It was so nice to get an extra-full night of sleep in the quiet little town of Navafria (save for the cows moo-ing into the wee hours), and we woke up refreshed and ready for castle-hunting day! Since we got Segovia out of our system yesterday, I poured over the Lonely Planet last night to see what else was around here that would make a good day trip. Turns out there are several towns with castles in various states of disrepair, so we set off after a nice breakfast of fruit, pastries, and coffee at the Casa de Chorro.

First stop: Turegano, with a collapsing church-castle combo on a hill above a tiny old town. The castle part of the structure was pretty well deteriorated, but the church part appeared maintained and it looked like they still carry on functions. It was fun to poke around - we were the only people here for a while. Daph said it must have been designed by a woman, with curvy stone patterns and pink colors.

Second stop: Coca. This was a much less traditional-feeling town, amidst a fairly industrial region (lots of factories in the surrounding area). But it has several ancient features that are worth seeing. The main draw is the castle - all bricks, with a really deep moat. It was built in 1453, a blend of "Gothic-Mudéjar" architectural styles. It's supposed to be closed on Mondays (the day we were here), and even when open only accessible via guided tour, but there was a wedding shoot going on and the gate was open. So we walked in and had a good time poking around on our own, wandering the floor and walls, looking through the snipers' peepholes and marvelling at the structure. Very cool! And well maintained (since I don't believe this castle has ever been razed and reconstructed like so many of the others). A little further into town was a section of a huge medieval wall, and also a tower (original structure) that had been dated back before 1247.

Third stop: Peñafiel. We decided to stop here because we'd read about a wine museum which was inside the castle. Of course, the museum is closed on Mondays, but the castle itself was unexpectedly dramatic - high up on a steep hill at the edge of the town. Bummer that it was closed, but it was cool walking around it and snapping some photos. It's a long, narrow fortress in very good condition, reached via a set of switchbacks up the side of the hill. The surrounding valleys were full of grapevines... We needed some food and drink at this point so we stopped in a little plaza in town for snacks (what else but ham and cheese, plus a little chorizo) and wine. This place served a chilled red wine - very refreshing in the hot outdoors.

Fourth stop: Gormaz. Well, this was actually our first stop the next day as we left central Spain and headed to the Pyrenees. We drove along back roads through more small villages of Castilla Y Leon. Stopped off at San Estebán de Gormaz (I think - there were many towns devoted to San Estebán) to use the ATM and visit a hopping market where we picked up some anchovies and peppers. A ways further, connecting at Burgos de Osma, we turned off on a tiny side road to go to Gormaz, a lonely ruined castle high on a hill beside an extremely small old town. It was very cool - initially built by Moors in the 10th century, with a few striking "Mudéjar" characteristics. It's a large fortress, with 22 towers - fun to poke around on for an hour or so. Burgos de Osma also seemed like a nice lively town and probably would have been fun to check out (some more castle ruins and a huge old cathedral visible from everywhere), but we would have to satisfy ourselves with a quick wine stop (just a dollar for a glass!) since we had to make it all the way up to Ordessa National Park before it got too late...