Segovia

(The Catedral de Segovia in Segovia, Spain)

Today I went to Segovia.  On purpose, too.

I got a call from Lizzie last night that a bunch of people were meeting up to go out, but that they were also going to meet at the bus station by 9:45 am this morning for a day-trip to Segovia.  I figured that since I needed to be beautiful for all the pictures taken in Segovia, I had better sleep rather than go out dancing, (not really, I was exhausted and too lazy to get dressed and make the hour trip to Sol).  So I told Lizzie I wasn't going and crawled into bed.

Considering it usually takes me about an hour to get anywhere, I left Julia's at about 8:45 am, (leaving her a note that I was off to Segovia for the day).  Of course, this time, the trip only took about half an hour, but as trained by my mother, I had my book with me, so this wasn't a problem.  I met up with the group (there were about 20 of us BC students) and we got our 13 euro bus tickets to Segovia.  I sat with Elise on the bus ride there (about an hour).

Thankfully, one guy, Pat, decided to take the lead and had pretty much planned out our whole day.  We were quite the tourists, all 20 of us walking around, and Pat shouting out history facts about buildings while we snapped pictures.  The first thing we saw were the aqueducts, for which Segovia is famous.  I've always been amazed by such things, so that was really cool, and I took about 30 pictures there alone (I'll narrow it down for your viewing ease).  Next we wandered through the town (really historic with classic architecture) and a church, and to the main plaza, when many of us decided we needed to eat.  After sitting down at a pretty fancy restaurant, we left after one look at the prices on the menu, and some of us ended up at sit-down sandwich shop.  I ordered a baguette (a sandwich on a baguette, aptly named) with omelet con jamon, queso, y pimientos (eggs, ham, cheese, and peppers).  Yes, that's right.  It was an omelet on a baguette. It was really good and I was quite satisfied with my choice.

All of us then strolled on over to the Catedral de Segovia, this huge romantic-style cathedral.  Only Lizzie, Christine, Don, and I paid to go in, but it was worth it.  The place was huge and I always like to take a gander at the organs in big churches like that.  They also had some huge books of Gregorian chants on display, so I illegally took some pictures of those.

Next we went to El Alcázar, a castle, turned prison, turned museum.  The rooms were gorgeous and most of us paid extra to climb up el torre, or the tower.  There were 152 steps to the top, but these weren't your ordinary steps.  They were a good double or triple the height of normal stairs, and of course, it was a spiral staircase.  Therefore, when we were climbing and there were other people going down the stairs, we got pushed to the narrow part of the stair, and it is no easy feat to climb gigantic stairs when you have hardly anything to hold onto (and when you're really dizzy).  We were all nearly passed out by the time we reached the top.  The views of the city were amazing, though, and you could see the Spanish landscape for miles.  Segovia's altitude is pretty high up, so it was cooler than in Madrid, but also very dry.  The landscape was almost completely golden and desert-like.

We slumped back down the stairs (which going down seemed much more slippery than when going up. . .) and headed back to the bus station to get a quick ride over to La Granja, (or the gardens) to see a fountain show.  There is this huge palace (which we think was modeled after Versailles by a french fry who missed France). Unfortunately, we only had about 45 minutes there and the fountains had no water in them (or so I hear, I didn't even get to the fountains - I spent the whole time in the gardens).  We ran back to the bus past all these schmancied-up people (it seems there was some big event happening at La Granja) and headed back to Segovia.

Some people wanted to leave early (those who stayed out the night before and were running on only 2 hours of sleep) so they took an early bus back to Madrid, while the rest of us headed to the third-best bakery in Spain (makes you want to know where number two and one are, huh?  No fears, I'm on it. . .).  The pasteleria is called Limón y Menta, and I got a cream-filled, rolled-dough, almond-encrusted thing and a cinnamon and sugar marzipan-covered delectibility.  The second is one of Segovia's specialties and I tasted pumpkin in it, but everyone just gave me weird looks, so maybe my cold is throwing off my taste buds.  We ate in the gazebo of la Plaza Mayor de Segovia, which turned out really well, as this weekend was apparently military-band weekend.  Lots of European bands and gun-twirlers (I'm sure they have a more specific name) were performing all day, so that was nifty to see.  We went off souvenir shopping, and when we came back, there was a wedding letting out, and a traditional dance performance was given for the newlyweds.  I think there were more tourists watching than people in the wedding party.

We wandered to the bus station a back way, looking at some of the neighborhoods and sights of Segovia and taking still more pictures.  While many parts of Segovia are very touristy, most of it has retained its historical merit and Segovia is a real Spanish city.  I'm also really glad that there are planners in our group who will put together trips like this.  Vacationing is a lot easier when someone has a plan.

We nabbed seats on the 9 pm bus back to Madrid, and although some of them are going out tonight, your's truly is going to pass out from exhaustion.  Good night, all.