Month: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

It didn’t snow overnight and since Duke had already dug out the car we were able to leave La Granja relatively easily.

There was a bit of traffic but we got to the airport in Madrid with time to spare. The flight to Istanbul was full and there was a delay for fog. I worried a little when our cab driver had to call someone on his cell phone to ask directions to the hotel. But all in all it turned out to be an easy travel day.

I love the Turkish custom of welcoming you with Turkish delight. The first thing they offer you on Turkish Airlines is Turkish delight. As soon as we arrived at the hotel they offered us Turkish delight. And there was also some waiting for us in our room.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

We woke up this morning to about a foot of new snow. We had planned to drive and visit several sites in this area since we are staying in La Granja two nights. But we are pretty much snowed in.

We had a lot of fun walking around town with everyone else enjoying the snow. We had coffee and explored a bit of the famous palace gardens. We saw people on snowshoes, cross country skis and sleds. We overheard one person say that it has been four years since they have had snow like this.

After a couple of hours out exploring we went back to the hotel and had hot chocolate and cookies. We spent the afternoon reading and napping.

We also spent some time digging out our car. We didn’t have a shovel but we improvised and Duke was able to move the car a bit so that we should be able to get out in the morning unless we get more snow.

We are supposed to turn our car in at the Madrid airport tomorrow and catch a 12:15 plane to Istanbul. Although we are only 81 km from Madrid there is a mountain range between us and Madrid. The motorway goes through a tunnel through the mountain so that is good. Right now it is 45 in Madrid and 34 here! Hopefully we will make it to Madrid and catch our plane.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

All through the night last night we could hear the wind howling outside our window and see snow falling. This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. The guy at the gas station told us that snow is unusual for them. Some years they don’t get any.

We got up bundled up and walked down to the main square by the cathedral so we could take some pictures and get some coffee

Then we headed out on our planned route. The visibility kept getting worse and worse and after about an hour of very slow going there started to be snow drifts across the road. We decided it was too dangerous to continue so we turned around and went back to Sigüenza to try another route. This route going south to Madrid was fine except that the direct route to La Granja had chain requirements so we did another alternative route and eventually got to our Parador in La Granja.

After checking in and having a glass of wine we headed out to explore a bit and stretch our legs after sitting in the car all day. Neither of us had ever had roasted chestnuts so Duke bought some. They were wonderful. The bag they were served in had a separate compartment for the shells.

La Granja was chosen by the king of Spain in the 1700s to create a Spanish version of Versailles. The palace and the grounds are beautiful, especially in the snow!

We had dinner in our Parador.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Today we headed south on a cold blustery day. We stopped at the archaeological site of Numancia an Iron Age hill town where the local Celtiberians held out against an enormous Roman siege in 133 BC. The locals eventually committed suicide and burned the town rather than submit to the Romans. Although the town is famous in Roman literature its location was only rediscovered in the 1800s.

Thursday, February 26, 2016

Many of our Parador and other hotel packages have included breakfast. The breakfast buffets have been wonderful – eggs, meat, cheese, bread, fruit, coffee, juices. But when breakfast is not included in our package the price for the breakfast buffet is usually about €12 each. So we usually find coffee outside the hotel.

This morning we found a wonderful pastelería. The owner explained what was in the local favorites. The filling in Duke’s pastry is called angel hair. Apparently the filling is made from some kind of melon or squash. We didn’t quite catch the word. It was all really good.

We also bought four of the little bow tie thingies to snack on later

This is a picture of our Parador in Olite. Our room is the window on the right behind the tree.

In Olite we picked up a map of the state of Navarra. It showed all the wineries, Roman ruins, churches and castles. I don’t know why I’m so fascinated by Roman ruins but since we had a relatively short distance to drive today we decided to take the back roads and find the Roman ruins that were kind of on our route.

The first one near the village of Falces was the Villa de San Esteban.

The second one was quite a bit farther off the main road and judging by the building must have been something special but unfortunately it was closed.