Author: marionvermazen

Our rental car had to be returned today, in Madrid, by 12:30. So we had a relatively early breakfast in Salamanca and were on the road out of town by 9:00. Duke and I had been on Google street view figuring out how to get directly to the parking garage where we needed to return the rental car. We didn’t want to stray into the central Madrid congestion zone where we would have been charged a toll.

Luckily we were able to fairly easily find another entrance and return the car. It was raining outside but the hotel wasn’t far away.

Our rooms at Barceló Torre de Madrid weren’t ready so we had our welcome drinks and played cards for about an hour.

When Brian and JoAnn’s room was ready we moved our bags into their room then went to see the Royal Palace of Madrid. We purchased tickets and shared an audio guide. It’s an enormous, beautiful and opulent palace still used for official events. I very much enjoyed our visit even though it was quite crowded.

For dinner we went to a nearby Basque restaurant, Dudua Palácio

Today we drove about an hour and a half south to Salamanca where we are staying in the last Parador we will stay in with Brian and Jo Ann on this trip.

After we checked in we walked into the historic center. To get there we walked over Salamancas Roman bridge. The bridge is 577 feet long and originally opened in the first century.

On the other side of the bridge we went to the Art Nouveau and Art Déco Museum – Casa Lis. They didn’t allow any pictures inside the museum, but the collection was absolutely fabulous. I could have taken one hundred pictures. The building has a lot of beautiful stained glass too.

Next we went back to the Parador, had our welcome drinks, played cards and rested.

About seven o’clock we walked back across the bridge and went to the Salamanca Motor Museum.

For dinner we ate at Restaurante Cervantes overlooking the plaza Mayor.

Over the last nine years Duke and I have stayed at 92 of the Paradors in Spain. There are currently 99 Paradores and 97 of those are currently open. Tonight we are at the Parador of Benavente, our 93rd Parador.

This morning before leaving Léon we walked all over the historic center.

Léon Cathedral is one of my favorite cathedrals in the world. I think the open feeling and the stunning stained glass is what make it so special. They provided an excellent downloadable audio guide. The Cathedral was built in the 1300’s when Léons population was only about 4,000.

We explored some more on our way back to the Parador.

Once we finished our walk we drove about an hour to the Parador of Benavente where we are tonight. We had our welcome drinks and played cards.

This morning we took the funicular up to the top of the mountain behind the Parador.

We got back down to the Parador in time for our noon check out time. Then we drove through the mountains down to the plains, with lots of interesting stops along the way.

Not far down the road there was a bit of traffic. On the whole though, there was very little traffic and it was a beautiful day.

We stopped at some great viewpoints.

At the picnic spot there was an information board that mentioned the nearby viewpoint with the largest swing in Spain, so we decided to hike up to it. We hiked back to the car, left the mountains and drove down onto the plains to Léon.

We have eaten a lot of Parador dinners on this trip. So, since we are in a city tonight I was looking forward to a local restaurant dinner. We went looking for a restaurant at 8:00 but couldn’t find one open. At Restaurante Casa Rafa, the original restaurant we had in mind they said that the kitchen opens at 8:45. So we sat on a park bench and people watched until it opened. We ended up having a great meal and the owner was very friendly and helpful. When we suggested the calamari appetizer he said the shrimp is better. So we had that and it was fantastic. He suggested the goat main course and Brian had that.

This morning after breakfast we went for a walk around the Cangas de Onis Parador.

Then we drove to Covadonga which is just up the road. It is apparently the site of a battle in 722 that started the Reconquest of Spain from the Moors. It is also a sight where the virgin appeared to a king of the Visigoths. This area became the seat of the Asturias Kingdom.

From Covadonga we had to drive around the mountains to get to another beautiful valley in the Picos de Europa Mountains, Fuente Dé. The drive was supposed to take about twohours but it took closer to three because of road construction.

Before we got to the big delays we stopped to buy groceries for our picnic dinner.