short & sweet excursion to Xátiva

view from one side of the castle

The final group excursion was to a small town about 45 minutes from Valencia called Xátiva.  Like most of the places we've gone to, there's basically one big tourist attraction and in Xátiva it was the castle.  It doesn't look like your "typical" castle, it's really spread out and more like a giant wall with two peaks on each side.  It was another fun climb to the top, we started taking short cuts through the grass instead of staying on the switchback roads all the way to the top of the cliff.  

We also went to a museum called L'Almodí, where the famous upside-down portrait of Phillip V of Spain hangs.  He is hung upside down as punishment and in memory of his decision to burn the city of Xátiva after one of his victories in battle.  Xátiva is also the birthplace of two former Popes.  


It's hard to believe I will be on my way back to the U.S. in less than a month now.  Each week seems to go faster, and since I will be traveling for the rest of my weekends here, it will be even more of a blur.  I'm leaving for London on Friday night to begin my Harry Potter-filled adventure :)  We have mapped out various locations where the movies were filmed that we want to see for ourselves in addition to seeing part 1 of movie number 7.  Personally, I'm going to try my best to be the first muggle to get to Hogwarts through Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station.