• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

(Photo: Courtesy of the City of Fuendetodos)

Escape the Expo crowds with a day trip in Aragon's history-rich countryside. Rent a car from the airport, (Avis, Hertz, or Europcar), and head 27 miles south on the N-330 highway to Goya's picturesque hometown, Fuendetodos. Tour Casa Natal de Goya (Calle Zuloaga 3; 34-976-14-38-30), the simple stone house where the master was born, then walk a few doors down to the Engraving Museum (3 euros for both), where his famed series of prints, The Absurdities, Bullfighting, The Caprices, and The Disasters of War, hang. Next, walk streets ruined by the Spanish Civil War in Belchite, twelve miles east off A-220. Reduced to rubble during the war, the town rebuilt around the bombed-out homes and churches, leaving an eerie monument to the destruction. For a pick-me-up on the way back to town, have dinner at La Rebotica in Cariñena, a pharmacy turned family-run eatery about 40 minutes from Belchite heading west on A-220 (Calle San José 3, 34-976-62-06-56). The locally sourced, traditional menu boasts a surprisingly delicious blood-sausage lasagne and platters of paper-thin slices of Teruel ham, served by hospitable owner Silvestre Cros.

Published on Jun 9, 2008 as a web exclusive.