Cuéllar

On the way to our first wine tasting in Todesillas, we stopped in the town of Cuéllar and paid 1,50€ each to walk along the castle walls. The access point was through a turnstile gate near the ramparts but you had to buy a token inside the ticket office. It was a gorgeous morning and the views from the top were amazing! Wish we could have spent a bit more time exploring but it was worth the short visit.

 

Todesillas

After our wine tasting at Bodegas Muelas, we walked around town to check out the view of the town’s bridge over the Douro.

Valladolid

Valladolid was our base for exploring Rueda and Ribera del Douro. We found the town to be quite Spanish, with a relatively low tourist density compared to more well-known places we have visited in Spain.

 

Rueda

After our wine tasting at Bodegas del Alberto, Eric wanted to drive through Rueda just to get a feel for the town.

Avila

On our way back to Madrid, we stopped in Avila to check out another medieval town. Parking was plentiful in the “green zone” just outside the city walls. You have to put your license plate on the parking pass, so I put in 50¢ (which was like 20 hours of parking!) and when I got back to the car I realized I put in the wrong set of numbers from the tag on the key. Whoops! So, I got a second pass for 20¢ this time (~3 hours).

It was lightly drizzling while we walked around but we still managed to get some good shots of the churches and intact city walls – the main draw of the city.

 

We also got to try empiñonados, a pine-nut marzipan treat – lightly sweet, with a strong toasted pine nut flavor.