Olite

According to my Lonely Planet guide book — and confirmed by my experience — the Roman-founded town of Olite is "bursting off the pages of a fairy tale."

Once home to the royal families of Navarra, the main attraction of Olite is a classic and huge castle open for visitors to explore. The tiny town itself was a delight, too, as every person we talked was exceedingly friendly. I kept wondering how often they saw tourists — a status we made no effort to hide. We had the feeling that in this town of 3,000 we'd stand out even if we were native Spaniards.

But we were three American girls — me, Brooke, and Emily — talking and laughing loudly as we wandered freely through the tiny, quiet streets of a charming pueblo 37km south of Pamplona.

Brooke poses in front of the Iglesia de Santa María la Real

a window inside the castle

view from the tallest turret

bein artsy 

delectable

we spent a lot of the day eating 

and drinking — we loved the complimentary glass of wine that came with entrance to the wine museum!