My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
To make it easier for you to follow our 2026 Spring European trip from the beginning I’ve linked the blog posts in order.
You can go to the first blog post of our trip by clicking on this link.
At the end of each blog post after that, there is a link to the next day’s blog post.
After breakfast this morning we drove northeast to Zaragoza. I’ve never been to Zaragoza. Duke was here with Vicky and Valerie in about 2001 on his firest trip to Spain. On the drive today we drove through the town of Daroca which has an old castle and walls. It looks like it would be an interesting place to visit.
Our hotel in Zaragoza, the Catalonia is right in the center of town. It was a beautiful day and we had fun exploring.
Zaragoza has lots of tapas restaurants. We picked one that looked good and had a great dinner
This morning after a wonderful Parador breakfast we rested a bit then went out to explore the town and visit the castle.
When we walked down into Molina de Aragón an Easter procession was starting in front of the church. Molina de Aragón isn’t a big town so it wasn’t a big procession.
It was quite a climb up to the castle and we were looking down at the Parador on the other side of town
We climbed up to the top of the highest tower on the castle wall. We had a great view. The stairs climbing up to the tower were treacherous but we made it. It was definitely worth the climb.
After we hiked back down into the town we just lucked out to come upon the procession that we watched start earlier. At this point the solemn procession that we had seen starting out was now dancing and celebrating the resurrection..
On our way back to the Parador we went over the 8th century Roman Bridge.
We had another great dinner at the Parador.
This morning after breakfast we walked about a mile to Atocha train station where we picked up our rental car, a Seat Arena. The weather today was absolutely perfect, blue skies and a high of 75.
The Parador of Molina de Aragon is less than a year old. This is our 97th
Parador out of 100!
We went for a walk down into the town. They have a fascinating museum. It highlights the region’s natural and cultural history. It’s also the interpretative center for the nearby Geopark. This area has a lot of fossils.
When we got back to the Parador we enjoyed our welcome drinks. It is great to be back in a Parador!
To read my next blog post when we explore a bit of the castle click here.
This morning we had plans to go to our favorite Madrid breakfast cafe, Cafeteria La Austriaca. But when we got there they were closed. I assume that was because of Good Friday. So we went to another random spot and had a typical Spanish breakfast of bread with olive oil and tomato.
Then we went in search of a Churreria we visited on a prior trip. When we got there we ordered churros and chocolate for two. They arrived at our table steaming hot and sooooo good. We could see them being made behind the glass in the kitchen to our left.
Today we went to the San Fernando Fine Art Royal Museum. It’s an art museum very near our hotel that was listed on the New York Times list that I mentioned yesterday. I can’t believe we’ve never been there! It was wonderful.
We went back to the hotel to rest and relax then about 9 we went out for tapas for dinner.
On our way back to the hotel the Good Friday procession was happening. There were bands, two human powered floats and soldiers on horseback. When we left the parade was still going on and it was after eleven.
We had a very productive first full day in Spain. We started by doing laundry. While the clothes were washing we had coffee and pastry nearby. Then while the clothes were drying we had second cups of coffee at a different place. We almost always have breakfast included at our hotels so it’s a change and kind of fun to go out and find a place.
Madrid is a beautiful city. In the last several years all the building facades have been cleaned, the city center has almost no cars, AND it was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the high 60s. It’s amazing how sun improves your experience of a place.
We’ve been to Madrid multiple times over the years so we have seen most of the must-see sites. But the New York Times recently published a Google map of its recommendations of things to do in Madrid. I went through the list and found a few good ideas of new things to do and see.
So Thursday afternoon we went to the Teatro Real (Opera House). The ticket price included an audio guide. The whole visit was wonderful. The Teatro Real is directly across from the Royal Palace with a beautiful garden in between the two. Highlights of the tour include the view of the Royal Palace from inside the Opera House, the view of the stage from many different levels of seating and the multi story foyer surrounded by Lebanese cedar pillars.
It was such a beautiful day to walk. There were a lot of people out but we finally found a place for coffee.
To read the blog post for Madrid Day 3 click here.
Marion's Blog 