Benidorm- Eyesore of the World
Sometimes in life, and certainly in the climbing world, the greatest moments are often preceeded by rough, unpleasant times. A long approach to a climb, bad weather, grumpy climbing companions... these are all things that most climbers encounter at one time or another, on the way to gorgeous summits, splitter hand cracks, and that well deserved beer.

Benidorm, Spain couldn't have been a worse place to begin our climbing adventure in Spain. After taking a train from Barcelona to Alicante, we rented a small car to drive about 45 minutes to the small town of Finestrat. Finestrat is located just inland from Benidorm, a huge resort town right on the Costa Blanca. It seems a terrible injustice, when you drive around the small lovely towns of Southern Spain, pine trees and rock outcroppings dotting the hillsides, and then suddenly there is this HUGE eyesore of a resort. Enormous skyscrapers have taken over the waterfront, and long lines of traffic clog the roads. What were they thinking?! you want to ask of the developers. Then it becomes obvious. Huge packaged tours of English people wanting to escape the dreary English weather, but still have their fish and chips.
Unfortunately when Chris and I reached Finestrat, the sun was beginning to set and we couldn't find the hotel we had heard about, The Orange House. We looked all over, and even asked a few people, but with no success. We hadn't really eaten much all day, only vaguely knew where we were, and - I'm ashamed to say- only one of us could drive a manual transmission- (Chris.) Finestrat was so small, we couldn't even find a restaurant that was open, so we headed back into Benidorm. And then things went from bad to worse.
With our patience running low, the car-or perhaps the driver- began to stall at several busy roundabouts. When we finally managed to stop and park, we figured we might as well try and find a hotel room. Um, yeah right. Although our guidebook said there were millions of hotel rooms in Benidorm, we didn't realize that it was a holiday weekend- Spanish Constitution Day. At least, that's the reason I want to believe there were no rooms available. I secretly wondered why the hotel staff looked me up and down. Yes, I had black newsprint smeared all down the sleeves of my jacket from cheap English newspapers, my hair probably hadn't seen a brush all day, and true, my blood sugar levels were just a little out of whack from not eating, but didn't anyone have any pity?
Nope, they sure didn't. We spent that night about 10 miles out of town, at a roadside place that advertised "BAR/CAFE/HOSTEL." At that point, we didn't really care. As we walked down the street to the local McDonalds to finally eat, we noticed that we were on the same block as a, um, 'Gentleman's Club' (I believe that's the polite term.) Several of its employees eyed us as we walked past. I prayed for this day to be over soon.

The Orange House- Finestrat, Spain
Of course the next day, we found The Orange House, clear as day. There were signs posted everywhere, but they weren't lit up- at least that was my excuse on why we couldn't find it. It turns out that several other climbers couldn't find it at first either, but that definitely should not be a deterrent for future guests. (Had we checked their website first, we would have found sufficient directions.)The Orange House was awesome. A Spanish villa style house, complete with orange grove and swimming pool, the Orange House caters to climbers and even has a guide service. Reasonable- and interesting- accommodation and breakfast/laundry options are available. Since all the rooms were full, we stayed in a 'caravan' (an RV in America) that had been parked in the yard. It was great, and of course the resident dog- Pepper- and cats soon became our best friends.
The long awaited climbing turned out to be superb. Because of the holiday weekend there were many people at Sella, a nearby crag. But it was fun to meet Spanish climbers and talk to them about climbing at different locations in Spain. We did a classic multi-pitch route called "Marion" (5) which had incredible views. The limestone rock was certainly not as sharp as in Kalymnos, but it seemed to vary in quality quite a bit. Some routes were very slick, whereas others were of normal friction.
The problem with climbing in Spain- if you have to find a problem- is that it is far too easy to play as hard as you climb. Indeed, at the Orange House we met many fun climbers, from all over the world, and frequently wound up checking out local nightlife with them. Every night at the Orange House we seemed to stay up into the wee hours chatting to wild English expats that had been in Spain for 30+ years, or we managed to get ourselves into deep philosophical discussions with other travelers, who loved to ask what we thought of American politics.
As a result, our next climbing day we spent at a crag known for its easier routes- Sierra de Toix. The setting was fantastic, right on the coast. From any route we could look back onto the blue, blue ocean. Some of the routes we climbed "Asombroso (3+)", "Costilla (4+)" and "La Roja Dos (4)" seemed little more than ladders- they had such deep holds. We decided to try "Espolon Gris (4+)" a multi-pitch route. The first pitch went just fine, but we got terribly confused on the second pitch. There were so many bolts, we didn't know which way to go! (Something you rarely see at US crags!) But we eventually managed to complete the route and rap down ok.

Greetings friends and family, Happy New Year! We are now back home in California, but we have tons more photos and stories from Morocco and Spain to add, so check back soon for those! Hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday season!