Toledo, an essential visit
1)Arrive in Toledo crossing the neomozarabic of its beautiful train station . Wishing for the city from below, looking at it from the Puerta de Bisagra as if it were a postcard that gradually undresses. Reach it by going up the escalators of the Paseo del Recaredo , the last contact with modernity.
2) Get lost as a rookie through the alleys of the city and appearing in the Plaza de Zocodóver, turning it, for a few breaths, into the center of the universe.
3) Follow the signs that lead to monuments that in other places would occupy all the covers, such as the Transit Synagogue or the very gothic and irresistible monastery of Saint John of the Kings.
Marzipan from Toledo, irresistible!
4) bury the Count Orgaz in the parish of Santo Tomé between talks on Mannerism, on El Greco and on his astigmatism. Crashing into its author (whether or not it was his year) in his house-museum, discovering impossible vedutas in the city.
5) Be amazed at every corner of the awe-inspiring Primatial Cathedral , one of the most beautiful in the world. Receive a class on the Reconquest reviewing your choir and then appreciate the architectural-sculptural-pictorial spectacle of the Transparent.
6) Look at the Tagus from the Alcázar as if he were a sex symbol.
7) Sweeten up for a while succumbing to Marzipan.
8) Leaving behind the industrial estates to give a chance to Talavera of the Queen finding bridges over the Tagus from all eras, small doors and a powerful pottery tradition summarized in the Ruiz de Luna Museum.
9) conquer the Oropesa Castle and celebrate it in your precious Navarro Square.
A walk through the Tablas de Daimiel
10) Understand that all towns in Toledo are not the same when immersing yourself in the heritage of Corral de Almaguer, El Toboso, Esquivias or Yepes.
eleven) Take the Cerro Calderico from mother-in-law to fight against Castle of the Muela or against the iconic windmills.
12) Give a chance to dozens of wineries seeking to re-launch wine of this community.
13) Get your shoes wet walking the Daimiel tables. Start a crash course in ornithology, landscaping, and radical sunsets.
14) dive into the Almaden Mining Park to learn about the oldest mines in the world as well as the importance of mercury for more than two thousand years.
Manchego cheeses, the best
fifteen) Taste the manchego cheese and start a crusade against all those who take his name in vain.
16) Terrace without remorse in the Plaza Mayor of Almagro , under the colorful balconies and with the town hall in the retina. Having deserved the stop after walking through its historic center and having visited, at least, the Convent of the Incarnation.
17) Go back to the past in the Comedy Courtyard , where classical theater and the Castilian idiosyncrasy fought (and continue to fight) for their natural space.
18) Stroll through Ciudad Real and find a quiet, provincial city (for the good), with spaces for enjoyment such as the Plaza Mayor or the Gasset Park.
Plaza Mayor of Almagro
19) Get into the skin of Don Quixote when you run into the windmills of Campo de Criptana. Start under its blades a visit between lime walls and 100% authentic rural prints. Discover that there is also an Albayzín among the giants.
20) Drink the sour water from the Paseo de San Gregorio in Puertollano while some countryman reminds you that whoever tries it, he comes back.
21)Ask for Don Quixote in Villanueva de los Infantes , listen to the theories that place that "Place of La Mancha whose name..." at this point. Downplay them when admiring an overwhelming monumental complex.
22) Bet anything with anyone that there is no a more radical and multicolored sky than that of La Mancha in full sunset.
23) Cross the line of industrial warehouses that precede Valdepeñas to find a town devoted to wine where there are no shortage of charming corners such as the Noucentista Plaza de España and the Modernism of the houses of the place. Of course, ending up in a warehouse is inevitable.
24) Discover that Albacete has a mountain to discover , with exuberant natural parks such as the Parque de Calares del Río Mundo and de la Sima. Enjoy the waterfalls that announce the birth of the river in the vicinity of Riópar.
The famous windmills of Criptana
25) Dawn, which is not little, on the surreal route that joins the scenes of the mythical film by Cuerda while special places such as Ayna's orchard (the planted man), the hermitage of Belén de Liétor or the Plaza de Molinicos.
26) Read the most distant ancestors in the caves of Alpero, Minateda and Nerpio , a whole boom of Levantine rock art.
