Yes, the Abadía Retuerta is fantastic. We spent two wonderful birthdays there and would have gone back this September, but even our discounted price has become a bit too much of a splurge, but who knows? Perhaps in the winter. The spa is heavenly, the Refectorio, the wine tour via jeep, the wines, the service…for me it’s hotel perfection.
Gemma García is apparently back home at Mánnix, or at least she’s no longer at Cobo Estratos in Burgos. Our waiter there said that she had “gone back to Valladolid” to her personal project, which I inferred was to her home at Mánnix.
The storks traditionally spent their winter in the Sahara in Africa, but now more and more are wintering in the south of Spain, says SeoBirdlife. Our church steeple has a large nest for our 3 storks, but they have yet to appear. Maybe on Feb. 3, el día de San Blas. We haven’t seen them recently in our excursions through Castilla-León.
The beauty of Pedraza is that it hasn’t (yet) become another Santillana Del Mar, with multiple souvenir trinket shops marring the beauty of its Calle Cantón.
On Sundays Pedraza does get bus groups now, but the shops have remained relatively un-touristy—hand crafted furniture, artists’ ateliers, interior décor, bread shops and the like.
The Zuloaga family descendants have sold the XIII castle, and on November 2 the Teatrópolis group will open it to the public as a major event space and cultural center to organize events similar to the Edinburgh festival, albeit on a much smaller scale. It will be decorated for Christmas and all rooms open to visitors. The goal is to bring more cultural tourism to this 350 inhabitant medieval town rather than just gastro tourism.
If you do make it to Aranda de Duero, for our money the best lechazo can be found at Casa Florencio.
Another “lamb palace” to add to your list is El Ermitaño in Benavente (Zamora), with 2 Repsol suns.
