SPAIN 2026
Saturday
Cuenca
Our morning train from Valencia to Cuenca was in a hurry, travelling at 246kmh.
Halfway between Valencia and Madrid is the hillside town of Cuenca, a dramatic UNESCO World Heritage-listed fortress city in Castilla-La Mancha. Perched on limestone cliffs high above the Júcar and Huécar rivers. It is famous for its Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) that dangle precariously over deep gorges.
We are staying in an older building, the Hostal Posada Huécar, conveniently located at the edge of the old town, and beside the river. There's no elevators here, but we are provided a step stool so we can look out our little window and see the hillside across the way.
Once we dropped our luggage, we were given a map and suggested path to explore the hillside old town and see the cliffside houses. No matter which path we take, we never end up where we expected, but we managed to see everything we wanted to.
Our first stop is the Cuenca Cathedral, one of the earliest Spanish examples of Gothic architecture. The building was started in 1182, and has seen a number of restorations over the centuries, including in 1910 to repair damage caused when the bell tower (the Giraldo) collapsed in 1902 after being struck by lightning.
The view from the upper choir loft over the church are impressive, but the views outside from the tower are astounding.
The Church of Saint Michael (Iglesia de San Miguel in Spanish) was erected during the 13th century, and was added to up until the 18th century. The simple church is now used weekly for concerts.
Much like the cathedral, the views from the tower are awesome.
After a lunch with a view, we finally started to figure out which roads and paths went where, and started to wind our way back down.
We could hear people talking as we wandered down a cliffside trail, and realized it was rock climbers on the other side of the river.
Back in our room resting our feet, and we hear a bunch of noise outside, people yelling, bikes ringing bells, very strange since it's been silent the whole time. I climb up on our step stool, and there is a Marathon running right down our street.
One of the views from our window is a restaurant on the cliffside, when we ask at the front desk about it in broken Spanish, we are told it's in a cave... SOLD! We made reservations at Grotte del Huécar for dinner
Nestled inside a cave that is thousands of years old, with terraces on the front overlooking our hotel and the hillside behind it, there couldn't be a better setting.
Lots to choose from, tasty and served in a fun way, and the service was impeccable.
As soon as we got back to our room, we were treated to a Thunder & Lightning show, combined with torrential rain. Perfect timing!
Sunday
Our included free breakfast was a few old pastries in plastic wrap, coffee and water. Well, it was free, but would some juice kill you? It was still really rainy in the morning,so a good time to pack up and move on to Madrid.
