Day 6 - Around Orient

Gelati: 0, Wine: 5 glasses, Tapas: 0
Distance walked: 8 miles (officially but I'm beginning to have my doubts about the accuracy of the measurements), Time taken: 6 1/2 hours (including 1 1/2 for lunch)

The weather was lovely today and the walk much easier so 11 of us set off this morning - everyone but Denis of the knee.  We went up the peak behind the hotel to see the ruins of the Moorish castle on the top.   We then dropped down to a meadow just below the castle on the other side for lunch.  We were back to the official 3 breads, 3 cheeses, 3 salamis, 3 salads + 1 olive menu but with the addition of hardboiled eggs topped with mayonnaise (invented on the neighbouring island of Menorca) and sun dried tomatoes.  Dessert was a flaky pastry tart topped with custard.

We didn't make it to the lunch spot until 1:30pm in spite of setting off at 10am and only having 5 miles to cover.  The American couple might be steady but they are definitely slow.  However, as our guides point out they can't tell people they can't do the walk if they want to try.  My feet and knees didn't mind the slow pace and frequent breaks but some of the faster members of the party were a bit peeved.

After lunch Denis of the knee joined us for the walk back since his knees can cope with descents just not ascents but the male half of the American duo dropped out, so we were still 11 and still slow.  I was beginning to mind the pace as I was looking forward to getting back to the hotel and taking it easy by the pool since the weather was so good.  Steven had told us the route we needed to take to get back and eventually a couple, Andrew and Liz, and I got tired of waiting for the group to catch up and just went on without stopping which we are not supposed to do.  We can walk at whatever pace we are comfortable but we are supposed to stop whenever there is a fork in the path so our guide can be sure we are going the right way.

The route back was pretty easy.  Down all the way into the valley and then around the base of the peak to the hotel.  The three of us almost got it perfectly right.  We only went wrong about 1km from the hotel.  The path crossed a stream and headed up the right hand bank - and so did we.  However, the hotel is on the left hand bank and we were supposed to turn off the main path there onto a side path.  Steven hadn't bothered telling us that yet as we weren't supposed to have reached that point on our own or at least we were supposed to have the wit to stop and wait for him there.  We came to the point where we could see the hotel across the stream and weren't sure where to go.  The stream bed was dry so we could climb down the bank, across it and up the other side but the hotel was some distance up the slope and we could see a high fence along the terrace.  Liz and I were all for going back to the crossing and going up the other bank.  Andrew was all for scrambling across the stream and up the opposite bank.  As we were discussing this vigorously Sarah, the route manager, heard us from the terrace and came to our aid.  She showed us were to get across and up into the hotel grounds.  Steven showed up with the rest of the party about 30 minutes later and scolded us very gently.  Both Steven and Sarah are fabulous people.  They manage to stay cheerful and friendly and highly professional despite trying circumstances and trying customers.

I'm enjoying this holiday but I'm not sure if it is entirely a good thing.  Sarah deals with the hotels, right down to handing out room keys, and also makes sure we are plied with great food and drink at every opportunity.  Steven, when we do what we are told, does all the navigating so we don't have to think about anything.  I can see the attraction of having everything taken care of but it does isolate you from the places you are visiting.

Dinner was at the hotel again.  We were told by Sarah that the chef had insisted on serving us his leek and potato soup for starter.  She sound a bit dubious about this but had been assured it would be good.  However, we were given large bowls with a small piece of frittata in them which puzzle us all until the soup was poured over the top.  I had a second helping.  Main was roast pork with an orange and port sauce accompanied by roast potatoes and green beans.  Dessert was almond cake with ice-cream.  Again, we started with a glass of cava, then white for entree and red wine for main.  The unofficial motto of ATG is "Fitter but fatter' and it is entirely appropriate.