'Cuenca is an example of a tourist city that doesn’t put all its eggs in its own vanity basket'
I have just spent a week being whisked through Castilla-La Mancha’s plains at more than 300 km/ph on a high-speed train service that opened up a brace of superb cities where I stayed in two beguilingly historic paradors. We could so do with both paradors and high-speed rail in Scotland.
Albacete proved an unsung joy. I kicked off my explorations of the largest city on the plains of Castilla-La Mancha at one of its many green lungs – the Abelardo Sanchez Park with its tree-shrouded walkways and cooling fountains. I was reluctant to leave Albacete the next afternoon, but that soon dissipated after a half-hour whoosh on Iryo across dusty Castilla-La Mancha. Cuenca proved an utter joy. This Unesco World Heritage listed oasis is pure postcard, the sort of Spain that you feared might not really exist.
Prising myself out of the parador, I eked across the sinewy old footbridge that spans the gorge into the old town. Medieval architecture soared all around, the highlight the 12th-century cathedral. Its epic Gothic facade echoed Notre Dame in Paris, with a sprinkling of cafes on hand where you could just peer up and admire its grandeur on Plaza Mayor.
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