Another European Vacation

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After a quick breakfast at a little coffee shop we gathered up our suitcases and headed downhill to the parkade. Once on the road and heading east we stopped in the town of Aranjuez for a coffee and to view the palace grounds before continuing onto Cuenca. Aranjuez is a name of a song Jim plays on his guita, so we wanted to see it. We passed through grain fields and vineyards and forests on our route. The city of Cuenca started as a fortified settlement on a steep bluff between two river canyons. Our little hotel was in the old town, high on the bluff. We checked in and then went to a very nice restaurant for lunch. In the evening we headed out to see the principal sights, the Hanging Houses and the old bridge. There were very few tourists here so we got to see the sights on our own. The Hanging Houses, complete with balconies, were built on the very edge of the cliffs above the river. The San Pablo bridge, first built in the 1500s, spans the river valley, to an old Monastery. We went out again after dark to enjoy the lights which illuminated the cliffs and the Hanging Houses.

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