The Sunny(ish) Leg in Siguenza!

Our drive from Uncastillo to near Alcuneza, just outside Siguenza, was a straight shot with no diversions and took under three hours. We arrived at Molino de Alcuneza in the mid-afternoon and after a quick check in it was off to the local town of Siguenza for a quick bite at a decent tapas bar in the non-medieval part of town.

After lunch we enjoyed a stroll through town before heading back to our hotel to rest up before dinner. While we relaxed, we got to watch quite a show out back as the chef chased three geese that had escaped their pen around the vegetable field out back. There was much squawking.

Molino has a Michelin Star and we tried the wonderful "Disfrutar" tasting menu which included Christos' favourite of cod with a hollandaise foam as well as an orange foam and berry ice cream dessert. We retired to our room with full bellies and high expectations as the weather had finally turned clear and hot.

The next day our high expectations were met with sunny skies and shorts weather greeting us!

After an excellent breakfast, we took a quick drive to the Rio Dulce national park where we enjoyed a 6.2km hike along a river and then up and down a cliff face (205m vertical) with spectacular views of the river and gorge down below.

Finally we were getting some of the sunny hiking we had longed for the whole trip!

After the hike, we stopped at the local restaurant, called simply "Baja", and enjoyed an expensive (66 euros) but excellent lunch of suckling pork ribs on the BBQ (so good we had to order two plates), chicken in sauce (not so much a winner), yummy salad, fries and of course beer!!

Nothing better on a hot day after a good hike while sitting in the shade playing with the restaurant's friendly and beautiful cat!

After lunch we embarked on another quick 2km hike down a trail that was still being forged near the sleepy village of Santamera before visiting Siguenza again, touring the large cathedral in silence with only a handful of other people present.

We noticed that it was a jubilee event offering a complete indulgence should one circle the whole cathedral (at which point Lisa got excited) and confessed all your sins of the last two weeks to one of the confessors and undertook mild proscribed penance such as a Hail Mary or two (at this point Lisa was no longer excited in the opportunity). We toured the town a bit more, visiting the Castle which was now a Paradores hotel, before heading back to Molino for dinner and relaxation.

The next day was a grand driving tour of Castles, Salt Mines and Romantic sites marked on a map that Molino gave us.

We started with another tour of Siguenza cathedral as we wanted to see the highlight, the Doncel of Siguenza, which was only possible as part of a guided tour twice a day.

We were fully prepared to pay the entrance fee but the cathedral was in chaos this time with several school groups and tourist groups and their accompanying cacophony. So we slipped into the crowded chapel as one group replaced another and enjoyed a few minutes with the lovely statuary before being herded out with the group as the chapel was locked.

We may have faced a scowl or two from the tour guides once they realized we were not with either group but at least we got to see what we came to see!

After a quick snack at the place across the street from the cathedral (two glasses of white wine and 5 little tapas for 6 euros; sweet!), we drove to the nearby hilltop town of Medinaceli where our bad timing (we arrived during siesta) led us to a quiet tour of its charming medieval streets as well as the impressive Roman arch from the town's founding!

Another quick refreshment and it was off to continue the driving tour with stops at various Romantic/Castle sites marked on our map.

Some of the hidden gems we discovered included the paleontological museum near Ambrona, which Lisa did not think existed until we drove up to it, the prehistoric cave near Mino de Medinaceli, which would be a tourist attraction with its ancient human carvings if it was in France or Italy, and the Salt mine of Imon (cool I guess, weird tourist spot though).

While out touring about we ended up getting caught in a flock of sheep and had to slowly navigate through them under the watchful eye of a local shepherd and his sheep dogs! The bells could drive one crazy!

One of our last stops and one of the best was the lonely Castle of Riba De Santiuste, where we encountered only one other couple on our fifteen minute hike up to fortifications.










Once we got to the top it was just the two of us with fantastic views of the surrounding countryside, complete with sheep circles!

It was quite a full afternoon!

We finally got back to Molino in the late afternoon for a much needed rest before we headed into Siguenza for a simple dinner of tapas at the local place we had visited earlier in the day, Atrio.