Cuenca Old Town, Spain

This is my last blog of the year and then I'll be off for Christmas holidays. Yipeee!

What I remember about Cuenca is it's a nice little town with very narrow streets where Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) is the main attraction to see there and the Cathedral has a beautiful facade.

I drove from Valencia to Cuenca. That was my first time driving in Europe and to me, it was on the wrong side of the road. I was driving OK until we reached the town. We used a GPS and were lost as the GPS brought us to a walk path to our hotel instead. We were lucky to find a restaurant with staffs who could speak English. So we asked for directions and the people there were very very helpful and friendly.

When we reached the old town, I thought the GPS brought us to a walk path again as the road was very narrow and I didn't dare to bring the car in (I found out later that people normally drive through these narrow streets). So we brought down our stuffs and I went to park the car. And Oh my God, the view from the car park was amazing as we were on the highest point of the hill and we could see the houses of the old town below us. It's just breathtakingly beautiful. I felt very peaceful there. I loved it straight away.

The old town of Cuenca was absolutely amazing. There were not many people around and I think that made it special. It seemed untouched and very original. I felt like we were back in the old times. We walked around the town and enjoyed everything about it. The Hanging Houses, which were said to be the most photographed houses in this town, was unbelievable. They are famous because they are literary hanging on the edge of the cliff. It's obvious that these houses are the symbol of Cuenca.

In short, Cuenca is a good place to relax and recuperate. The peaceful moments we’ve had combined with the beautiful scenery are perfect mix. It’s a remedy for tiredness and sore muscles. I think it’s a remedy for everything, really. It’s too bad we couldn’t stay longer as we were moving on to Toledo. To me, this is a city that I would definitely want to come back to again in the future.

The breathtaking view from the car park

From left to right, above and then below: The city square, the Cathedral, the Monastery and the bridge that connects the monastery to the town

The Hanging Houses, and the narrow and winding streets

Magical Night view of the Hanging Houses

Valencia

From Barcelona we went to Valencia by train. It was about 3 hour journey and we reached Valencia around lunch time. So the first thing we did after checking in to our accomodation was to look for the food market and have lunch there. The market, Mercado Central, was not as big as the one we visited in Barcelona but it was quite busy. We tried quite a few things as well as the famous paella. We then continued by walking around the old city following the Lonely Planet's walking tour. We visited the square, took some pictures of the Cathedral and enjoyed our walk.

That day was happened to be World Tourism Day and therefore public transportations such as trains, trams and buses were free. We also got a taste of Valencian Horchata (or Orxata in Catalan) which, I just found out, is made of tigernut. I initially thought it was made of almond. It's an interesting drink, I have to say, very nutty and sweet. I quite liked the taste after a few sips.

Nearby Torres de Serranos walking towards the fine art museum, El Museo de las Bellas Artes de Valencia San Pío V, we passed by 5 huge football fields and we saw people gathered around watching or playing football there. I just thought 'Wow'. I had never seen 5 football fields side by side like that before. We then finished our day at the museum before going for paella dinner.

A part from visiting the old quarter and the museum, there was nothing much to see in Valencia. I asked my friend why we put this city in our itinerary and she said it's because one of my friend wanted to go to the aquarium and due to work related issue she cancelled her trip with us. I supposed after we put it as a city to visit, we never thought much about cancelling any cities. Looking at what we visited I thought we could skip Valencia but maybe we didn't have enough time to appreciate it...

I must say though the paella I had in Valencia was the best I've tasted. Too bad we forgot to take photo of it until it's finished.

Valencia's Mercado Central. This photo was taken by HM.

Some of the food we had from Mercado Central

The Cathedral and Bell Tower from a distance

Details of the Cathedral

Torres de Serranos

I just have to show you this. This is from google map. We were crossing the footpath bridge (the blue dot) and you can see there the 5 football fields. They're huge!

Beware of Pickpockets in Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas is always busy and crowded and therefore it's good to watch out for your belongings. On the last few days back in Barcelona, my wallet was stolen from my bag. I remember all of us were watching a headless street performer sitting down with his head on the table. A lot of people gathered around there and I think that was the time my wallet was stolen. And then we continue walking towards Liceu metro station. I only realised I lost my wallet when I was to buy metro tickets. 

I then quickly rushed back retracing my steps in case I dropped it although I knew it's impossible. I went back to the shop I went shopping before and back to the area where the headless street performer was sitting. But I couln't find my wallet. 

At the point where I sort of accepted that my wallet had gone and thought about what I had to do next, I saw a policeman and a policewoman standing there looking at me. I thought since they were looking at me I might as well tell them about my lost wallet. And that was I did. I told them "I lost my wallet". And he suddenly took out his whistle and blowed it towards a man who was walking away but not too far away from us. He came rushing back towards us and I saw in his hand he was holding my driver's licence and he asked "Are you Josephine?". And I said yes. Apparently, he's an under cover police. He and his partner caught the pickpocket who stole my wallet. It was a lady in her 40s I think. She was caught in the act and my wallet was one of the items she stole. 

I guess the 2 uniformed policeman and policewoman were shown my photo on my driver's licence and were standing there looking for me. That's why he was looking at me when I was passing by. 

After being shown my wallet, I then followed the under cover policemen and went to the police station nearby filling up some forms. And voila! I got my wallet back! I just couldn't believe it! I was so lucky. 

And that's the story of my lost and found wallet.