After walking around the village of Albarracin, we retreated to our hotel room because I had a Zoom presentation to do. Spain is a great country to do remote work from. You can set up client Zooms for 5 or 6pm, which is mid-day on the eastern half of the USA, and mid-morning in the west. It stays light late (nearly 10pm), with dinner usually not until 8:30pm at the earliest, and often 9pm or later.
So, after my Zoom, it was plenty late enough to hike the trail to the top of the walls. It's not a long hike, but it is a steep one. We took our time picking our way up, partly it seems that if you trip, you would tumble a long way down the side of the mountain, and no one wants that!
The beginning part of the hike starts in town, with multiple stairs, past a church. There is a gate is not part of the trail, but we went through it to see the afternoon light on the outside of the walls. It is simply sublime.
When we got to the wall gate near the top, we look through and decided we didn't have to cross through to the other side. There is a very narrow strip of land, with then a plunge over a cliff. Instead, we were happy to enjoy the view from through the gate (a photo below).
The initial descent along part of the wall is fairly steep and treacherous -- not long, but steep and rocky. On our way up, we watched another couple about our age struggle with the initial part of the descent, so we felt victorious when we had an easier time getting down that patch ("easier" doesn't mean "easy.")
Once we got past that, it was easier coming down -- we just had to avoid sliding on the loose rocks, and we also avoided getting to close to edge. It doesn't really matter if you fall down the side of the mountain on your way up the mountain, or on your way down, it's going to hurt.
After that, we rewarded ourselves with drinks at a small bar just a few doors down from our hotel. Carol used her phone and suggested we eat at nearby Alizia Casa de Comidas.
(Editor's Note: Sounds like everything is "nearby" in Albarracin. Writer: Rare of you to make a good point.)
Alizia Casa de Comidas was mostly empty when we arrived, and the food was great. Carol says it is her favorite restaurant of the trip. It's high on my list as well. Frankly, there was so much good food through the trip, I'm not sure I could pick one favorite; maybe I could pick 5-10 favorites! We believe it is good enough to be rated as a Michelin Guide restaurant, but as we get no say in the matter, I guess it doesn't really matter.
The whole thing (hike, late afternoon sun, drinks at the bar, and the restaurant) brought us joy. It cemented our love affair with Albarracin, and met our hopes for the village.
Here's a bunch of photos from the hike:
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