@Peñafiel: A Pleasant Surprise

Peñafiel is a small town in the Valladolid province that is an hour and half away from Madrid and that still keeps some of it's medieval spirit. I must admit that my first goal was to visit the Castle but has it only opened at 4p.m. after lunch break decided to also take a stroll around it's historical centre. And what a good surprise it was, starting with the Plaza del Coso and it's medieval buildings, famous for it's balconies and bullfighting. From it you can see the Castle up on it's hill.

We then wandered around it's narrow streets with colorful small buildings carefully looked after until we got to the Church of San Pablo's Convent, it was a shame we could not visit it inside but apparently they have decided to restrict it's access after being robed a couple of times this Christmas. So to visit it one must book in advance. It was such an interesting place with a mix of architecture styles of gótico and mudéjar. From there we got into our car and drove to the Castle...such lazy people we are!

 

 

 

 

Lunch: @ Alabrasa - Carretera Valladolid-Soria Km309

@Sevilla: A day trip

As I am bored with this weather that does no let me go out and enjoy the outdoors I've decided to write about my (good) time in Seville. It was a few years ago, long before I even wanted to write a blog but it is a city that I want to come back specially to go a bit more off the beaten track, but I had less than one day, I was young and foolish so I wanted to see it's best monuments starting with the Alcázar and the famous Plaza de España that was used in some scenes of Planet Naboo from Star Wars.

So I started by visiting the Alcázar and I must say that I didn't spent more time than what I expected here. It was just so wonderful, the beautiful moorish inner courts, all the details on the Hall of the Ambassadors and then the gardens with it's fountains, I was in love with this place.

 

 

We then went to the Cathedral, it was a very hot day (40º) and all I could think about was how cool it would be inside and how much I wanted an icecream. It's dimension is impressive to say the least and the figures don't lie, it is the largest gothic cathedral and it was built after the Reconquista (XVI). Also beautiful and amazing is the Giralda tower, all the detail of it's decoration is simply amazing.

Finally I got to eat the icecream but it was so amazingly hot that from the moment I bought to the first bite it had already melted...

 

We went to another great Seville monument: Plaza de España. It is a strange one, I had mixed feelings until finally I actually like it, specially all the tile work around it. It was built in 1929 when Seville was hosting a World Fair.

Maybe 2014 is the year that will allow me to return to Seville and explore more.

 

 

Torre del Oro

 

@Huesca: A day trip

We stopped in Huesca for lunch on our way back to Madrid after our snow trip in Formigal. We weren't in a hurry and we strolled along it's historical center that isn't very big. It was a Saturday afternoon and it was strangely empty...no one in sight. Has we climbed the Street coming out of the restaurante we could already see the bell tower from the gothic catedral built between the XIII and XIV century.  I never got to go inside because it was closed, apparently it was only open for visits until 14h. I did get to contemplate it's amazing and elaborated doorway with sculptures of the Apostles.

In the same square is the Cathedral's museum and the Town hall just in front of it, that was also closed and so I missed the famous paiting of the Huesca bell that depicts the beheading of twelve nobleman ordered by the King Ramiro II.

 

 

In front of the town hall the Fountain of La Morena built in the XIX. We went down the Calle de las Cortes until we arrived to the Luis López Allué Square, also empty with all the stores closed. I was beginning to wonder if it was actually a local holiday or that maybe there was a huge party somewhere that I didn't know about. I really like the arcades of it's buildings and it was pity that I first met them on such a day without sunshine.

I then saw the S. Pedro el Viejo monastery built in the XII century in romanesque style. Inside are the tombs of two important Aragon kings: Alfonso I and Ramiro II.

Before we got back to the Cathedral square and our car, we passed through the Travesía Mozárabes where small colorful buildings house bars and indicate this is the best night spot in town.

 

 

 

Plaza Luis López Allué

 

Monasterio S. Pedro el Viejo

 

Travesía Mozárabes

 

@Formigal: Sleep and Eat

For our snow trip vacation we chose to stay in the HG Alto Aragón hotel (website: http://www.hghoteles.com/es/192/hg-hoteles-hg-formigal-fotos) and we were quite happy with it. I start off this post with a photo of the view of our bedroom's terrace, it was such a pity I wasn't able to enjoy it more. The rooms where confortable and large considering that we had two adults, two children and a doll in it. It had breakfast included in the price and it was a great to start our days, it had a good variety and the pastry would change so that it was not the same every day.

It had a SPA with an indoor pool which was nice to relax after arriving from the slopes. Also good to relax was the kids club active from 16h30 until 20h30 it gave parents a chance to rest a little bit. It was 140€ per night for four. 

 

 Now to the food we had in Formigal. Lunch was always near the slopes and in our case in Anayet but dinner was in Formigal. Our first dinner was in the Soul Café where we had a cheese fondue with pickles, fries and sausage and it was a great way to start. The kid had an hamburguer since he didn't finish it I was lucky enough to taste it has the meat was very good and juicy. It was around 12€ per person.

 

 

 The second restaurant we went to was Salzburg where the sausage dishes are the top choice, however I've decided to be creative and try the "austrians" version of the greek Gyros in pita bread. It was quite interesting, the gyros was not bad but the bread was to soft for my taste. Then we ordered a chocolate cake which is actually a replica of the famous austrian Sachertorte which was a very good surprise.

 

 On the 3rd day we went to Grajos where we had again a very nice dinner. Pizza and a good piece of grilled meat, what more could we ask for? The pizza at first looked like the ones you buy in the supermarket but it was great. We also ordered a rib eye, I really wanted to eat some grilled meat and it was so tasty. For dessert a crêpe with condensed milk...delicious. It was a bit more expensive than the previous restaurants but if you behave well it should go up the 20€ per person.

 

 The last one was Frankfurt...what is it with the european cities names? Salzburg, Frankfurt, etc.. This was the most expensive but I think it was also because we ordered more food. To started we had some fried cuttlefish that was very nice and crispy and that I dipped into mayonnaise. Then we ordered a rib eye that was good but not as tasty as the one from Grajos. This time we ordered three desserts: a cheese cake, on a more classic version where you can actually taste a strong taste of cheese and (once again) a crepe with a condensed milk filling. This one was around 20€ per person.

I am now officially on a diet after all of this great food.