Well, there were only a few buses to and from Niebla, so we decided to take the 1 pm bus. Of course, the castle was closed for siesta when we arrived, so we decided to go eat a big (and long) lunch at a little restaurant right by the wall. Turns out that the food in Niebla (or at least at this restaurant) is delicious!! And super cheap! Miriam and I shared patatas bravas (basically fried potato wedges with a slightly spicy sauce on top) and salmorejo, and then I got gambas al ajillo by myself...SO good. Gambas are shrimp, but "al ajillo" means that the shrimp was drowned in melted butter and garlic. Delicious. After eating we walked back to the castle, paid 3 euros to get in and then explored! The castle is really well preserved, with staircases that lead up to towers and pathways on the outer walls. Inside the walls, you look down upon the large courtyard, and outside the walls, you can see for miles!
The entire castle is full of small "windows" in the shape of a cross sitting on top of a circle...the symbol was everywhere. There was a replication of a bedroom at the top of one set of stairs, and an armory that opened up to the courtyard.
But the best (and worst) part of the castle were the dungeons...which house a torture museum. You walk down these steep, creaky stairs into a dark dungeon, and the first thing you see is the bench that was used for water-boarding people! It was crazy, because there are more than 30 of these authentic "instruments" situated throughout the winding halls underneath the castle. A little plaque with an image and information accompanied each one, and let me tell you, it was enough to give you nightmares!
It didn't take us long to see everything we wanted to see, and by that time the castle was closing anyway. We had coffee at the little "castle cafe" and then walked BACK over to the same restaurant to get a snack while we waited for the bus home. It was a short day, but well worth the trip!
