Our Underwhelming, Then Interesting, Introduction To Cuenca

After the naked hiker and, now I don't remember what else we did (oh yeah, the hike), we drove in the Cuenca to look for lunch and check out the town of 55,000 people.

We parked at the bottom of the river gorge, which was both easy and dumb.  It was easy to park, but, without realizing it, we then had to hike up the steep gorge to get to the actual main part of town.

Cuenca is primarily famous for the Casa Colgados, which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage designation for the city.  

Here's the first sentences of two different websites that come up when googling Cuenca:

"The Hanging Houses are so amazing as they appear to defy gravity, clinging to the edge of a vertical cliff, over the Cuenca Gorge."

and

"The hanging houses of Cuenca are located, as their name indicates in the city of Cuenca, a city about 2 hours southeast from Madrid. They are an iconic fixture of Castilla la Mancha as are, for example, the Don Quijote Windmills, and have been declared a UNESCO world heritage site."

Based on that, I expected greatness, but, truth be told, we were pretty underwhelmed by the hanging houses.  I was definitely expecting more, but the three hanging houses essentially each are "hanging" because their decks overhang the gorge.  Not the houses, but the decks.

Now, I would not have wanted to be the first person to step onto the decks after they were finished, but I also don't get the whole hub-bub, bub.

(Editor's Note: In the previous paragraph, you write "truth be told."  Does that mean you haven't been telling the truth to this point in the blog?  Writer: Lighten up Francis, it's just a turn of phrase.)

We first got lunch in the town's Plaza Mayor, where I saw an unusual sight, given the year and location.  As I tweeted then:

The legend of Michael Jordan persists. Having lunch in Cuenca, Spain. Three 12 year old boys walk by (age is a guess by me, the gender is not). Two are wearing Jordan gear, the other is wearing a Chicago 32 jersey, the manufacturer went with counterfeit. MJ retired 20 yrs ago.

Anyhow, lunch was good, so we went into the Cathedral on the same plaza.  The facade of the cathedral is famous for the two big holes in it at the top.

It's cool to see the clouds and blue sky

through the holes in the facade.  I'm sure

there is a name for this, but I can't find it.

One of the earliest Gothic churches in Spain, construction started in 1196 and finished by 1257.  The bell tower collapsed in 1902 after a lightning strike, requiring major renovations (the tower was not rebuilt).  Several children were killed by the collapse.

The inside of the Cathedral is impressive, but you've read enough about cathedrals on this trip, and I certainly have written enough about them.  So here's pictures instead.

On the left is Adam, Eve, and a serpent.

On the right is, well, I'm not sure.

I gave altar tables short shrift on this trip,

but they are cool.  Here's an attempt at

a make-up photo.

Obligatory rose window.

Other than Sagrada Familia, I'm

not a fan of most modern

stained glass.  This is pretty

fabulous though.

And this is the kind of modern

stained glass that feels like

pins are being stuck in my eyes.

Picasso on cocaine.

The Holy Spirit and cherubs make a 

nice palate cleanser from the

photo above this one.

Imagine, Dragons.

Art including a skull definitely increases

the odds that I will include it on the blog.

The only problem with dome photos is that

they grossly understate just how huge

the domes are, and how ornate they are.

Always room for the "wife

at the fountain" photo.

The photographer taking a photo

of himself in the mirror is

always high art.  So go ahead,

say "Hi, Art!"

A cool ceiling in a chapel.

This music stand might have scared me

into actually singing in tune (or not).

St. James, doing what he does best in

Spain: slaying the Moors and turning

the tide of a major battle.

And, a rose window with not

terrible modern stained glass.