Cuenca

Wow, Cuenca is incredible. We would have loved being there, if the weather hadn’t been so terrible. In our two days there, the temperature never got out of the 40s, and it rained almost the entire time. It’s too bad, as the city’s old town is striking and beautiful, and the surrounding area has great potential for hiking. The old town is built up on a bluff between two gorges. Many of the buildings are right out on the edge of 100-foot cliffs. A few even jut out over the edge – somehow these cantilevered structures have hung there for 600-odd years despite the pull of gravity.

No place to build but up


Other structures seem to blend into the rock itself, and in some places bricks have been used to fill in small ravines, with houses perched atop. A vertigo-inducing footbridge that stretches across a valley provides an awesome vantage point for viewing one side of the town.


It's as far as it looks


Despite the rain and cold, we did get out for a couple of walks. We passed random staircases heading down or up the cliffs. These lead to the little houses dotted about small flat spots mid-way up the cliffs. One area had climbing routes galore, and overhanging ledges provided shelter from the heaviest of the rain. We could have spent days wandering around the hills right outside of town.

From afar

A beautiful place, and one that we would have enjoyed exploring even more in good weather.