SAGUNTO

So the first week we were here we tried to get over jet lag, the next few weeks we went to parties held at the homes of people we meet at work. Then there was the weekend we spend at church between YW, Church, and the empanadas. So we were determined this weekend to get out and do something. Paige had been invited to a birthday party at a lovely little Danish girls home and Seth went to play with a little American boy. The weather was amazing (The older girls complained of nothing to do.) We were going to check the internet for something fun to do as our "See Spain" book has not yet arrived. NO! The internet was down. So we picked up the kids from thier respective dates and piled the teenage girls in the car (not without complaint of having to go out!) We decided to drive into the city, maybe walk around, maybe head towards the beach, just a little outing.

Off in the distance we saw a castel high on a hill, so Dan decided to abandon the idea of the city and head towards this town called Sagunto (more teenage complaints). We followed the signs towards the historic town center and walked around durring siesta. There was no one around and we found this ancient amphithetheate that had been destroyed by Hannibal. They had reconstructed it in the areas that were worst off with completely contracting materials which was great to be able to see the truly old parts of what had remained. We walked around the remains of the walled city and the old castel by our selves for about an hour. It was amazing and the views were spectacular. (Other than thinking an hour was too long to walk around and see stuff the complaining subsided)

As we had come into the city we saw chairs out lining the streets the way they do in Provo on the 4th and 24th of July. We asked around and found out it was a parade and celebration for how the Christians over took the Moores. So we found a resteraunt that was kind enough to let us eat at 5:30pm (not @2 which is lunch time and not @ 8:30 which is diner time) Then we stayed and watched a long parade with many elaberate costumes from all the countries that represented the Moores in that time period as well as the Royalty and the Nights of the Christians.

A fun part was getting out of the city with the main roads blocked for the parade and lots of trafic. We found our selves in a little alley that went no where and not enough space to turn our car around. It was something out of a Mr. Bean show! I cant imagine what it would have been like in our american mini van instead of our little Eurpoean rental. We finaly got out and made it back to the hotel well after 11pm.

It was a great thing to stumble into and we were glad the internet was out and we hadnt gotten our guide book because we would have missed a great day.