27) Stop at any service station in Albacete to buy (and/or eat) some Miguelitos de la Roda.
28) Knock on the door of the Castle of Almansa. Glimpse this new city from above and decide what to visit among its charming whitewashed streets.
29) Raise your voice and say "Hey, Albacete it is not too bad!" discovering pleasant surprises like the Pasaje de Lodares, the provincial archaeological museum or the Fontecha Flour Factory and its centennial aftertaste.
Almansa Castle, a beauty
30) Discuss between Albacete towns that defy vertigo as Alcalá de Júcar, Jorquera or Peñas de San Pedro and plain and beautiful towns like Tarazona of La Mancha.
31) Ride like a noble medieval knight entering the gates of Alarcón . Leave the equine and the metaphors aside to enjoy all its views (to and from the reservoir), its ashlars and its tranquility.
32)Dress up as an adventurer to go up the Mundo River until its impressive and mighty birth.
33) Sheath the swords upon arrival, in peace, at Belmont Castle, one of the best cared for in Spain and this year's venue for the always amazing Medieval Combat World Cups.
3. 4) Imagine the great Celtiberian and Roman city that was Segóbriga , stepping on its roads and following its streets and aqueducts to the hot springs and even its photogenic amphitheater.
35) Try to understand why the monastery of Ucles They call it 'El Escorial de La Mancha'.
Segóbriga amphitheater
36) Go up Basin , leaving behind the gray modern city to discover the past and the monumentality of its cathedral, its castle and all its walled complex (World Heritage, no less).
37)Cross the Huécar by the iconic San Pablo Bridge to glimpse the best known face of Cuenca, with its famous Hanging Houses starring photos, souvenirs and jokes.
38) Risking life by calling them "Hanging Houses" or when using the demonym of La Mancha for these mountain lands.
39) Adore abstract art through a city that welcomed this current like no other in the 60s and 70s and that today shines in spaces such as the **Museum of Spanish Abstract Art**, Torner Space (still closed, these lines serve to claim its reopening) or the Carlos Saura Foundation.
40) Remember how much imagination you had as a child when revisiting the Enchanted City and see boulders where before there were big animals. Get excited by nostalgia.
Ucles Monastery
41) Sailing on anything that floats in what were once two seas for urbanites: the Entrepeñas and Buendía swamps.
42) Be dazzled by all the potential and heritage it has Pastrana , including its own Moorish neighborhood and noble houses.
43) Back to the list of the Gothic kings in the town of Reccopolis.
44) Schedule a trip to Alcarria a la Camilo José Cela to discover that this region has not changed that much and that places like Torija (with its museum dedicated to this book), Brihuega or Trillo are meat for Sunday excursions.
45) Reclaim Guadalajara from the courtyard of the Palacio del Infantado or from the Lucena chapel.
46) Meet the baby Tagus , which crosses wild landscapes between Peralejos de las Truchas and Trillo, making a mandatory stop at the Puente de San Pedro to see its most emblematic sickles.
47) Wrap up warm in Molina de Aragón and enjoy the three cultures that mark this place, with its castle, its Jewish quarter, its Moorish quarter and its Christian churches coexisting harmoniously.
Cuenca, monumental city
48) Ask for time to sneak into the Cave of the Casares and enjoy the Sistine Chapel of the most unknown cave art in the Peninsula.
49) Follow the steps of Félix Rodríguez de La Fuente looking for the griffon vulture by the overwhelming rocks of the Barranco del Río Dulce.
fifty) Happily punish the twins by going up and down the slopes of Sigüenza , conquering its castle, walking through its gates and its cobbled streets and greeting Doncel in one of the most beautiful tombs of Spanish Gothic.
51) Mutate mycologist picking mushrooms and chanterelles through the pine forests of the Alto Tajo or the Sierra Norte.
52) Inquire into the poor and stoic Romanesque of Atienza and its surroundings.
53) Definitely become a fan of Autumn ( #NoFilter , of course) among the small paradises of the Tejera Negra beech forest.
54) Fasten your Sunday anorak while enjoying the towns of black architecture, with the great waterfall of Valverde of the Creeks (and its rural chimneys) as the end of the route.
the enchanted city