Dec. 26-27, 2014
We rolled into town as the sun was setting and arrived just before dark. Found our hotel easily and I actually cried with joyful tears as we entered our room. This was the ideal hotel and town, the one that I’d imagined in my mind small town Spain would be like.
The narrow cobblestone streets, red tiled roofs and rock/concrete buildings left you feeling as it were 1000’s of years ago. We walked through the maze of “streets” in awe of every view. One corner highlighted an old steeple, another showcased the country side farms, and another the balconies of local residents.
Upon arrival and check in we were invited to a community concert at the local community center down the ally. Of course we chose to be “one with the people”. We arrived early and got a chair, though many after us did not. The first 45 minutes was full of choir singing mostly in tune! Then the youth (with a few adults including our hotel owner) entertained us with several movie scores and Christmas songs. They were really good!
We then stopped at the tapas bar across the street from our hotel. We met a woman and husband from Madrid and told us we’d found a magical place to visit. She said that they come here for vacation to escape the city.
The history of this town dates back to 901, yes that 901! It was a border town during the Reconquista. In 1492 King Ferdinand was born here when it was known simply as Sos, but was later changed to Sis del Rey Católico meaning “of the Catholic King” in his honor.
Though it is off the beaten path I would highly recommend stopping here for a night. Our hotel, “el Peiron,” is 4 years old and family run. Mom and dad speak NO English but one son spoke enough that we could get by. I can’t say enough about how much we loved this hotel and town.
timistravels 
I know exactly what you mean by the town being the one that made you cry. In looking at the pictures you could replace a town in Italy whose name I forget, but it was exactly like being in that town. I even have a picture of rooftops from the room in our hotel that looks exactly like yours! And the narrow streets, ah, I loved it. I guess that’s why I always say Italy is my favorite country in Europe. The old towns there look very much like Spain. I guess because their historical timeline is similar so the architecture is familiar but unique. Keep enjoying!
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What a wonderful experience! The presence and influence of so much history would make it impossible to duplicate that feeling here. Nice!
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