The castle in the town of Alcala was a military castle with the most interesting and amusing story. Our local guide Lucia explained, “When the Catholics regained Spain, this military castle became property of the Catholic monarchs, Alfonso XI and Maria de Portugal. They had one child – Pedro de Cruel. But Alfonso XI had a mistress, Leonor de Guzman with whom he had 10 children and to whom he gave this castle to.”

“After his death, Maria de Portugal had Leonor imprisoned, eventually beheading her. The 10 children of Leonor started to do battle with the only child, Pedro the Cruel. But Pedro the Cruel was a very good warrior and defeated all nine siblings. However, he was to meet his match with the last sibling, Enrique II. At the end, the last illegitimate son of Alfonso XI, killed Pedro the Cruel giving the house of Leonor de Guzman the final victory,” she said. After a bemused giggle, I thought, “Wait ‘til Netfilx gets a hold of this story.”

From the castle, we made our way to the Oromana Hotel, and had what arguably was one of the best meals we had in Andalucia. We started off with their traditional salmonejo, a traditional tomato soup with biscuits and some cherry. Their oxtail croquette with béchamel sauce was really creamy; the shrimp in their Russian salad added a layer of refreshing flavor, and even their flat bread was a perfect accompaniment for all these tapas. The main course of Corvina fish, or trout, was perfectly tender and really flavorful. To end the meal was torrijas, a traditional dessert in Andalucia served only during Holy Week. They made an exception and made it for us a week earlier. It is a mix of rice pudding and brioche, and will delight those with a sweet tooth.