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!

Alicante, Spain

Although it has only been a little over a week since our last post, these past few days have been totally action packed, with several hundred miles of travel, soccer games, climbing, sweet glasses of Sangria and crazy fun with American and British expats.

Rome
The day before we left Italy, we happened to catch a live AS Roma v. Atalanta soccer game. It was wild, to say the least. The AS Roma fans turned up in droves, gathering outside the stadium before the game, downing cheap beers. As we walked up to the stadium, we could hear them chanting and getting all riled up. As soon as the players took the field, the stadium began to look like a war zone. Flares were going off everywhere, huge BOOM sounds of firecrackers rang through the stadium, and the Roma fans shouted their fight song at the top of their lungs.

There had already been a large police presence at the stadium before the start of the game, but oddly enough, Atalanta scored the first goal, and the stadium went crazy. The Atalanta fans had been sheltered in a small part of the bleachers, but they broke through the lines and began fighting with other fans. For a moment, I was afraid someone would get hurt. But as the smoke cleared, we could see that the riot police had been brought in- probably a few hundred of them- and they had their weapons ready. The rest of the game passed without too much incident, but needless to say, it was quite an experience!

Barcelona, Spain
We were able to get a direct overnight train from Roma to Barcelona, and Spain greeted us with lovely bright sunshine. We only had a couple of days in Barcelona, and unfortunately most of the museums were closed. But we were able to go on a couple of walking tours and see the interesting architecture, eat some great food, and make a mental note to come back another time and see much more.
The first day we were there, the Barcelona soccer team had a big game against Bayern Wader, and we saw tons of their fans in the streets. We heard later that there were over 100,000 people at the game. We watched the game on TV, and saw a Manchester United game the following night in a packed Irish bar. It seems strange, but once you leave the US, you realize how the rest of the world truly seems to revolve around soccer, and actually, how fun it is to watch.

Costa Blanca, Spain
As it often seems on our journey, getting to rock climbing destinations is a bit difficult, but once there, the climbing is awesome. On the way to our choice of accommodation, challenges included only being able to hire a manual transmission car, getting lost in the hills as darkness descended, and attempting to find a place to stay in Benidorm (ugh!) just as our tempers (and the clutch) were reaching breaking point. Fortunately, the next morning we were well rested, Chris´s clutch control was a little better, the sun was shining, and we found our place to stay. The Orange House in Finestrat is a climber´s hangout - we stayed in a caravan (RV) in the garden - full of random climbers, dogs and cats. Although only a 10 minute drive from Benidorm, Finestrat is a beautiful little town nestled into the hills underneath some huge mountain crags. After a good night´s sleep, we headed out for the climbing. Costa Blanca is generally described as a perfect wintertime climbing destination, and we would certainly agree with that. There are dozens of limestone crags here, all well-bolted, easy to get to, and in wonderful surroundings - often overlooking the sea or valleys of olive trees. Sadly, we only had time for two days of climbing, but hopefully we can come back here in the future and climb a little more...


Our transport in Costa Blanca. The clutch is just out of the shot on the right.



















Relaxing with a spot of mint tea in Morocco...

Florence, Italy

If you could measure the number of miles that we have walked around and around and around this city.... I think it might measure in triple digits. Well ok, that might be a slight exageration. But there has been so much to see, that my calf muscles now ache when I walk. Although Chris might argue that much of the sightseeing has been inside chic clothing stores. Italian fashion...... sigh.

Campanile di Giotto and Duomo

The second day we were here, we were surprised to find that there was a huge marathon running right through the middle of Florence. At the Duomo, one of the most famous sights here, we braved the crowds to try and get up into the Campanile di Giotto. This bell tower was built in the 14th century, although the colorful facade was added in the 19th cen. 414 steps later, up a gradually narrowing and slightly claustrophobic staircase crammed with tourists, we got a fantastic view of Florence. Terracotta rooftops cascaded in a jumble all around the Duomo for several miles, and the marathon runners below seemed to be just a speck. Oddly enough, a helicopter filming the race hovered around eye level, only a hundred or so feet away. Sadly, the Campanile and Bernelleschi's Dome - which we toured later - were covered with appaling graffiti. All along the staircases and the balconies on the roof, there were carvings and marker scrawlings of "te amos" and "was here." In some ways I can understand how older graffiti appears; perhaps the ethic of preservation was not as strong a few decades ago. But there is no excuse for graffiti within the past few years.

