Valencia to Almagro

Here is the link to my video with a few of the sites we saw in Barcelona and Valencia.

This morning we picked up a rental car in Valencia and drove 210 miles west to Almagro in the Spanish region of La Mancha. One of the highlights of our day was when we stopped at a grocery store in a small town to buy some picnic food for tomorrow. The staff behind the meat and deli counter were super friendly. They gave us cheese and ham to sample and showed us a few of the many things they stock.

The young woman behind the counter is a expert ham carver. She has competed in competitions and won many awards. She showed us her album.

The Parador we are staying at in Almagro is a former Franciscan convent that was originally built in 1603. It was expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries but was in ruins when in 1977 they began the work to make it a Parador. The reconstruction took seven years.

We spent quite a bit of time exploring after we arrived. We had our welcome drinks in the former wine cellar.

We had a delicious dinner in the Parador restaurant. We had steak for our main course and various yummy deserts.