill on a little island in the distance and said that was where we were going later. I assumed she meant in a car. Silly, silly me.

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We tore ourselves away from the beach and got back in the car and headed up a mountain. At the top we parked, got out and started making our way back down. But this time it was down a long, winding path which led to a narrow walkway at the bottom that connected the tiny island with the chapel to the mountain. Keep in mind that I was wearing a skirt and flip flops. The hike down alone, the EASY part, took us at least a half an hour. When we got to the bottom, we saw what appeared to be like a miniature version of the Great Wall of China that winded its way up the island hill, a mix of steps (approx. 230) and slopes. But, oh, what a view! We climbed to the top, to the chapel where you can ring the bell and make a wish. We arrived with impeccable timing, just about 20 minutes or so before the sunset, which we watched go down over the sea. Simply lovely.

A sentiment which lasted briefly, until right about the moment when we realized that we had to high tail it out of there to be able to have enough time to make it back down the island hill and waaaay back UP the other one before complete darkness fell. Yeah, still in my skirt and flip flops. By the end, I'm pretty sure that little old ladies and babies were passing me. We made it just in the nick of time and of course, as soon as we made it back to the top, once I had regained the full use of my lungs, my first words were "Valio la pena"... it was totally worth it!

Today was our official chill day. We spent some time at home arranging our next few stays, headed out downtown to a bookstore, to a little pub for some vino and bocadillos for lunch and then on yet another long, leisurely stroll all along the waterway that lines the city.

A sidenote for my fellow Lancastrians: at one point we went on the oldest hanging bridge in the world, and Sarah spotted a guy wearing a shirt that said "Lancaster, PA" on it! Turns out it was just some random brand's design but it referenced 106 North Queen Street in its design. Seriously, in the middle of a small town in Spain, what are the chances of seeing someone wearing a shirt of a random company who randomly chose Lancaster to incorporate into the designs of one of its shirts? And, yes, of course I asked him to take a picture of it (check out the photo of the random dude wearing the white t-shirt... you can click on it to make it bigger).

In the evening we met up with Mikel and went out for our last dinner together. Then back home to pack (I made baby steps in getting rid of some things, even though Sarah doesn't think I should get too much credit for ditching the socks they gave me on the plane) and take one last, obligatory picture together. Moving on is always a bit of a mix of excitement about going somewhere new, tinged with sadness about what you're leaving behind. So tomorrow, we're off yet again....