27 June 2012 – Albarracin

A three hour coach drive through the mountains brought us to the hill village of Albarracin.  The coach dropped us at the large coach park, which is at the foot of the hill on which the town is built.

Another very hot day, and no one enjoyed the long slog uphill to the town square.   Most made straight for one of the many bars around the square, but Jan and I had enough of sitting on the coach and wanted to explore whilst we still had the energy.

The town is a photographer’s delight, and it’s easy to see why it is so popular as an excursion from nearby Tereul.

We could not find the official tourist office, but did get a free town map from one of the many tourist friendly shops.   With its help we made our way to the cathedral, which is the highest part of the town.   Unfortunately it was closed for repairs!

We followed a path around the town for a short distance, but returned as soon as it started to go downhill.   The temperature was rising and we were tiring.   It was time to find a bar and get out of the sun.

The town is a maze of narrow streets, and all of the bars seemed to be in or about the town square.  So we decided to make our way back there.

On the way we found this shaded seating area which provided a welcome break from the sun.

We did find a quiet bar away from the square, and after lunch we made our way back towards the coach park.   We still have two hours to pass, and spent an hour following the river path which leads around the base of the town.

We had about four hours in this beautiful town, which was probably too long on such a hot and humid day.   We ran out of energy after an hour or so, and then it was a matter of finding somewhere cool to wait for the coach.   It would be nice to return in the spring or autumn and be able to really enjoy exploring the narrow streets and climb to the town walls on the hill above.