Morella & Peniscola

Street in Morella
After our trip to Amsterdam, the whole USAC crew seems to be going somewhere new every weekend and hey, I'm not complaining. I am finding that traveling here is more expensive than you think, especially when you have a school schedule to work around. Apps like Hopper, Sky Scanner, and Hostel World help a lot when trying to find cheap travel but you've got to book as soon as you find a good deal. Luckily, the USAC program is great at giving us weekly updates on events and cheap tours going on within the city and this weekend we got to travel to two small cities in Spain, Morella and Peniscola, for extremely cheap (25 euros total).

Castle above Morella
Morella was a tiny town with white buildings pushed together behind a rock wall that fenced in the whole city. A castle sat above the entire city and you could see the entire country side from the top. Most of the population is older couples which isn't surprising because of isolation and the lack things to do there. The roads are all small, curved, and made of cobblestone which is on thing I love about Spain.

Castle of Morella
We toured the city and stopped by a few important buildings and their one huge Catholic church. The town is known for their cheese which I regretfully never got to try but the chocolate there is actually amazing. The one new thing I tried while I was there was honey comb and I think I can say I am not the biggest fan of it. The honey is sweet and fresh but the comb is just a waxy texture (obviously) the really throws me off. When we arrived at the castle it was a little bit of a hike to get to the top but considering how much I love castles here, I didn't mind. The view was nice, simple and nothing special, but still nice.
View from part of the castle in Morella

Around 4pm we arrived in the next city, Peniscola. I feel in love (again) with this city too. It still had a small town vibe but is much larger than Morella. The colors are more vibrant and some of the houses remind me of the typical ones you see on the coast of Greece. The town sits right on the waters edge which made for a gorgeous sunset.

The garden at Castle of Peniscola
The Castle of Peniscola was used to film scenes in the city of Meereen in Game of Thrones (if you know me, you know I was freaking thrilled). The architecture of this castle was simpler than the last one but the views were 10x better. The castle had a garden (they called it a park, I disagreed) filled with ramps that took you through palm trees and a bunch of other gorgeous plants I didn't know. We took a small city tour in Spanish and let me tell you, that was a reality check. I understood maybe 50% of what the guide said but I know I need more exposure which will only come with time.


Sunset in Peniscola

Sunset over the water in Peniscola


View from Castle of Peniscola (photo creds: Esteban)

Another view from top of the castle in Peniscola (Photo creds: Tim)

We traveled both cities in one day which was exhausting but totally worth it. I can't wait to see where my next adventure takes me.

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