#paradors

Cloister in the Castell de Cardona Parador Cardona   As a modern day Princess, I am always on the hunt to find my castle.  I found mine at Spanish Parador Cardona. Parador Cardona at night The most important thing I have learned from our first visits to Spanish Paradors is to google everything you can about the history and the surrounding towns before making your choices.  While it is fun to be…

First impressions are everything and Salamanca’s beauty is immediate. Its attractions are plentiful. It offers something for everyone and although we have visited, three times, we keep going back and each time we stay in the Parador.

It is located on the left bank, on a hill opposite the old quarter. The views are magnificent perhaps even more beautiful at night when the cathedral and old town are lit up. The interior of the Parador is comfortable and spacious, decorated with marble and feels very elegant.

The best way to explore Salamanca is on foot from the hotel, we walked across the Roman Bridge to the old town.

On the way, we passed the University, the oldest in Spain and third oldest in the world, built in 1134. Like many tourists, we stared at the façade. We were looking for the frog, if you squint hard enough, you may be able to find it amidst the intricate carvings, and if you do, you will have good luck.

Walk for just a couple more minutes and you come to La Catedral Vieja, (the Old Cathedral), an imposing structure surrounded by gardens, and walls etched with similar carvings to the University. Salamanca has two cathedrals, the old, and the new, the new is not exactly “new”. It was built between the 16th and 18th centuries and hidden amongst the carvings is an astronaut and a gargoyle eating an ice cream. It turns out both were added by the craftsmen doing restoration work in 1992. You can climbed to the top of the tower and take in the breath-taking view of Salamanca’s rooftops and bustling cobbled streets.

(images.travelpod.com/users/penny71)

Turn a corner wander down a narrow side street, and you find a medieval garden, Huerto de Calixto y Melibea.

A great place to stop at one of the many establishments and enjoy a beverage while people watching is the Plaza Mayor. It is a picturesque square, with 88 arches and decorated with the faces of famous historical figures. While its peace and beauty are seducing you, it is hard to imagine that it was once used for something as violent as bullfighting.

The 15th-century Casa de las Conchas looks stunning and is home to the public library. It is famous for its façade of 400 scallop shells, but I never tried to count them.

We headed to Casa de Lis, Museum of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. We were really looking forward to this and it lived up to expectations. The glass ceiling was something to see, as was the jewellery display. It is a must for anyone wanting to glimpse fashion in the past as it is a monument to 1920’s.

There is no shortage of eating options in Salamanca and many bars and restaurants stay open until the early hours.

From the hotel patio, we watched the sunset cast a golden glow on the cathedral and the city walls. The sky glowed orange and the streetlights twinkled as we finally made our way through the garden, past a small fountain and back to our room. These are moments of unimaginable beauty we will never forget.

For weather & news updates  check Queenies Daily Snippets everyone’s favourite Tenerife Blog  

The Parador, San Juan Bautista Hospital is a historical 15th century building. The guest rooms are comfortable and have views of the mountains, the public rooms have ancient maps, engravings, and copper braziers once used to warm the pilgrims who came to worship at the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The garden is beautiful, full of native plants and the courtyard with its lemon and orange trees surrounds a fountain. To make your visit an idyllic experience there is a nod to modern times with a secluded swimming pool, and the hotel enjoys an incredible location on the site of the Royal Monastery of Guadalupe, which is a World Heritage Site.

It was here that Christopher Columbus stopped to collect money from Queen Isabella for his voyage to the ‘New World’. Following his return, many adventurous Spaniards from the region followed to convert the Americas. This is also, the place where Columbus baptised two of his Indian ‘servants’. The monastery’s book of baptisms records the event in 1496 and there is a painting depicting the baptism, clearly an important occasion that the church wishes to honour.

Real Monasterio de Santa Maria de Guadalupe is the most impressive attraction of the town, founded by King Alfonso XI after the Battle of Salado. My Spanish might not be great but it is good enough to know that ‘real’ means ‘royal’ and not the opposite ‘fake’. We approached the gates and found a sign telling us the monastery would open at 3.30. There was nothing to do but take a few photos of the exterior and have lunch. Simple but delicious local cooking is served in many of the tiny restaurants and cafes scattered around the main square. As we lingered over our meal, other tourists began to trickle into the plaza waiting for the monastery doors to open.

