Manzanares El Real

On Sunday we had a nice slow morning.  There was supposed to be a rastro, Spanish Brocante or flea market, but the rain in the area kept everyone away.  I had fun supporting the local economy anyway by visiting a few boutique clothing stores.  I love Spanish clothing stores, even if all the clothes were made in Italy.  After lunch the clouds cleared and Jon found a castle for us to visit.  We loaded up the car and drove less than 30 minutes to Manzanares El Real.

The sky was just gorgeous and we were all thrilled to be visiting this beautiful castle.

The castle dates by to the 1400s, but was repaired in the 1970s.

They did a great job on this location, you could still feel the age and history.

The valley the castle in was beautiful too, Jon took the camera from me again.

We were the only people at the castle at this point and the kids loved having some room to run.

Headed in!

These kids love to climb on everything.

Malachi hates being left behind.

The central courtyard.

There was one portion of the castle that was not prepared.  It would have been in this area, a 3-4 store central tower that would have housed the throne room and chapel.

These stairs were lots of fun.

How beautiful, every time Addie sees a royal bedroom she says that is what she would like.

The views were so peaceful and beautiful.

We did lots of exploring through the castle and its towers.

This set of stairs was intense.

This sign basically says that if you are claustrophobic you should not go down these stairs.  

After the castle we made our way to the playground next time.  There are so many things I love about this picture.  Bennett is a champ at monkey bars and how amazing is this view?

Can you see Addie's tongue sticking out in concentration?  This is another favorite photo.  I remember doing monkey bars until my hands bled when I was Addie's age.  

These birds were EVERYWHERE.  They are huge and their nests are massive.  I thought of my bird loving friends as we saw them through out the region.

As the rain clouds started roll back in we headed to a local pizzeria.  Finding a place to eat that is open when we are hungry is not easy in Spain.  Thankfully this little local pizza place was great.  We had cheese, Hawaiian, and BBQ pizza.  It was fresh made and delicious and we had the place to ourself.  We enjoyed watching a spanish soap opera and finished off our evening with ice cream.  It was one of our favorite afternoons in Spain.