Our plan today was to stop on our way to Lleida and do a canyon hike that Duke had researched. Unfortunately today is Saturday and when we got to the trailhead they asked if we had a reservation. They told us the parking was full.
We decided to drive up into the hills nearby, survey the situation and make a new plan. We had driven almost three hours already and it was still about an hour more to get to Lleida. We couldn’t find any other good hikes nearby so we decided to just go to Lleida and explore the town
We have stayed at the Parador in Lleida before. It is one of the newest Parsdors. It is built in a seventeenth century convent.
Soon after we arrived we went out and explored the town. The Parador is right next to the old castle and church that sit on a hill in the middle of Lleida.
The old cathedral was probably built from the 12th century to the 15th century over the remains of a mosque. During the war of the Spanish succession it was turned into a military barracks. It was only in 1948 that it quit being used by the military.
The cloister is apparently one of the largest in Europe
We went to the very top of the old castle ruins
This will be our last night in a parador for this trip and our last Parador dinner. The restaurant is in the former chapel of the convent.
We had one of our best Parador meals.
The deserts were especially photo worthy. They called mine Oops I dropped “el mel i mató”. I wasn’t quite sure what it would be. El mel i mató means honey and curd in Catalan. It had honey ice cream, sugar crystal paper, something like cream cheese and cookie crumbs. It was really good.
Sunday we will return to Barcelona and turn in our car.
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