I woke a few times last night to the sound of rain pounding on the roof above us and correctly forecasted we wouldn't be doing any long hike today, either. I believe this series of storms has broken the record for continuous days of rain in Andalusia. However, there's nothing like a sumptuous breakfast to raise our spirits and prepare us for the day. We've noticed an interesting habit at the hotels regarding coffee. There has always been a coffee station with either a espresso-like-machine-for-idiots, or an appliance that takes pods. Our mistake is assuming to make our own coffee. If caught by an alert attendant, you'll be asked what you are attempting to make, then shooed away while they do it. In fairness, no two machines have been alike so far and we are guilty of making a cup of only water, a cup of only milk, or nine drops of thick espresso when expecting the standard three ounces of yummy coffee. Hence let the waitstaff make your first cup, then they are fine with you making your own after that.
Mark and I were early at our meeting point for leaving the hotel. We were honored by the trust Antonio had in us when he handed us the key to the van and said he'd wait for the others and meet us there. "Oh, and don't lose THE key!" If I'd been wearing my passport neck pocket (hmm, where is my passport...) I would have secured the key in it. As it was, I stuffed my left hand in a pocket with a death grip on the key while my right hand rolled my suitcase over many, many cobbles. My photos ops along the way were thus limited to brief respites from arm numbing vibration when I would pause and whip out my phone for a few one-handed shots.
I know I'm talking a lot about the rain so be aware that while many photos I'm sharing are taken in short periods we've had of bits of blue sky and warm rays of sun, much of the weather we drove through this morning looked like this...
Yet again, a Plan B was concoted by our intrepid leaders because the intended trail we were supposed to have hiked was most certainly going to be wet, cold, slippery, and probably in fog. They are so good at Plan B's! Our itinerary deviation today was another cave. Oh yeah. I wonder if Mark was influencing them. As you may know from past trips of ours, I am not a fan of being underground yet somehow we inevitably end up in a tunnel, mine, and/or a cave on every trip. He loves them. He is "at one" with rocks all around him while i am more of a secure nest-in-a-high-tree kind of person. But committed we were to this unplanned Plan B adventure. The weather did get nice as we waited at the cave for our tour to start (note actual shadows in the pic below), just in time for us to venture back into a hole in the ground.
Facing the severe looking cave entrance, I'm looking for the sign proclaiming "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here".
Sadly, we are not allowed to take photos in this cave, either, and it is VERY photo worthy. With not nearly as many steps as our last cave (but twice as slippery and ten times wetter), Cueva Pileta not only has wonderful -tites,-mites, and columns, but oodles of doodles from three major prehistoric periods. Two thumbs way up for this cave. Back out and at the van we had a snack-lunch, a little bit of UV radiation then hit the road. Our route did take us to the town our Plan A hike was. Antonio dropped us off at a trailhead past the town and we did manage to walk a couple of kilometers of the easy part of that hike back in and through the town. Even though the hike/walk was short, most people were soaked by the end, so it was definately the right call not to do the other part which was higher in elevation. I must give a shout out to my Soloman waterproof boots and new Eddie Bauer jacket. I have marched straight through puddles and while I might be shaking off rain drops at the end of the day, I've been completely dry inside my coat and boots.
By the way, this is what the weather looked like at higher points on our drive...
We'd been calling our adventure the "Andalusian March", a tongue-in-cheek riff on the fact this Caspin tour happens in March, but i think we should rename it to the "Marcha de los Paraguas" (March of Umbrellas).
After our walk, we were rewarded with a partial dry out (clothing) at a bar (refreshing liquid), where we rested for about half a hour, then drove the last hour to Jerez de la Frontera, our stay for two nights.
We had enough time at our Hotel Tio Pepe to change out of still wet clothes before heading to dinner a few blocks away. We are south enough to be with orange trees in blossom. What a delightful fragrance! It's one thing to know why cities in Spain plant so many [inedible to many] oranges, it's another thing to experience why they do it.
The menu was fixed and consisted of a delicious salad ("greens" are surprisingly hard to find in restaurants) and most excellent main dish of a whole sea bass. All topped off with yummy sweet sherry and a dessert of our choice. When in Spain, have flan. That's how I roll.
Here are a couple of views of Jerez on the walk back from the restaurant. There were stars!! Good night. Sweet dreams.
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