GK Tours. Day 16
Tuesday 19th November 2024 Soria to Tarazona
We are turning into a lazy pair of travellers, this van’s cave mode is far too good. I didn’t wake until 9:05am this morning, it seems to be getting later and later!
So, once we got ourselves sorted, we took Meg for another walk along the river and park.
The really nice café was open so we stopped for a coffee and of course another little bit of Torrezno 
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We walked further today and saw a few things we didn’t notice yesterday.
Firstly, a woodpecker graced us with his presence – sorry, I had to zoom in so the pic’s a bit blurry, then a broken and collapsed footbridge across one part of the river, cordoned off and awaiting repair or replacement, and lastly, a huge statue of a crayfish/prawn in the river 
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It was another lovely morning as we said goodbye to Soria and moved on to our next port of call, Tarazona.
At one point today we reached 1198m above sea level. We weren’t really aware of our altitude until I noticed my face creams etc were bursting out of their tubes 
. Gareth noted some personal issues which we have also put down to the altitude and not the food he has eaten 
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Despite our ups and downs on a lovely new road today, most of the land appeared quite flat, with evidence of agricultural activities rather than the expected wine growing.
All of a sudden we turned a bend and Tarazona appeared in front of us. A mound of sandy red brick buildings with some amazing towers reaching skyward. It reminds us both of a Tuscan hill town.
There is a dedicated free Aire here, but we parked by the Cathedral for our little visit to the old town.
Tarazona is small but my goodness the Cathedral is just breathtaking. Every time you look at a different part, you are wowed by the detail, absolutely gorgeous and definitely the prettiest building in the town.
There’s a small river running through the town and nice little bridges to cross. A few of the bars were still open, as always we seem to arrive at lunchtime so a lot of the businesses close. Sitting down at one of the bars in the sun, we had our first Radlers (lager with lemon) of the trip, very nice and refreshing.
We needed this as the rest of the tour was uphill, mostly on cobbled streets and lanes and well-trodden stone steps.
The town has provided a tourist trail making it easier to see everything. This is mainly the Bishops Palace – once home to the King and Queen of Aragon, a couple of other churches and a convent. You can also see evidence of the old walls and ramparts here.
What you also get is an amazing view of Tarazona, including the old Bull Ring and the Cathedral.
There are some buildings in what is called the Cinto area that are in ruin, sadly it doesn’t look like they are being attended too either.
Starting our descent we headed towards the town hall. Once again, the detail on the front of the building is just….wow! It takes quite a while to soak up all the carvings and figureheads 
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In front of the town hall there is also a monument depicting the Cipotegato – a clown dressed in harlequin colours who runs through the streets while the crowds throw tomatoes at him. The route is only known by the Cipotegato – it ends when he returns to the square, climbs his monument and ties a scarf to it. This is always on 27th August and marks the start of festivities in honour of Saint Atilano, ending on 1st Sept. So beware when you choose to visit .
Some of the lanes are very narrow and we were surprised to see cars driving down them. At one point there was just an inch or so space either side 
. Haha thank goodness we didn’t take the van into the old town .
Our last visit before another stop for refreshments was the old Bull Ring, one of the oldest in spain. Built in 1792 in an octagonal shape, it was replaced by a new out of town ring in 1870. The building, in almost perfect order was then turned into residential apartments and the cobbled ring area is still used for cultural and music events.
Our walk around Tarazona ended with another Radler and 3 different tapas plates, a chicken pasty; a pimiento, cheese and ham croquette; and two mussels in their shells with a pickled salad topping, yum yum.
We moved the van back to the designated Aire for the evening just before the sun dipped below the building line.
Though we are enjoying sunny skies, as soon as the sun dips, the temperature does drop significantly, not as low as I think you maybe feeling back home, but still chilly.
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