Thursday 13 June 2013

cultural highlights

Loved Salamanca for it's gentle sandstone colours and fabulous Plaza Major. On to Trujillo, as visited before ,still wonderful sitting in the main square surrounded by mansions of the conquistadors and looking at the storks nesting on the church and the kestrels sweeping by.
Guadalupe, fantastic art treasures in the monastery would probably go some way to paying off the national debt !
Cuenca cathedral suggested a modest building from the outside but once inside is a huge place with gothic pillars and various chapels dating from 13th to 16th centuries. Very good audio guide for thre visit. Great views over the Jucar river gorge and I managed to walk the footbridge linking the Parador with the town to get good view of the hanging houses.
Then a wonderful drive through the mountains on empty roads to Albarracin which proved to be the icing on the cake. An atmospheric town of winding streets and enclosed alleyways, lovingly restored in the middle of nowhere surrounded by limestone cliffs and pastures. Visit soon before it becomes "big" on the tourist trail.
Had a meal and bottle of wine in one of the winding streets whilst choughs and swifts flew overhead.

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