Kayleen Travels

My favorite (so far). Look how beautiful this mountaintop city is! I was obsessed. I enjoyed my time there so much. I am glad I stayed two nights!

I have had this hike booked for months. My reservation was for Tuesday, July 23. I woke up at dawn in Seville to catch the 7:40am train to El Chorro. I sat with another solo traveler, Maiko, from Japan. When the hike began at 12:45pm, I was tired from the heat and from traveling all day. But I still really enjoyed Caminito del Rey and the experience of walking along the side of a cliff. This was once the most dangerous hike in the world, until renovations as recent as 2015. Now, it is quite the tourist attraction. Beautiful 20 minute walk to get to the entrance  Geared up and ready to go! From here, the caminito was basically over. Hot and exhausted, another twenty minute walk (mostly uphill) back to the train station. 

I took a noon train to Seville. My first train. I arrived at 2:30pm, walked 20 minutes in the heat to my hostel. In Madrid, every time I mentioned I was going to Seville, people would say, in this heat? I guess this city is particularly hot, and they weren't lying, the temperature was above 100 F. I stayed in my hostel until 8:30pm (I mean, there was air conditioning). I was really tired, and really hungry, because I had only eaten those Guadarrama muffins all day. Here are some pictures from my evening walk around Seville.

This bag of magdelenas / delicious light carb-y goodness has been my breakfast and lunch for three days. I bought a dozen for less than $3. Really helped with my food budget...

I connected with Natacha through an online network of travelers and locals who to meet people from all over the world and show off their home (this network is called Couchsurfing). Natacha and I hung out on Friday night in Madrid. She is also the one who recommended I go to Temple de Debod for sunset. Instead of staying in Madrid until Monday, on Saturday night I took a bus north about an hour to stay as a guest in Natacha's home in Guaderrama. Natacha and I walking around her town Eating calamari and patatas bravas  View from Natacha's guest room Sunday, July 21, Natacha took me to El Escorial, where I took a tour of the famous monastery there. It was gorgeous. My favorite room was the library. I wish I had pictures of the inside, but there was a strict no pictures policy. After the tour, we walked some more around El Escorial, and then met up with Miguel and Nadia, who brought food and supplies for a picnic. By the time ...