Spain/Extremadura: Fregenal de la Sierra
Fregenal de la Sierra is an awesome classic-looking medieval town in the mountains of Andalusia, another pueblo blanco. It was conquered by Knights Templar who built a circular fortress around a bullring in the middle of town. The town then grew around it. The Church of Santa Maria is built into the castle walls and is part of this spectacular castle/fortress complex that you can literally walk all around in half an hour. As it is typical for Spain, the afternoon siesta was in its long 3-hour process when I arrived here so absolutely everything was close and shut down and I couldn’t find anybody to get me into the church or castle. Oh well, I just ate a full plate of local Jamon Iberico de Bellota and enjoyed the views of the central plaza.
