Cuenca es el río Júcar, y sus acantilados; es las Casas Colgadas (que no Colgantes!); es su Catedral del siglo XIII; es su Ciudad Encantada; y es su historia marcada por estar justo entre Valencia y Madrid, a tiro perfecto para una excursión de día desde ambas ciudades, y perfecta para un finde relajado.
El río Júcar es inevitable no percibirlo ya que es el que causa toda la orografía del terreno, gracias al efecto de su agua y del viento sobre la roca calcárea, que causa ese tajo tan característico. Tajo sobre el cual cuelgan las Casas Colgadas que tanta fama dan a la ciudad, y que parece que se vayan a caer de un momento a otro. Su catedral del siglo XIII gobierna la plaza central de Cuenca y su PORTAL es impresionante; y la Ciudad Encantada es una clase de geología en vivo y en directo. Por supuesto, Cuenca es también comer bien, y protegiéndonos del frío con algo ligero: no dejéis de probar el morteruelo, una pasta hecha con carne de caza que te hará recuperarte de todos los males.
Por último, su ubicación, tan valiosa hoy en día, también lo fue durante la Guerra Civil, por lo que siempre fue objetivo y formó parte de la retaguardia de ambos bandos. Una visita bastante recomendable por lo espectacular de la construcción es el refugio antiaéreo que se construyó para defender a la población de los diarios ataques aéreos alemanes e italianos. Aunque he visitado bastantes refugios antiaéreos, el de Cuenca es, quizás, uno de los más espectaculares ya que fue hecho a base de mazas, barrenas y dinamita, cuyas marcas aún se pueden ver y su ubicación debajo de un monte le da algo especial…. Tan especial que, después de la guerra, y antes de hacerlo visitable, se utilizó para criar champiñones.
While thinking in the next sailing trip, I am going through the pictures of the previous ones refreshing some great memories, and realizing I had not published any post about it.
After Ibiza and Menorca, we completed the Balearic Island group by sailing around Mallorca for a week. Due to its size, we had to stay only in the Southern part of the island.
The route we followed was:
Day 1: Palma de Mallorca – Es Trenc (1)
Day 2: Es Trenc (1) – Es Caragol (A) – Cala D’Or (2)
Day 3: Cala D’Or (2) – Cala Barques (B) – Ses Roquetes (3)
Day 4: Ses Roquetes (3) – Sant Elm (4)
Day 5: Sant Elm (4) – Cala Basset (C) – Andratx (5)
Day 6: Andratx (5) – Cala Portal Vells (D) – Palma de Mallorca
Salamanca is one of those cities that are a perfect match for a relaxed weekend trip from Madrid. It has a population of roughly 150,000 and 40,000 of them are university students. Its university is the most ancient in Spain (since the 13th Century) and a number of prominent linked to the Literature have lived for some time in this city, like Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quixote), Fernando de Rojas (La Celestina), or Miguel de Unamuno (Niebla). The town centre is easily reachable by walking distance, and hosts one of the biggest concentrations of tapas bars that I have ever seen (vegetarians might have a hard time, though).
If you need to set a place to meet in Salamanca, this will always be “under the clock in Plaza Mayor”. This square, built in the 18th Century, that used to host markets, fairs, and even bullfights, is now widely used as meeting point by locals, tourists, and especially students, who concentrate it in the evenings in small groups sitting on its floor.
Another significant sight in Salamanca is the Universidad Pontificia. A huge building that was under construction for almost 150 years, after the Queen Isabel II decided to create an institution to train the ones that would then go to the New World to spread the Faith. Initially it was intended to be run by the Jesuists, but it could not work as a Catholic University till 1940, as the Society of Jesus was suppressed by Carlos III. Its guided visit is highly recommended, and the climb to its tower gives breathtaking views of the city.
There are many other buildings that also add interest to the visit to the city: the Casa de las Conchas (now a Library, it used to be a Palace of aristocrats), the Monterrey Palace (now belonging to the Casa de Alba), the Roman Bridge, the University Main Entrance (look for a frog -on a skull- and it will give you good luck and results in your studies), the two Cathedrals, the Patio de Escuelas or the Casa de Lis (an Art Deco museum in an Art Nouveau building with amazing views to the Tormes river).
Apart from a beautiful city itself, Salamanca gives you the opportunity to live through its history the history of the country, as it has always been an active culture centre of Spain. Even in the last years, Salamanca was chosen to host the “Archivo de la Memoria Histórica”, part of which was transferred to Catalonia, within the current internal political battle. The street where this archive lies was named Expolio (pillaging) for many years, and now changed to Gibraltar (location not free from dispute, either).
We are now close to the beginning of the year, and it is time for some almost-new-year resolutions. One of them is writing again in this blog, that I use as a public diary, and a place to share some of my trips, experiences and pictures with my friends and family. Due to a number of good reasons, I have not been very active for the last 16 months, but I hope with some effort in the next weeks/months, I can make up for the last year.
Exactly, one year ago, some friends and I went to one corner of Spain, to La Garrotxa in Girona. It was a good excuse (a surprise party for the 30th Birthday of a good friend), and we enjoyed the colours of Autumn, a great fideuà, some cava and a great time with old and new friends.
Yet another year, we started the summer vacation in the best possible way I have come up after a long time: sailing.
The process is relative easy if you have the right team: you choose the week when everybody is available, we rent a boat big enough to fit all us in, we prepare our procurement plan (food&drinks for a week, not an easy task), and we wait for the chosen time to come.
During that week, we will switch off totally from our regular lives, and get our batteries reloaded for the rest of the summer, while enjoying the best caves in Menorca from the catamaran.
Let me share with you a couple of pictures from this year’s trip, and also a video made by our dear skipper which should give a good taste of the southern coast of Menorca.
More pictures in this slideshow and a great video in this link in Vimeo.
Note: For those curious about our route: Mahon – Cala Binibeca – Cala Canutells – Cala Coves (*) – Cala Escorxada (*) – Cala Galdana – Cala Mitjana – Cala Macarella (*) – Cala Turqueta – Playa de Son Saura – Cala Trebuleger (*) – Playa de Son Bou – Cala de Punta Prima – Cala Es Vidrier – Mahon. And the ones marked with (*) are the top ones in my humble opinion.
