Castillo de Santa Barbara (Alicante) on my birthday!

It was a herculean effort, but we climbed almost all the way (well, much of the way) up to the highest ancient castle in Alicante today.  Originally, the castle appears to have been built as a Moorish dwelling in the 9th century, but was captured in the 13th century by the Spanish king and reconstructed as a fortress.  It has been held by many armies and was a prison during the Spanish Civil War.   But, this is as far as we got today.

These photos show the lovely, fairly gentle incline of the manicured walkway.  We, unfortunately, walked up what was a more ancient path with huge stone steps and very steep inclines.  At one point, I thought "this must be what mountain climbing is like", between laboured breaths, and decided that these walkways were built for horses, not men, because who could comfortably climb steps that are 12 inches high?  That walkway lead to what appeared to be ramparts leading up to the castle and, until we found the path to get down, we thought our hike would never intersect with this beautiful one that we could see people casually sauntering up.  It was quite a climb for two people of a "certain age".  Of course, I was fighting for my life and didn't think of taking a photo of the path itself. (Turns out the elevator I kept looking for opens on the waterfront.  I would never have guessed.)

This is the only shot of the rather challenging "horse path".  Those steps are Huge, I tell you. Notice how far away the castle looks and how steep the incline is.  This was close to the start of our climb.  "Just one more corner..."

The view was breathtaking.  Cliche, but true.

Smiling on the way down, having never "summited" the mountain.

To provide perspective, the Health app on my iPhone says I climbed 21 floors, took 13,739 steps, and walked 6.4 miles today.  Just sayin'

After a cool drink (or two) and some delicious Jamon Iberico (the acorn fed pork that the Spanish adore) at the bottom of the "mountain", we shopped and wandered until we found ourselves back at the waterfront.  This is what we, in the U.S., would call a boardwalk, right next to the beach.  Tiled like the Esplanada de Spana which is across the street, this waterfront walk can jump at you if you look at the walkway too long.  M. C. Escher would be proud.

We capped off the evening with drinks and dinner at the outdoor seating area of a lovely restaurant next to the Esplanada.  We shared a plate of Jamon Iberico appetizer and a large pan of paella (rice and seafood with wonderful seasonings).  Sorry, no pictorial proof.  I was too busy giving the meal the attention it deserved.  It was a beautiful day and birthday in Alicante.

Two more nights in Alicante and we will be on to Madrid.  Maybe we will take another crack at Santa Barbara tomorrow, but I hear there are two smaller castles (read, lower castles) in the city.  Hmmm...