hanging houses | Ray and Shelley's Retirement Adventures

We went to Cuenca to visit this unique and quaint city. It is known for its long history and unique buildings and is classified as a UNESCO world site. The city was built as a defensive city in the Caliphate mountains by the Moors. Cuenca is unique because it is a well-preserved medieval fortified city. It is also known for its “casas colgadas” (hanging Houses) built on the sheer cliffs that overlook the Huecar river.

We went to the local tourism office and spoke to the clerk who suggested we take a taxi to the top of the city and walk down the medieval old quarter of Cuenca.

We arrived at the top of the city at the parking lot of the Castilo and took in the breath-taking views.

img_20161006_130845822 — Ray, Brad, Louise, and Shelley at the top of the Castillo Parking lot in Cuenca, Spain

We walked slowly down the steep cobble-stoned streets working our way through the amazing city.

View of the buildings on the cliffs of Cuenca Spain

Along the route, we came across a side path that went under the roadway that was beautiful.

img_20161006_131819956_hdr-1 — Path leading under the roadway in Cuenca

The view from the path provided a stunning view of the Cuenca valley.

img_20161006_131436026 — Path in Cuenca Spain

img_20161006_131548026 — View of the valley in Cuenca Spain

After taking a break and looking at the beautiful vistas, we headed back down the streets of Cuenca towards the central Plaza de Mayor.

There were 11-century old buildings along the way, some of which were built on the sheer edge of the cliffs of Cuenca.

Building on the cliff edge in Cuenca Spain

We arrived at the busy Plaza de Mayor which is the main square in the old medieval section of Cuenca. There were numerous restaurants and coffee shops in the square.

img_20161006_135455795_hdr — A partial view of the Plaza Mayor of Cuenca

We decided to take a break and have some snacks and refreshments before heading on to explore more of the city of Cuenca. The city of Cuenca has so many amazing sites and unique things that we will do several blog post on it. Below is a video capturing some of the amazing sites of Cuenca.

https://youtu.be/WLkYYaAAkEc

“adios y que tenga un gran dia”

We took the high-speed rail system to Cuenca Spain, a small quaint city in the mountains. We arrived at the train station “Cuenca Fernando Zobel” which is a new station located on the outskirts of Cuenca.

img_20161006_103811189_hdr — Cuenca, Spain the new RENFE train station platform

The new train station is a beautiful new facility and is quite impressive. It looks more like an airport than a train station.

img_20161006_104531444 — Inside of the RENFE train station in Cuenca, Spain

We decided to walk into Cuenca and headed down the sidewalk towards the city.

img_20161006_105247458 — Walking along the new sidewalk away from the train station toward Cuenca.

As we continued the walk the sidewalk ended and we were walking along the roadway.

img_20161006_110058293 — Walking along the side of the road heading towards Cuenca.

We continued to walk for approximately 30 minutes when a priest stopped his car and approached us. He asked us if we were ok and where we were headed. We told him to our hotel in Cuenca and he indicated that we were about 6 kilometers away from our hotel. He offered to take us there in his vehicle and we decided to take him up on his offer. The four of us and our carry bags squeezed into his small compact 4 cylinder car. The priest was very helpful and drove us to the hotel.

img_20161006_111135561 — Priest driving us to the hotel in Cuenca

We thanked him very much and offered him some money, which he refused. He told us to pray for him and wished us well. It is nice to see the goodwill of strangers and to be the recipient of a random act of kindness.