If you've been to Spain or other parts of Europe, you know that you almost can't throw a stone without hitting a castle but for us it is all new so we made our way to anything close by that was listed in the Lonely Planet guide book for Spain.
This small village had the bonus of being a really short drive in our rental car from Buitrago. It was the castle of a duke who... did something or other that made him important-ish. Better than any of that was that it was a well maintained castle that was friendly to tourists, even those with little kids! They loved the circular staircase.
These small holes in the wall above were made to shoot arrows through and the kids could get in the built in area that was designed to protect the archers inside. They thought that was the coolest thing.
This is the main gate and it had some serious barricades that came out from the towers on either side. There were also protected areas for the guards there. That was our first experience seeing the real defensive capabilities of a castle, the girls liked to play palace guard.
First suit of armor that we saw here in Spain.
The royal dinning hall.
These tapestries were from the 1400's and it was amazing that they were even able to still hang from the walls without tearing under their own weight.
This was staged and was on loan from a museum but it was an actual bed from that period. The girls thought it looked like a bed from a Disney movie.
One of the castle towers as seen through a window on the main wall of the castle.
Oh my gosh, I'm so dizzy, make it stop... but the girls could have played here all day.
This is a wooden, and far more elaborate spiral staircase that led to the main sleeping chambers.
This castle also had a well maintained "garden" where we could enjoy the sunshine from a beautiful fall day and eat a small picnic lunch. It was one of our simpler trips but it was a very relaxing visit.
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