Two years ago on my first trip to Spain we saw parts of the Caminito del Rey from the train window on our ride from Malaga to Ronda. When I saw the amazing catwalk trail on the wall of the gorge over the river I told Duke that I really wanted to come back and hike the trail. Today we did! We caught an early train from Ronda.

About nine thirty we got off the train at the very small station of El Churo. There was really nothing there so Duke had to work really hard to find a place for us to leave our bags. Duke had bought tickets to enter the trail at eleven but by the time we had stashed our bags and taken a bus to the trail head it was more like twelve. There were a lot of people lined up to start the trail. Luckily they let us in. We were given helmets and we started our hike.

This trail used to be on an old catwalk and was considered one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. They closed the trail for several years, rebuilt it and just reopen the trail in 2015. We were suspended on the wall of the gorge with the water below us.

When we finished the hike we retrieved our bags and caught the train to Malaga. We were tired and slept on the train.

In Malaga we are staying at a wonderful Parador overlooking the city and the Mediterranean.

This morning we caught a bus from Cádiz to Ronda. We are staying at the Parador overlooking the gorge.

We had a bit of lunch in a lovely sunny square while we waited for our room to be ready.

We checked out the oldest bull ring in Spain.

We had some lovely tapas to hold us over till dinner.

Dinner was great. Here is Bonnie’s salad.

My fish main course.

And Duke’s tiramisu desert.

I couldn’t post any blog posts in Cádiz because for some reason the WordPress.com site seemed to be blocked. So I am posting the two Cádiz posts from our next stop Ronda. Everything else about the Cádiz Parador was perfect.

It was a very relaxing day. All the museums are closed on Mondays so we spent the morning wandering around exploring. The streets had all been washed overnight after the big party yesterday.

This guy was handing out Werthers Originals candies.

The Parador in Cádiz overlooks the Atlantic. We spent much of the day relaxing, reading and enjoying the view. This is what I am seeing from where I sit on our bed!

We walked out on the main pier to watch the sunset and look back at Cádiz.

For Brian’s birthday dinner we went to a seafood restaurant called El Faro. In the picture below the waiter is breaking the salt crust off the whole fish we shared.

And there was a candle in Brian’s desert.

Before we left one of the Carnaval singing groups came into the restaurant and sang several songs. They were very good and theatrical.

There were also groups singing on the streets as we made our way back to the hotel.

And other groups just enjoying the evening.

It is Carnaval in Cádiz!! Our train this morning from Sevilla was packed. We walked through the crowds through the town to our Parador.

After checking in we went out people watching. What fun! the costumes were varied and over the top. We saw everything from suicide bombers, to Harry Potter to Nuns.

We stopped at a little bar near the shore and had paella.

Part of the Cádiz Carnaval is a ironic comedy singing competition. We watched several of the groups on floats doing their comical dances and songs.

For dinner we ate in the Parador. I had fish and octopus.

For desert Brian had chocolate with tangerine custard and sorbet.

Bonnie and I had crepes.

And Duke had a pastry with ice cream.

Our room has a wall of glass doors that open up to the patio. We opened the doors and played cards overlooking the Atlantic this afternoon.

This morning after breakfast of coffee and pastries we went on a walking tour of Sevilla.

In the fourteen and fifteen hundreds Seville was a very wealthy city because all the riches from the American colonies came through here.

After our tour we did some shopping.

And had a snack.

Because it is Saturday there were lots and lots of people out socializing.

After a rest we did some more wandering around enjoying Seville and eating. The first picture is fried asparagus and the second is goat cheese and berries.

There is quite a bull fighting tradition here. Many of the bars have bulls’ heads on the walls each with a plaque about the bull.