Chinchón in Madrid Province

Saturday, 11th June 2022
Room 037, Parador de Chinchón

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Before we talk about our latest stop, a quick rewind to Alarcón.

A tour party on the battlements, viewed from our castle window.

We've finally come to the conclusion that meals provided at Paradors, whilst they should be applauded for offering local and regional dishes not found elsewhere, they are overpriced and often not executed well. So we were pleased to find a little restaurant in the village with sensibly priced food. It, and other hostelries, are kept alive by day time trade with visitors coming in by car and tour buses. So, to start with, we had the place to ourselves, but later 3 other parties came in. We were served by the very amenable owner. Bob went for the 'Menú de degustación' while John shared an enormous salad and had Presa Iberica as main course. Presa was our find in Ronda. These were good but not quite up to Ronda standards. Will leave the pictures to do the talking.

On our way from Alarcón to Chinchón, for which we took mainly the AP36 toll road, we noticed a marked change in scenery from barley etc to mostly vines, with fruit and olive trees interspersed. We also noticed a decline in road conditions as we crossed into the Communidad of Madrid. Really windy and rustic roads took us to the edge of town.

We knew the Parador was right in the middle of Chinchón town and feared the worst about approaching the place and then parking the car. The area in front of the Parador is available to park for around 10 minutes while checking in and getting bags to the room. Of course it was chaos when we got there with a large taxi and other cars parked there, mostly with mafia-like drivers in attendance. John managed to squeeze into a tight spot between two large trees, allowing some of the cars to leave, which meant we could park safely and check in. We were helped by a nice lad called Dani who escorted us to our room then came out to show us where the garage was. Parking there was less stressful than anticipated but we decided the car would not be coming out until our departure for the next Parador.

Of course, a wedding was going to happen that evening, but our room was away from the dining area and we could hardly hear the noise even though the reception was still in full swing when we walked through to get to our room at midnight, having started at 7pm. We have seen other wedding parties going to various venues, with various levels of "poshness".

The Parador was constructed out of an Augustinian Convent (and prison) founded in the 15thC, and is very smart. A lot of tourists are in town today, mainly Spanish coming out from Madrid and other parts of Spain. We've not encountered any English at all. And the Parador seems to be on most of their walking tours. Despite all the tourists, who clearly keep the town going, there is little or no tourist tat.

The wonderful Plaza Mayor has many restaurants sited there and is very much the heart of town. Apart from some churches and ermitas etc, the place is not packed with sights. However, a full day can happily be spent here, especially with a lot of that day being spent making a beer or coffee last for hours, whilst we people watch.

Apart from the Plaza Mayor, which is right on our doorstop, other sights require quite a climb up steepish streets. Then a tourist train came to our rescue and took us round all of the places to see, with no effort on our part,

Our meal last night was taken at Restaurante Plaza Mayor with a delightful waiter (despite the ring in his nose). John's Chuletitas de Cordero and Bob's Lubina were really quite good, if not quite up to Monica's standards!

This morning, Saturday, saw a small market in the plaza.

A great place to visit. And we have another evening of people watching and eating ahead.

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