Madrid - Cuenca - Valencia

Up early the next morning after a night of very little sleep. I just can not sleep in a hotel bed. I toss and turn most of the night, and one can forget about sleeping on a tour bus totally. I really don't know how some people can sleep absolutely any where they are.

Our first stop was to see the hanging houses in Cuenca, after stopping at an old monastery for coffee and cakes. The monastery has been made into a hotel run by the government and inside it is just lovely.

This is a picture of an inner courtyard of the monastery.

This is the main door leading into the monastery.

Afterwards I wondered around the monastery grounds, sat on a bench and just gazed around. Harvey on the other hand decided the wanted to cross a very narrow bridge over the gorge and get a bit closer to the hanging houses. I thought I could see them very well from where I was sitting.

This is my view from the bench.

This is the bridge that Harvey decided to cross in order to get some better pictures of the hanging houses.

Notice how the balconies hang over the cliff. No one is allowed in that portion of the house. There are only two left now and are well protected. The fronts are used however. One is an art gallery and the other an eating establishment.

Notice all the padlocks on the bridge. It seems newly engaged or married couples place a padlock on the bridge in the hope that their marriages will be held fast.

In what seemed to be a very short time we were back on the bus and headed towards Valencia.

We had a short drive around the city and then met our local guide. He took us to view the City of Arts and Sciences which is a very large scale urban recreation center.

As you can see Harvey was very interested in the buildings. I on the other hand was more interested in this....

We were told that by the end of spring this entire grid would be covered and give visitors to the park needed shade during the heat of the summer.

We got to see the smallest home in Spain. Notice the skinny strip of darker pink between the yellow and salmon coloured homes.

Every where we went the orange blossoms were out filling the air with such a lovely fragrance.

Later that evening we traveled to this beach. Just look how far you need to walk to even put your toes in the water.

Where we had a lovely paella meal at a local eating establishment.

After dinner as we were leaving the restaurant this met our eyes.

This wonderful sand sculpture!!!! Totally awesome work by just one person.

We headed back to the hotel for sleep, ending the second day of our vacation.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.