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.
We had a lazy day today. We left the Parador of Leon about 10:30 and drove to the parador of Cervera de Pisuerga. This will be our last parador of the trip and possibly our last parador for 2023. We have now visited 86 of the 98 Paradors.
The Parador of Cervera de Pisuerga is in the foothills of the Palentina Mountains.
Today we drove about 100 miles north from the Parador of Tordesillas to the Parador of Leon. Duke and I stayed in the Leon Parador back in 2016. Since then the Parador was closed for a few years while they totally renovated it.
This afternoon we had our welcome drinks and played cards in the central Atrium
Later we walked about a mile to the center of Leon to see the cathedral. It didn’t open until 4 and we got there about 3:30. So we had drinks in the restaurant across from the Cathedral.
The stained glass windows make the Leon Cathedral one of my favorites in Spain.
We had one of the best meals of the trip in the Parador restaurant tonight.
After dinner we went outside to get some night time pictures.
Before leaving La Granja we toured the Royal Palace of La Granja. The palace was built by Phillip V in the early 1700s and became the royal residence.
We left La Granja around noon and drove a short distance to see the Roman Aqueduct in Segovia. It was built in the first century and used up until 1973 to carry water from springs 17 kilometers away to the town.
From Segovia we drove to the Parador where we are staying tonight in Tordesillas. On the way we saw trees with large pieces of bark removed. Sap was being collected from pine trees. I don’t know what it is for. Perhaps turpentine?
For dinner we went to a near by steak house. It was part of a camp ground. We had a fabulous meal. The meat flavorful and tender.
Our plan today was to pick up our rental car about 2pm.
Then we packed, checked out and stored our luggage. We went for a walk in Retiro Park.
We stopped near the lake to have a snack.
At 2 we got the car and headed out of Madrid, northwest over the mountains to La Granja.
We had dinner at the parador.
When we were in La Granja on February 28 of 2016 it snowed.
First thing this morning Duke and I took the Metro to Madrid airport where we met our friends Rick and Elaine who were arriving from Denver via Chicago. We got to the arrivals area a very short time before they walked through the arrivals door.
We took a cab to our hotel and then went out for a walk to show them a bit of Madrid.
We walked back to our hotel and rested a bit this afternoon and then had snacks on the balcony of our room.
For dinner we had fun walking around the neighborhood near our hotel. We had dinner at a couple of tapas places.
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