The Ancient Walled Cities of Salamanca, Avila, and Toledo

Here is a question we have recently asked ourselves...
How did we ever live without a selfie stick, and how did we ever find our way anywhere without the bossy woman on our phone telling us where to go???
So this trip to the ancient walled cities has been greatly enhanced by our new selfie stick and the maps (and bossy lady) on our cell phones. Who knew???

Our first old walled city after leaving the wine region was Salamanca. It is called the "Golden City" as the sandstone buildings appear to glow. It is a vibrant, lively little city with much history and culture.
We stayed in a great little boutique hotel just outside the city walls. This is the view of old town across the street from our hotel and it was just a quick walk up the cobblestone street to the center of town and all of the action:

Salamanca is home to the first University in Spain and is the 4th oldest university in the world. The students are in large part what keeps it such a vital, vibrant city. It is packed with great restaurants and bars as well.

The Plaza Mayor is known to be one of the most beautiful Plazas in all of Europe:

And of course, the Cathedral such as we see in the heart of every European city.

There were storks with their nests everywhere high, especially on the Cathedral towers:     

 

Fullish moon the night before full moon. Notice the bird flying by it:

Old Roman Bridge near our hotel:

The best street performer yet and definitely deserved the donation we made to his cause. His little puppets were playing music and dancing:

We went out for a full moon meal near the square the next night:

Now we are not usually the kind of people who photographs their food but, this was the most creative and elegant salad ever:

And now for the main event---the full moon rising over the town as we are walking back to the hotel.

So we took one of the bottles of our wine and walked to the roman bridge to really celebrate Mother Moon.
We had a lone guitarist playing for us as we basked in the magical, mysterious Moonbeams on the bridge:

Toasting the Light within and without:

Salamanca was very, very good to us...

Then we left for an afternoon stop in the town of Avila. Avila is a World Heritage City with intact formidable walls, forming a fortress around the entire city:

It looks like something out of a story book:

From inside the city looking at the fortified walls:

Then we drove on to the walled city of Toledo...
The hotel had rose petals waiting for us on our bed:

And looking out of our balcony window the next morning:

Toledo is a historic city high up on a hill and surrounded by the River Tagus on 3 sides. Synagogues, mosques and churches in the old town are a testament to the diversity in times past. It is called the "City of Three Cultures", and is one of the most visited cities in Spain.

It was bigger than the other two old towns we had visited and so it seemed a little overwhelming. So we wandered the winding cobblestone streets and tried to take it all in...

The cloister in one of the many beautiful monastery's...

Little pink baskets hanging on the street lights in the old city:

And of course, one of our favorite finds in old town...

Down one of the many streets we got lost on...

An old Roman bridge outside of the city crossing the Tagus River:

And then in the evening we drove out of the city to a high lookout called Mirador del Valle. We could look back on a whole panoramic view of the city, and found another opportunity to open a bottle of wine and just take it all in:

And now that we are in sensory-overload of so much history and culture, it is time to go back home to Ecstasea waiting for us in Valencia.
Aaaaahhhhh...too much fun!!!

Ribera del Duero Wine Region

We left our favorite cala Egos on Mallorca at 6:00pm for our overnight to Valencia on the mainland. It was a really calm crossing and the sliver of a new moon set bright orange into a smooth sea. We do 3 hour watches (1 of us up 3 hours and then sleep for 3 hours) on our overnights and I (willow) had the sunrise watch. And just as Brother Sun sizzled out of the water into the sky, one lone dolphin jumped out of the water to celebrate another day. What a privilege to witness the beauty...

When we arrived in the Marina of Juan Carlos in Valencia, we noticed a big ship with these words written on the side "Open Arms". It was just leaving port so we looked it up on the internet. It is a non government vessel used to pick up immigrants in the Med. Of course, their goal is to reduce the number of lives lost at sea. Sadly, thousands of immigrants lose their lives every year at sea as they try to find refuge in Europe. Amidst the controversy on immigration, it is so refreshing to see a statement of "Open Arms"...

We decided to do something a little different this summer--since the weather has been cool and rainy, we left Ecstasea on her own in the Valencia marina, rented a car and headed north. We spent the night with our dear friends, Ann and Franco Volli in their lovely home in Madrid. And since we have such a sweet and deep heart connection with them, it is always special.

The next morning we headed north into the Ribera del Duero wine region. This region has always been our favorite of the Spanish Reds and we wanted to tour the wineries and understand more of it. The Captain loves wonderful and interesting hotels, so he booked us into a 15th century monastery turned hotel. It was rich with history and they did a great job of turning the rooms into comfortable, elegant accommodations. And it was right in the heart of the wine country!

Our monastery/hotel in the distance with a vineyard in the forefront...

A closer view...

And closer yet...

And Richard in the entry door...

The monks were some of the original wine makers in the region and this is their wine cellar underneath the monastery. It is now part of the restaurant...

The inner courtyard or cloister of the monastery...

And the sacred sanctuary within the monastery...

We headed out the next morning to a winery called "Matarromera". Excellent wine and as we were tasting the owner Carlo Moro happened in and introduced himself. So we were fortunate enough to learn even more straight from him. He also encouraged us to visit his other winery called Emina just down the road. So we did and found even more excellent wine to taste and buy. They also had a museum that really educated us to the Spanish wine making ins and outs.

Tasting wine in Matarromero Winery---look at all that wine!!!

Now at Emina Winery...

And Richard imbibing at Emina. We learned that Emina means the amount of wine each monk could have a day without getting drunk. And it was about a third of a bottle of wine. We were surprised that it was that much!

After a long nap (which we are very good at, especially after so much wine), we drove into the little town nearby of Penefiel to visit the large castle on top of the hill. The castle was a fortress built in the 15th century. The tour of the castle also had a wine museum so we learned even more...

Another wine that we have liked very much comes from the winery called Protos. And Protos is right beneath the castle...

And touring Protos was really impressive as it tunnels for over a mile underground/beneath the castle with it's aging wine cellars. It was the original winery of this Ribera del Duero region.
Here are just a few pictures of the many, many barrels of wine:

         
So needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the monastery experience and the wine region. And to prove it, we bought many great bottles of wine to bring back to Ecstasea for the summer!