Lago Avandaro at Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Valle de Bravo, Mexico.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Playa del Carmen on December 17th!

Monday, December 5, 2022

The medieval town of Montblanc, Spain

The weather turned out better than forecast, so we decided to stay in Montblanc a second night. This would allow us to go for a walk around the town and see what there is to see.

Montblanc is a fortified medieval town. People have been living here since around 1100... almost a thousand years!

Sunday morning, so not many people around. It was still cool out... high of 10C (50F) but at least the sun was shining.

Ruth at one of the entrances to old town.

Yes, people can drive a car in here, but I think they only would if they actually live in the old town section.

Old walls.

Some of these buildings are derelict, but many have been modernized and people live in them.


There are quite a few small businesses in the old town.
Lots of them are decorated for Christmas.

In the old central plaza.

Looking up towards the church.

One of the renovated homes in the central plaza.

Built between 1400 and 1548.

The original facade was destroyed during the Catalan Revolt that took place between 1640 and 1659.
The current facade was completed in 1684, as evidenced by the numbers above the doors.

It was Sunday morning and there was a service going on, so we couldn't see the interior.

We wandered up to Castle Hill. There is no longer a castle on the hill because it was abandoned in the 1300's and the building material was eventually used in homes down below.

This is a depiction of what the town might have looked like in the 15th century.

View from castle hill.


Looking beyond the fortress walls to the more modern section of town.

I like this downhill street.

Fake vine outside the local museum.

Exit to the newer part of town.

Ruth, seeing what there is to see!

Old fountain that still works.

This would be a lot busier on a weekday.

Saint Michaels Church built in the 1300's.


Looks pretty much original.

Another one of the entrance gates.

Out in the newer section of town there isn't really a lot of interest.
The winery union building, completed in 1916 is different.

Back at Max for the rest of the afternoon.

I took this shot out of Max's window as a guy on a horse walked by.

This is a nice wine! I post the photo just for our records to remember to buy it again.
Only €1.40 ($2.00 CAD, $1.50 USD) a bottle!

Stuffed chicken breast for dinner.

Today, we move down to the coast at Tarragona. It's a little more difficult for parking on the coast, and you have to be careful when you leave your motorhome alone. In fact we've pretty much decided that if we are at all unsure, we will take the safe way out and use paid secure parking when necessary. Not worth taking the chance of being broken into, and there are a lot of reports from motorhomes and vans who have had that happen to them.

Calling for a high of 15C (60F) today. Perfect for exploring Tarragona.

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And in Canada...

6 comments:

  1. Testing 1.2.3 ... First register through Google. Then access the Comment section. Seems to work so far . Oh, and I love Montblanc, it seems such a nice old place, completely out of tourist itiniraries, it seems. So have a nice week and we'll see how this experiment turns out. (So far, lines on my screen are bundled up one on top of the other, like there's not enough space for all that writing. Weird. )

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    1. Congratulations, it looks like it worked for just fine for you!

      Montblanc was a lovely town and we really enjoyed wandering around the old medieval part of town. It is definitely off the main tourist route, especially at this time of year.

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  2. I wonder if I can see someone else's comment ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you shouldn't have any problems seeing anyone else's comments. Now that you are signed up as a member, it should all be the same as it was before.

      Delete
  3. What a beautiful area. I love the super narrow little roads through old town. And Ruth's dinner looks delicious. Always a fan of inexpensive (but decent) wine as well. Good find!

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    1. We love the area other than it being too cold for us at the moment, hopefully we will return to this area in warmer weather, there is a lot to see around here. These medieval towns are incredible with their narrow streets and tall houses/apartments. We wonder how much sunlight those places get during the day?

      Dinner turned out really well and it was pretty tasty. That bottle of wine was very nice but then again we aren't wine connoisseurs, lol!

      Delete

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