The monastery is in four parts: church, auditorium, Mudejar and Gothic cloisters. One of the museum areas houses a collection of embroidered altar cloths and vestments created in the convents during the 14th to 18th centuries. The other two have many illuminated manuscripts and paintings including a Goya, an El Greco, and an ivory crucifix attributed to Michelangelo. All are spectacularly beautiful. As we left the museum we had the chance to see the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the faithful may kiss her mantle if they wish, I refrained as I’m a non-believer, but that doesn’t stop me enjoying visiting religious sites.

The Virgin is why Guadalupe is an important pilgrimage site. A shepherd had seen an apparition and she ordered him to dig where she stood. He unearthed a statue of the Virgin, which had been hidden centuries earlier by Christians fleeing the Muslim conquest. Another peasant, in Mexico, had a similar visitation in 1531 and as a result, the people there revere the Black Madonna. Moreover, in Tenerife, she is our patron saint.

Very few Brits go to Guadalupe, which is a shame. Since our previous visit, the town has grown from a few houses surrounding the main square to a destination coping with hundreds of mainly Spanish pilgrims. It is a delightful place where you can wander through the cobbled streets and narrow twisting alleyways where the buildings are so close they almost touch. The old Jewish quarter is well worth exploring for its fascinating architecture found in every street and square.

As we walked passed the small fountain in the middle of the plaza, we let our imagination soar, carrying us back to distant times and immersing us in a medieval village before we headed on the next stage of our journey.

Paradores are a kind of luxury hotel in Spain and were founded by Alfonso XIII, who was trying to promote tourism in the country. The first one was inaugurated in 1928 in Ávila. These hotels are often located in historic buildings such as old palaces, castles, and monasteries. Having said they are luxurious doesn’t however, mean they are expensive as they always have special deals, such as bargains for seniors or 5-day specials.

We left the busy hubbub of Madrid behind and headed north. We are no strangers to Ávila, but as with most of Spain’s charming cities, there’s always more to discover.

We were staying at the Piedras Albas Palace, the gem that is the Parador de Ávila. It is next to the best-preserved walls in the world, in the historic town. Steeped in tradition, this rural idyll is welcoming. The rooms are spacious and the views of the garden and ancient walls through the glass-enclosed courtyard confirm you are in a World Heritage City.

The first thing we saw when we arrived was ‘la muralla’. Ávila is known for its impressive medieval wall that you can walk. It encircles the old city and provides stunning views in every direction. Completed in the 12th century, it is just as imposing today as back then and you can’t go anywhere in Ávila without being struck by its magnificence. With 9 gates and 88 semi-circular towers, the walls are the most complete fortification in Spain.

As we entered the main Puerta del Alcazar gate it is a weird sensation. The fact that this testament of human engineering is still alive after a thousand years of continual use is an awesome experience that life goes on and nothing really changes.

Perhaps it is the looming walls or the history that radiates from every cobblestone but Ávila makes you almost feel pious. It’s easy to understand why, with its famous religious buildings; the city has the highest church to resident ratio in Spain.

We loved strolling along the parapets with swifts circling overhead and the scent of jasmine in the air and losing ourselves in the old quarter, where every street is filled with charm. We stumbled into the imposing Cathedral and the Romanesque Basilica de San Vicente. Nevertheless, the smaller places with history intrigued us most, the shops, churches and convents helped give an idea of life centuries ago. With its tiny streets and winding pathways, the juxtaposition of old and new is vivid, particularly when you watch a car pass under a medieval archway.

Ávila 3714 feet above sea level is the highest provincial capital in Spain. Even in summer, it is cool compared to the rest of Spain, which means good, old-fashioned soul food; this is a land of stews and casseroles. After our walk around the city, we headed for lunch, one of the specialities is chuletón (steak) so we took the “bull by the horns” and ordered it. Quite delicious!

As souvenirs, we bought the famous egg yolk sweets Las Yemas de la Santa named for St. Teresa and a jar of the regions almond honey so memories of our stay in Ávila would be sweet.

I think Avila has rightfully earned its nickname the city of stones and saints and it is a great stop on any road trip through Spain.

  For weather & news updates  check Queenies Daily Snippets everyone’s favourite Tenerife Blog  

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