Time to say goodbye to Madrid after a few fantastic days.
We walked out of our apartment to be greeted with a sea of pink ! A women’s half marathon to celebrate Mothers Day. Fantastic.
Eventually into our hire car and away we set heading south for our first stop at the gorgeous hilltop walled town of Toledo the entry town of the region of La Mancha.
It was first settled in the 11th century and has over time been controlled by Catholics, Jewish and Muslim. It’s had a bit of a chequered history and the Old Town built behind giant walls on top of the hill ensured it was easily protected from advancing moorish marauders.
There is also evidence of Roman occupation as early as 59BC !!
Access to the town is via 6 interconnected escalators from ground level into the city.
It is a thriving city inside the walls with many people residing inside the fortress. Lots of day to day shops, restaurants and bars fill the narrow winding cobblestone streets. Of course there’s a magnificent Cathedral.
It is in such ch magnificent condition it’s hard to believe how old it is.
Back Into the car in pretty average weather – windscreen wipers going a hundred miles an hour heading south to the tiny town of Ciudad Real, well known in the literary world as the home of Don Quixote. Also known as the home of manchego cheese – so we had to visit for both reasons.
It is not a highly touristic area and a 2 night stay was certainly enough to explore the township.
We stayed in what was one of the best hotels for location and value for money ever – and the hotel itself was lovely. The Eurostars Reys Alfonso X hotel. Brilliant.
Ciudad Real was founded in the 1200’s by Alfonso X and has a rich medieval history.
Another town that was enclosed completely by walls to protect the inhabitants, there is only one lasting piece of the wall remaining from what originally had 130 towers and 6 gates.
The town was often attacked and changed hands many times – again three major religions held fort here over the centuries.
In the early 1800s the city suffered through the Spanish war of Independence and the walls came down. some of the oldest buildings also met their demise however there are quite a few remaining.
The legend of Cervantes “Don Quixote” is everywhere – and in the main square Plaza Mayor there is a clock called the Casa del Arco that sits proudly at the top of the square in the old Town Hall and three times a day puts on a show …. Celebrating the “life” of Miguel de Cervantes, Sancho Panza and Don Quixote.
It’s fun and surprisingly lots of locals stop and admire it each time it plays.
The food in this Andalusia region is next level magnificent. And Ciudad Real is famous for its Manchego Cheese, a hard and tasty cheese that goes perfectly with everything else. We gave it a good tasting.
Tapas is still very popular and we had another fantastic tapas experience at an outside taberna in the main square
A nice, Relaxing and interesting couple of days here in Ciudad Real and now tomorrow heading further south onto Cordoba.
Ralph and Karen's Tours 