Medieval marvels

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This morning we headed for Castillo de Loarre, a castle that as we approached it appeared to me to be a pop-up from a picture books. It is the best preserved Romanesque castle in Europe and was fabulous to walk through with an audio guide to get a real sense of how it functioned. The castle was the fortification on the border of Catholic Aragon and Al-Andulus (Muslim Spain). It's interesting to think what would have happened if the Catholics had not won at that point and begun the Reconquista: Europe today might be Muslim - and European history would almost certainly have been kinder to the Jews.

We are now in another pretty medieval town: Sos del Reys Catolicos, a very quiet place with winding alleys but without the views or pretty cafés of Alquezar. We had a picnic dinner on top of the ruined castle, Castillo de la Peña Feliciano, once the border between Aragón and Navarra, watching the sunset and looking out over the fields of Aragon and mountains beyond. Sos is of historical significance because it is where Ferdinand II of Aragon was born. Ferdinand's marriage to Isabella of Castille meant a large chunk of Spain was united and powered the Reconquista including all the dramatic events of 1492.

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