Naples, Italy

Never, ever, in my life, have I seen such completely insane traffic as I have in Naples. Beijing, Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco, even Athens and Istanbul.... those cities all have scary, crazy fast-paced traffic. But it pales in comparison to Naples... and we haven't even hit Rome yet.

The first indicator was probably when I stepped out of the Stazio Centrale bus station, and was nearly flattened by a Vespa type scooter. I looked around for a crosswalk, or sidewalk, but there didn't seem to be one. Hordes of pedestrians were plowing into the oncoming traffic, which they were assuming would stop. It was totally confusing- our guidebook said that if you make eye contact with a driver in Italy, it means you will stop. So we should cross the street without looking? We quickly learned to try and cross the street alongside a local, they seem rather fearless.
If you can find a safe place to stand at rush hour, the traffic scene is really quite amazing. Everyone is blaring the horn on their car, usually because some "Smart Car" - a tiny golf cart looking death trap- has shoved itself into three lanes of oncoming, bumper to bumper traffic, in order to turn the opposite way. Meanwhile, noisy scooters, like a cloud of bees, swarm around the mess, trying to move forward, and dodge the other cars, who have decided to get up onto the sidewalk and go around. Wow. I don't think there is anything in the world truly like Naples rush hour.

Unfortunately, the traffic spectacle has created quite a pollution problem here, despite Naples proximity to the coast. Our guidebook also says Naples is renowned for it's architecture; it seems though, that the tall buildings and narrow alleyways create a trap for the smog.

Luckily many of the historic sights are just outside of Naples, and we have been able to take in some daily fresh air. Yesterday we visited Herculaneaum and today we walked through Pompeii- both towns that were decimated by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. After digging through nearly 30 feet of ash and debris, archaeologists found some amazing ruins. In some places, detailed frescos, tile mosaics, and statues are still intact. Deep grooves from carriage wheels are worn into the stone roads, and in some places there is still ancient graffiti painted onto the walls.



Tomorrow we move on to Florence for a few days, then to Rome.

Athens: Sunny with a chance of.......Riot?

After finally catching a ferry from Bodrum, Turkey, we managed to get to the Greek island of Kos, and then on to another island, Kalymnos. A big tourist destination in the summer, Kalymnos is well known for it's fantastic sport climbing on tough limestone tufa. We spent a couple of days climbing (with great weather) and exploring the picturesque island. We were in for a long ferry crossing to Athens, and then on to Italy.

Yesterday evening though, as we sat down to a well deserved drink at Fatolitis Bar in Masouri, Kalymnos, our plans to sail to Athens suddenly seemed quite questionable. On the TV above us, there were scenes of mass protest and chaos. Protestors wearing motorcycle helmets were waving banners, and throwing all kinds of objects amid clouds of tear gas. Police, in full riot gear, were taking billy clubs to the protestors and trying to break up the violence. Fires seemed to have been set all along the roadsides, in what we later determined to be Athens.

"This," said the owner/bartender Sakis, "iz no good. Theez tomorrow ......is finished." He made a "finished" motion with his hands. Hmmmm, those protestors sure didn't look like they were going to just pack up and go home. "What's going on?" we asked. We had seen peaceful looking protests on TV for the past couple of days, but there was no internet connection in Masouri, let alone newspapers in English. We had to rely on our non-existent Greek, and Sakis limited English. "Theez," he said, "theez iz, you know, November 17." Yes, we knew it was Nov 17. "Theez iz....... you know, 1973......you know." Hmmmm, an anniversary of some type? We didn't really know, although I seemed to remember reading something about November in our guidebook. "Well, " said Chris optimistically, " we can go to the U.S. Embassy when we get there, if we need to." Somehow that didn't feel reassuring.

