I can't believe it's May and I'm entering my last month here in Spain (for this school year at least - more on that later). Now that the weather is
finally getting warmer, we're making the most out of our remaining weekends. Last weekend we headed to Cuenca which is where our friend Zed works, to see the city (I've never been), and also to celebrate his birthday.
Lyle and I took the bus to Madrid on Thursday afternoon, then spent the night in Julie's place. The next morning the three of us took a Blabla car to
Tarancon, the pueblo where Zed works. Tarancon is a pretty small town in the province of Cuenca. Zed told us that it was a really small town (he lives 3 minutes walking distance from his school, 5 minutes walking distance from the bus station) with nothing to do and see. I figured there must be a least
something, and convinced the others to stop by on our way to Cuenca (it was on the way anyway). We made it to Tarancon and realized that... well, there really is nothing to do! Haha. We ended up visiting Zed's school (he works with kindergarten and elementary kids, and they are the cutest!),and having lunch at a Chinese restaurant before catching the bus to Cuenca city. I convinced the others to take a picture with this fountain in a small plaza, which was probably the nicest thing we saw in Tarancon.
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| All together again! |
We got to Cuenca in the late afternoon and decided to leave the sightseeing for the next day. There weren't many hostels in Cuenca, so we ended up staying at
Hostal Residencia Castilla. I had booked a promo/deal, and got a private room of 4 for €35 each for two nights. It was a pretty good deal and that night we decided to stay in, take out pizza, drink and bond. :)
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| Telepizza! Haha |
The next day it was time to explore
Cuenca, a city in Cuenca province is the autonomous region of
Castilla la Mancha. We walked along the
Huécar River, and climbed up the sides of the gorges to cross over to the old town.
The Huécar River separates the old town from the new town, and he old town can be reached by the Puente de San Pablo (Saint Paul Bridge). The original bridge was built in the 16th century. After it collapsed, the current one was built in 1902, using wood and iron. The bridge is one of the best places to view the hanging houses and the gorge.
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| View of the bridge from the other side, after crossing it |
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| On the bridge with the hanging houses in the back |
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| View of the other side. Old town on the left and the Parador on the right. |
Then we got an up close view of the famous Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses). These were built over the Huecar River gorge in the 15th century. They jutted out from the sides in order to make more room in the houses. The houses were done in what was then the traditional Gothic style, and the whole gorge used to be lined with many of these houses. Nowadays, there are only three remaining.
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| Las Casas Colgadas |
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| Close up view. You can see the balconies jutting out. |
One of the hanging houses is actually the home of the
Museum of Spanish Abstract Art. It was just €1.5 so we headed inside to check it out. I was more interested in checking the house out, though we weren't able to go on the balcony.
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| View from inside the Casas Colgadas |
After going around the museum (it was alright, abstract art is just not my thing), we continued walking uphill towards the Old City/Old Town, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. We easily found
Plaza Mayor, which had this beautiful old gate...
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| Plaza Mayor |
...and the interesting oddly shaped cathedral. Officially named the
Básilica de Nuestra Señora de Gracia (Basilica of Our Lady of Grace), this cathedral was the first gothic style Cathedral in Spain.
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| Cuenca Cathedral |
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| Cuenca Cathedral |
We continued going up and up, as Cuenca is situated on the slopes of the Serranía de Cuenca. Near the castle ruins we stumbled upon this lookout point that offered spectacular views of the gorge. Cuenca is surrounded by so much nature, and it's quite pretty.
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| View of the Parador on our way up |
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| Mirador |
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| The gorge |
When we reached the top, we stopped for a lunch break. I tried
morteruelo - a kind of pâté/local stew made of different kinds of meat, mainly partridge - along with some homemade wine.
After lunch, we continued exploring the castle ruins. I forgot to snap a picture, but there really isn't much left. We walked up the stairs to one of the remaining walls, and saw the old town spread out in front of us.
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| View from the castle walls |
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| View from the castle walls |
We spent the afternoon relaxing, then headed back out in the evening to check out the old town when it was lighted up. The picture below doesn't really do it justice, but it was quite beautiful with all the lights.
The next day we took the bus back to Madrid in the morning. Cuenca was lovely, but it can easily be done as a day trip from Madrid. Back in Madrid, we stopped by the Filipino restaurant
Vi-Valdez (C/Alonso Castrillo, 4 -- Tetuán metro stop), before rushing to catch our bus back to Granada.
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| Zed forever annoying |
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| Julie and Lyle |
We rushed back to the bus station, and arrived 3 minutes before our bus was scheduled to depart! (I don't know why we keep doing this to ourselves haha). Another good weekend trip with friends just chilling and hanging around. :)
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