Skip to main content

Last Day in Spain

Today is our last full day in Spain. When we first arrived in Madrid we decided we could take a day trip to Segovia. It was a hard decision to make because all the tours—Toledo, Avila, a combination of two—looked good. But R didn’t want to rush from place to place as he enjoys sitting and sketching. And I completely agreed with him, this may be the only time we get to some of these old cities and I want to remember them well.

So we set off from Madrid on the tour bus at about 9:15 and arrived in Segovia at 10:30. The first stop for our little “family,” as our tour guide called us, were the toilets at the Information Center. Unfortunately there was a tour bus that came in at the same time so it took a good 10 minutes for the women’s line to go through. Sometimes being a man really helps.

While we were waiting though, we admired the Roman Aqueduct. Magnificent. 


Our first stop after that was the Cathedral. It took over 100 years to build, from about 1520 to 1655, the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain although way older than the Madrid of course. Guess Madrid isn’t considered to be Gothic. We didn’t spent that much time in the Cathedral in the morning, one of the downsides of being on a tour. Still of course I took photos.

We actually went back later on, after lunch, so that we had more time to wander and sit and absorb it.

After the Cathedral our guide led us on to the Alcazar, the Palace. Another place of wonder. It supposedly was Disney’s model for Cinderella’s castle in Disneyland—the original is so much better for adults—and it is also in an El Greco painting. 


The castle, like so many, suffered a fire in the 1800s so there are only parts that still date back to Henry of Navarre. It is still so very impressive.







Gilding on the ceilings--incredible

Throne for King & Queen



View from castle--so classic!



Our tour ended at the Alcazar and then we were on our own for the rest of the day. We ate lunch at an outdoor cafe just beside the Cathedral then went back into the Cathedral. After spending about an hour there, we wandered around Segovia, enjoying the beautiful architecture.

Getting the bus back to Madrid was slightly stressful. Our guide had told us that there would be a red bus that would meet us at our original drop-off point at 6:30. But 6:30 came and went and no bus. As he hadn't been the most specific of guides, we were worried. Especially as there was no one else waiting there for a red bus. A white bus came and went. A blue bus came and went. Finally, at 6:45, the other couple that had elected to remain behind in Segovia while the others went to Toledo turned up. Turns out that he had told them--and some other people who came a few minutes later--that the bus would arrive around 6:50-6:55. Which it did. And more people arrived at 7:00-7:15. We finally left at 7:15 and arrived back in Madrid a little after 8:00. That was a relief as I had been imagining how we would possibly get back from Segovia that night.

So all's well that ends well and we were able to see this charming medieval town.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

January 2024 and blogging

  I haven't posted on my blog for a long time. Partly that was due to not knowing what to write about and partly it was wondering if I wanted to put myself "out there" anymore. And in what way. I subscribe to a few blogs on Substack, which is a subscription-based blog. You can pay to have your own blog, you can pay for someone else's blog, and that means you get to write and post and get comments back from a whole lot of people. You can comment on other people's blogs--if you pay--or else you can just read the blog and not pay. Of course you might miss some of the "pay only" content--much like modern news media has teaser stuff but to read the whole article, you have to pay for a subscription. The Substack blogs cover all kinds of topics and there are a few "professional" writers--meaning they're journalists and writers who have published and been paid larger bucks than the $5 a month they get per subscription on Substack--but I think most ...
12 comments
Read more

Sunday in Richmond Park & Memories

  One of the reasons I came back to London after Ireland was to keep a date with my cousin Elizabeth: a Sunday morning walk in Richmond Park. When I moved to England in May of 1978, I rented a room in a house near Richmond Park. I'd heard of the room through a colleague at McGill University's Human Resources Department, where I was working as a Senior Clerk. Montreal had become a bit difficult for me to be in owing to a twice-broken heart and a feeling I wasn't going anywhere at McGill. It seemed like an omen, then, on the plane returning from South Africa in January of 1978--I keep promising to write about that--that I came across an article in a magazine about young Canadians living in London. I'd always loved the idea of being in London what with growing up on a diet of British movies and then all of the articles about Swinging London in the 1960s/early 1970s.  By the time I arrived at Mirabel Airport, I had the perfect antidote to my wounded pride over South...
Post a Comment
Read more

Life on board the Queen Mary

Passenger's log on the Queen Mary 2: Dec 9th - First Day at Sea Didn't sleep well--think it was the soused mackerel at dinner. Anyway, R and I woke up at about 6:00 am and discussed the order of the day. Quite the swell outside and I can feel the roll of the ship. (No seasickness thank goodness!) Despite the mackerel, I was hungry so we went to King's Court at 6:30 a.m. Buffet with loads of choice of course. We sat in an alcove looking out at the ocean. Our server was from Croatia, Slavan. I asked him my burning question of the day--why did we get a free bottle of wine but a regular bottle of Diet Coke cost $3.75? Diet Pepsi is $1.00 less. Fruit juices are free on tap. Coffee, tea, milk, ditto. But you have to pay for soft drinks. Very odd. Slavan says it is because Cunard can't get a good contract with Coke. Hmmm.... our local School District back in Sierra Vista can negotiate .50 a can for the soda machines in the teachers' lounges but Cunard has to cha...
Post a Comment
Read more