And for good reason. According to the Lonely Planet Greece guidebook, on Nov 17, 1973 Greek military tanks stormed a sit-in at Athens Polytechnic, killing at least 20 people. In recent years, Nov 17 has been the name of a "shadowy left-wing" "urban guerrilla group," which bombed the US Embassy in Athens in 1998. "Chris," I said warily, "I think we'll be going to your Embassy."

But, strangely enough, the bartender Sakis seems to be correct. The violence, for now, has "finished." As we rode through Athens this morning, via taxi, there didn't seem to be any signs of unrest. Just lots of people out with their kids, enjoying the sunny weekend. True, most of the violence seems to have centered around the residence of the Prime Minister, and the US Embassy- not Syntagma- where we are staying. But had we not seen the images on TV the night before, we would have never known there was a problem. There doesn't seem to be much coverage of the violence in the British or American media. This article from the LA Times was the best we could find http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-greece-protest,1,3464754.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

Stuck in Bodrum
Normally, being stuck in the coastal resort town of Bodrum, Turkey wouldn't be a bad deal. Unfortunately, though, the ferries are only runnıng a couple of times a week- sınce it is technically consıdered the winter season now. Getting to our next destınatıon, Kalymnos, may take some tıme. Turkey is great, but the more time we spend here.... the less time we have in other countries. The past few days, however, we have taken in some excellent sights.

Cappadocia
Some of you out there have perhaps been to Turkey, and some of you have even been to the wonderful regıon of Cappadocia, known for ıt's strange landscape. But have you ever had a half Dalmation, half Pointer dog named 'Spotty' be your tour guıde? Serıously, we're not kidding! We arrived ın Goreme, a small town in central Cappadocia, and decided to call the Kose Pansıon home for the next few days. The Kose ıs run by Dawn, an amıable Scottısh woman who came here over 25 years ago, and her husband. Spotty was left a few years ago by a couple of travellers, and has become quıte well known ın the town. We told Spotty we wanted to go to the Museum, and he bounded off happıly down the street. The Goreme Open Aır Museum ıs a fabulous collectıon of cave churches that contaın detaıled frescoes of relıgıous scenes from the 11-12th centurıes.
Although Spotty kept up wıth us for most of the day, he decıded that he'd had enough once we rented bıcycles and rode out of town. We found some more cave houses to explore ın Rose Valley, a short dıstance outsıde of Goreme. Crımson red geometrıc patterns covered the ancıent doorways, and the outlınes of the Maltese cross were stıll well evıdent.

For our second day ın Cappadocıa, we decıded to go on an organızed tour, so we could take ın a few more sıghts. The group was small, only seven of us, and our guıde was knowledgable, though a lıttle dıffıcult to understand. After explaınıng the local geology (basıcally, lots of volcanoes went boom and fılled the valley wıth tufa, whıch has sınce been eroded to form lots of towers and pınnacles, some wıth a cap of tougher basalt on top), we were taken to an enormous underground cıty. The fırst couple of storıes were carved out by the Hıttıtes and were only used to store food, but later cıvılızatıons dug deeper ınto the rock - ın some cases goıng 8 storıes down. These cıtıes were only used durıng tımes of conflıct, when they could retreat ınto the ground for up to 6 months at a tıme. The cıty we vısıted, Kaymaklı, was an ıncredıble maze of tunnels and rooms, some small, some large, wıth ımmense ventılatıon shafts leadıng down to the water table below. Huge round stones could be rolled across the entrances to keep enemıes out. There was even a wınery underground where they could press grapes and ferment the juıce.

After the underground cıty, we went for a walk through a beautıful nearby valley, had lunch, cruısed past a load more rock churches, monasterıes and houses, and got home ın tıme for dınner wıth Spotty.


Chrıs faılıng abysmally to make a pot.

He ended up makıng an ashtray wıth a hole ın the bottom.