Lorca, Spain

We decided that a day road trip was in order....but where to go?  One of our travel books had made nice mention of a town called Lorca, which wasn't too far of a drive.  And as it would happen, I was reading up on Spain's Paradores (see note below) and one just happen to be located in Lorca.  Lorca it  would be.   I'm a late starter (I've gotten used to Spanish time and culture) and after a relaxed morning coffee off we were to Lorca.  It was a pretty ride that climbed and curved along the foothills of the mountains all the while catching glimpses of the sparkling sea below.  We arrived to Lorca about 12:30pm, too early for lunch but just enough time to tour the castle.  The Parador of Lorca is a modern design 4-star spa hotel set into the rampart wall of the castle.  We parked the car and walked up towards the castle and parador.  We decided to walk right to the parador and check it out...it was lovely!  The views of the town below and mountains beyond were beautiful.  It had a calming "zen" sort of feeling.  The lobby reception area was like a new-build castle; the clean straight stone walls and floors, with soaring ceilings gave the area a regal feeling in a modern way.  We asked reception if the dining room was open for lunch, "yes", could non-guests make reservations, "yes" and so it was that dining reservations were made.  It was too early for lunch (it opens at 1:30pm) so we decided to take the castle tour.  The castle built between the 9th and 15th centuries and was a strategic point during the Spain's move to expel the Moors.  The castle features a tower that can be climbed to enjoy 360 degree views of the surrounding landscape.  The tower did suffer some earthquake damage in 2011 but restorative work has been completed.  The hand-held guide provided interesting facts and tidbits about the castle during the hour-plus tour.  By the time the tour was completed, we were in perfect time for lunch at just past 2pm.
We arrived back to the parador's dining room and were surprised to find we were the only ones! As we scanned over the menu, we talked and hoped that the hotel and dining room was not suffering from lack of guests.  Our ordered bottles of water and wine arrived to the table along with a "taster" from the kitchen - delicious!  When our beautifully presented appetizers arrived, I thought enough to photograph it...wish I had remembered to do the same as the main meal and dessert arrived!  Oh well....

The meal was absolutely wonderful and the service professional but warm.  To our amazement, as we looked around at some point during our meal, the dining room was filled and there was a convention group of about 100 making use of the outdoor dining!  We were thrilled to know business was bustling.
And as it is so often, we lingered over the meal and by the time lunch was over, the other museum we wanted to visit was closed until 4:30pm.  It was too long to wait around for the opening and then follow through with a tour, and since the clocks had already moved back (a week earlier in Europe) we preferred not to drive on unfamiliar roads under a night sky.  However, we will go back to Lorca to stay at the Parador, make good use of the spa facilities and visit the two museums dedicated to hand embroidered religious garments (Paso Blanco and Paso Azul) - guide books say it is well worth the visit.
In the meantime, here are a few of the photos of our day....

Paradores de Turismo de España is a chain of Spanish luxury hotels. It was founded by Alfonso XIII of Spain as a means to promote tourism in Spain, with the first opening in Gredos, Ávila, in 1928. A profitable state-run enterprise, the hotels are often in castles, palaces, fortresses, convents, monasteries and other historic buildings. The Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos in Santiago de Compostela is considered to be one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in the world, and one of the finest Spanish Paradors.
For more info on the Paradores:

http://www.parador.es/en