113. Pedraza

Pedraza was the prettiest town we visited, so we accidentally saved the best for last. The town has maintained its medieval town center through a tough set of defences, including an attractive set of walls and a not very attractive wreck of a castle. The castle is still owned by the local nobility, and at the time we visited it looked to be under renovation, so by now it may look more impressive. But when we were there it looked like it would collapse if we touched it.

The castle is well worth a look for its unique architecture, which many people have noticed looks like a boat marooned on top of a hill. It's also got great views over the lush surrounding hills and the historical town below. The one big drawback is that the castle now houses a museum of wine. Ordinarily I'm a big fan of all things wine related, but this museum is quite dull, and you have to go on a long, guided tour of the museum to see any of the castle. The town actually deserves a much higher wine profile, because it's at the center of the Ribera del Duero wine region, which produces some of Spain's most prestigious wine.

111. Penafiel

Next we spent a fair amount of time in Penafiel (the n should have a tilda, that squiggly thing, on top of it, but I don't know how to type that on my Anglo keyboard). It's in a fairly attractive corner of Segovia province, hillier and greener than most of the area surrounding Madrid. The town is dominated by the deceptively awesome castle lining the hill above town. I say deceptive because the castle was built to fit the shape of the narrow ridge, ie very long and very narrow. The castle has been owned for many centuries by the Marquis of Penafiel, whose family still owns it

110. Cuellar

Next stop was another medieval market town, Cuellar. It was a prosperous wool trading town in the middle ages, and was given by the king to the Duke of Albequerque as a birthday present. The Duke built the castle to safeguard his present, although he eventually lost both the castle and the town. The castle was used as a prison, a mental hospital and now a cheery girls' school, and since school was in session we couldn't really explore much of the castle.

109. Medina del Campo

Thursday was a very car-intensive day, exploring the little known sights of Segovia province. The city of Segovia, about ninety minutes north of Madrid, is a very popular day trip from Madrid, but the rest of the province is more or less neglected. Our first stop was Medina del Campo, an ugly market town that would make a good candidate for hosting the Spanish version of The Office. But unlike Slough or Scranton, this town was actually an historical powerhouse. During the middle ages it hosted Europe's main trading fair, when merchants and bankers from all over Europe flocked to do deals. The town and the market were wiped out a couple of times, and the current town is completely lacking in character. It has only one remnant of its history, this castle of La Mota. It was one of several castles owned by the powerful, and much hated, Fonseca family, until they were thrown out by the townspeople in the fifteenth century. The castle was then used as a prison and a school and now just sort of sits there. It's a quintessential castle, but stuck in a patch of green surrounded by the modern town, so the location sort of ruins the mytique.