Cuenca

I was able to visit Cuenca, Spain the other day and it was amazing! I am living in the province of Cuenca but this post is about the city of Cuenca (which is kind of like the capital of this province). So… Welcome to Cuenca, Cuenca, Spain!

This picture shown above is very important to the province of Cuenca. Each year, they have a contest for the opportunity for someone to paint a mural in the city. This is the winning mural for 2019. I was told that there are multiple political parties here and that a symbol for one of the parties is a cow. So this artist decided to paint the cow in honor of the political party that is in power right now and a shoe that represents how Cuenca is a walkable city.

And while exploring the city of Cuenca, I was able to explore my first ever Cathedral! It is very beautiful and I would highly recommend visiting both Cuenca and the Catedral de Cuenca!

To get anywhere in Cuenca, you will have to travel through very narrow and very steep streets. This is a very walkable city just be prepared to get in a good leg work out while exploring! I really enjoyed strolling through these streets of brightly colored buildings / homes.

Like I said, the streets in Cuenca have a very steep incline. But once you get to the top you have an amazing view of the city!

You can not really see in the picture above, but Cuenca is very famously known for its “casas colgadas” which means “hanging houses”. I didn’t get the opportunity to get up close and personal to the hanging houses so I definitely plan on going back! But the hanging houses are houses that were built into the side of the cliffs and most of them are hanging over the edges of these cliffs ( hence the name “hanging houses” ).

Cuenca also has 2 famous rivers that circle around the city and then they eventually connect. Pictured below is one of the rivers. You can not really see the river in this picture but the scenery is beautiful!

And now welcome to Plaza Mayor, the main plaza in Cuenca. This is the center point of this city and everything else ends up branching off from this area.

I love looking at the historical and colorful buildings here, I see these buildings and it reminds me “Wow I can not believe I am in Europe right now! I can’t believe I am actually living in Spain!”. Looking at these, I feel like this is very stereotypically Europe and I am loving it!

Another very European thing is to have lunch outside in the plaza while sipping on a glass of wine and enjoying your surroundings. I am loving the energy here in Spain!

I would highly recommend coming to Cuenca if you get a change! It is a beautiful and historical city. The atmosphere is amazing and everything is so charming.

Make sure you wear good walking shoes because you will definitely be getting your steps in that day! But it will definitely be worth it!

10/10 recommend.