I had not heard of Cuenca before planning my Spain itinerary. On the Lonely Planet map of Spain, it recommends a stop in Cuenca. A simple Google Search shows mountains in the photos and I was sold. Cuenca would be my first really small town. It serves as a weekend destination for families from Madrid. The high speed rail station is not in the city of Cuenca. There is a connecting bus to take you to the town. When I checked into the hostel, it was lightly raining. I figured I would chill until the rain stopped and then make my way into the old town and explore.

Ascending uphill into the narrow streets of the Cuena old town, all sense of orientation gets lost. Following maps does not help. The town is really small, it’s not a maze. It’s just that you cannot see much around you. You can follow the main road but the drivers are very aggressive and traffic only goes in one direction. A stop light located in the middle of the cathedral plaza at the apex of the old town hill redirects traffic in the opposite direction. The drivers are quite antsy by the time the light lets them go. This kind of ruins the vibe of the old town.

As I was roaming around getting lost, I discovered the famous hanging houses of Cuenca. It’s pretty scary, those houses look like they are about to fall off of the cliff.

I continued walking until I could find the famous bridge with the view that the hostel host had told me about. There are no signs leading you to the bridge. The map came in slightly handy here. Behind the cathedral, down a hill, a slight left and then around a bend, you are suddenly presented by an extraordinarily majestic view of houses, a monastery, the bridge dating from 1900 and glorious mountains. The sky was gray. I was really hoping that the next day I could return to see this same beauty but with blue skies.

The weather in Cuenca is hot, hot, hot. It’s like a desert. I needed a place to cool off. I had asked someone about where to cool off and he said there weren’t too many options but there is the piscina municipal. In New York, the municipal swimming pool does not sound like much of a good thing. However, the public pool/resort in Vienna and the panoramic view at the Barcelona public pool led me to believe that the public pool of Cuenca would probably be worth visiting. The next day, I did a short hike into the forest where about 45 minutes in, you see a sign for the piscina municipal. Just as I had thought, this place was amazing. It’s not just a pool. It’s more like a lake. It’s also a bar, restaurant and general relaxation area. I spotted an area with an umbrella and plopped my stuff down and jumped into the lake. The water was frigid but incredibly refreshing given the weather. I was incredibly happy in Cuenca. With my entry ticket, I got a discount for a “bacon sandwich” and a beer. All of this in the public pool.

I returned to the old town at the end of my day to capture the beauty of the valley of Cuenca with blue skies and all.