On the Road Again!

After a look through the Rough Guide to Spain and then TripAdvisor a rough plan was established that we should do a clockwise circuit around the central region of the region. The distances involved in this trip won't be too great so we should have time for a good look around without too much driving about. I have booked another Parador in Trujillo for two nights. On the booking sites there weren't too many hotels available for our dates. I thought about an anti-clockwise trip around the circuit but that didn't help. So a quick trip to the Parador.es website and I signed us in there. I booked another hotel  in Mérida ,  Again for two nights. This one a little less luxurious but it looks very nice. As we have seven nights to play with, the above leaves two to book.   So I have gone ahead and booked a single night in Badajoz and the last night in Cáceres.  These are also decent looking hotels. We will have to get used to the standards after the Paradors.  That wi...

With the Extremadura as the destination for some serious touristing I have booked the first night just short of the border from Castille. A bit of luxury before we enter the "Frying Pan" of Spain.   The Parador at Oropesa. I was looking last night and the Parador site has discounted rates for over 55's and in the Extremadura there are quite a few Paradors in the area. Oddly, booking.com had a much cheaper rate than the official site. Even with the senior citizen discount the cheapest rate is non-refundable and was way more than the booking.com refundable price.  How? I have no idea. The Parador's official booking site used to have a special "bulk" purchase rate. Something like four nights for the price of three or something along those lines.  Worth checking out. I need to get the Rough Guide out to see what we can see in the area. I have also bought a copy of the regional Michelin map #576. It covers Extremadura and across to Madrid and the east. Although I...

Not a bad night once the screaming brat closed down for the night. After two of the three S's were accomplished we went down to desayuno. It's included in the room rate. As we are both old we qualify for the "golden age" rate at the Parador that gives us a discount on the room rate of about 10%. Breakfast was a buffet. Plenty for everyone.  Views from the terrace. Sorting what goes in what bag not so simple! To save carrying loads what we need for the duration of the boat crossing and the hotel stop in Poole we needed one bag. Once sorted we loaded Döra and then checked out.  The Parador We reported the broken chair and I left a note and took pictures!! The broken chair The first planned stop was Potes on the edge of the Picos.  Today there was only one mountain pass, Puerto de Piedroluengas at 1355m. It is on the border between Palencia and Cantabria.  The descent on the northern side is a series of bends and hairpins. Luckily there were few other cars to hassle us ...

Is it Day 4 already? Check-out is noon at the Parador and that gives plenty of time to walk outside the walls to take a look at them from the outside.  The Parador is not all that much different in price to other hotels in the area, more expensive inside the walls than outside it had to be said.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Ávila It is very impressive. The city is surrounded by a huge plain and the "new" City is built outside the walls. Even though the wall goes right by the Parador garden there is no access, up or down here. After a walk around the inside we found a pay desk near the cathedral. As we wwre leaving for Toledo, we didn't pay the entry fee to the walk on the Walls. We had breakfast in another café in the same square as last nights dinner. Before packing the bags for the get-away. Tyre claimed today we have only 78 miles to ride. TomTom turns the numbers around to 87! We'll see. Parador d'Avila Avila The walls of Avila Filling Döra in Avila...