Magical Alarcon

About 100km south of Cuenca lies a little medieval village of Alacon. We knew nothing about the place except for the few lines in the Lonely Planet saying you could stay in a castle there. Well, that was all we needed, and we headed down with few expectations. I must say, Alarcon is one of the most delightful suprises and I am very glad we made the journey. Apart from the castle and the village, there are other fortified building ruins nearby which would have once helped protect the village. The views were spectacular. Alarcon lies on the inside of a horsehoe bend of a river that has created a deep gorge. The river meanders all around, and is deep in part due to it being dammed. There is farming land as well as some bushland, though you can tell that a drought in these parts would be pretty unforgiving. The village was as un-touristy as you could get and staying in the castle was an incredibly special experience. I would recommend this place to anyone who has a couple of days to travel around whilst in Madrid.

What a view!

This building was apparently once used to observe the stars


Fortifications as you enter the town

Entering the village of Alarcon

We were lucky enough to stay in the tower of the castle and had this spectacular view across Alarcon

There is a signposted walking track around the area which provides fantastic views back onto Alarcon as well as the countryside. More fortifications could be seen.

A field for growing onions

As dusk approaches...

The tower we stayed in - you can see our window (it was the only one on this side).

The next morning, we climbed up to the ramparts to have a look...

...and we got a bird's eye view

Sahara Gal

Cuenca by Night

The Desert Rat went for a wander with his camera to take a few shots during the evening...

Sahara Gal

Convents, Cliffs and Cuenca

The Desert Rat had to be in Madrid for work last week, so we took the opportunity to go to Spain a couple of days early. We hired a car and drove east out of Madrid to a little town called Cuenca, which someone had recommended us going to years ago. It was a beautiful town, set up on the top of a deep ravine. We stayed in an old convent that had been converted to a hotel and which was seperated from the old part of the town by a footbridge.

View of the old town

Footbridge connecting the convent (left) from the old town

Old Town

Church in Cuenca

Cafe where we had lunch

Looking over the town

The best place to dry your washing!

Looking towards the convent

Our room was the top left window on the main building

Inside the cloisters

The Dining Room - nothing like having dinner under the pulpit!

Dinner - Traditional bean and chorizo stew, followed by roast lamb!

Sahara Gal

Rocking with the Indigo Girls

Some photos from the Indigo Girls concert in Glasgow. They were as fabulous as ever!

Sahara Gal

The Glens of Antrim

On a fine Autumn's day, the Desert Rat, the Desert Rat's dad and I headed to County Antrim in Northern Ireland. There is actually a bit of history here - I have tried to see the famous Glens of Antrim for several years but everytime I even suggested that we could go there, the grey skies would appear and either heavy rain and storms would appear or a vast sea fog come in and cover the whole country for several days. It did not matter which season it was - winter or summer so I was pretty excited when we awoke to a clear and sunny day...

Anyway, the first stop was on Islandmagee, to see a dolmen. We actually drove past it at first because it is situated right in front of a house and at a glance looked like a rock feature! However, it was pretty impressive, and I always like a good neolithic archeologic feature!

Next stop was lunch in Carnlough

After a hearty feed, we headed off to the Glenariff Forest Park, which encompasses one of the Glens (called Glenariff, obviously!).

It was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon, and I was suitably impressed with Glenariff, making the wait to see it worth the while.

Sahara Gal