Week 5: Day trips

17 Aug 2025

This week my mom arrived from Brazil. We drove from Valencia to Madrid to pick her up, and on the way back stopped to visit Cuenca. 💚
We visited Mora de Rubielos and Rubielos de Mora, two beautiful towns in Teruel. After visiting a medieval castle and baking under a 38ºC heat wave, I tried getting us into a local Michelin-recommended restaurant, without reservation. Was obviously turned down, but it worked in our favor. As I walked back to tell my mother and husband that we didn't get in, I spotted a tiny local restaurant a block over, obscured by trees. We ended up eating a menú del día with fresh asparagus, vieiras, a bottle of wine included, great service, totally delicious food and all of that for 20 euros each. 🏰
We also visited Morella, another medieval town in Castellón, and one of Spains' most beautiful pueblos. Once again, we were very lucky, as we arrived on the weekend of an important festival that only takes place every 6 years! And I also bought the best cured cheese with black truffles I've ever had! 🧀
A massive heat wave hit us again, this time with temperatures of 40ºC four days in a row. I'm wearing a swimsuit as my outfit of the day now. Took some photos of my mom splashing in the pool, quite like this one below. 💦

My mom in the swimming pool.

This is a silly one, but I am so damned proud that I managed to fix the casing of our car keys!!! 🔑 Our original casing was looking awful and the buttons to lock/unlock the car had melted away. I asked the dealership for help and the guy there was super honest, he told me straight away it would cost around 120 euros to get this fixed, and instead I should get a casing off of amazon or something for 10 bucks. Armed with a youtube tutorial, screwdrivers and pliers I GOT IT DONE! It looks identical to the original! 🚙
🍿 Watched Nonnas. Adorable! And it's based on a true story.
🍿 Watched Sing Street and now I want to join a band.