Segovia, Spain

If you ever get the chance to visit Spain, you need to add Segovia to your list of must sees.  Rich with Spanish history, Segovia was named a World Heritage site in 1985 by UNESCO.

We spent the day touring the city top to bottom. Here's what we saw,

Alcazar of Segovia
The oldest testimony of the Alcázar is a document dating from the early days of the 12th century (1122). The fortress was said to have existed since the Roman occupation and was a key fortress for the control of Castile. Later, the Alcázar was used as a state prison, and in 1762 Carlos III installed the Royal School of Artillery which, remained until 1862.

The Alcázar is also said to have been the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle, can't you see it? :)

Next we walked to the Cathedral of Segovia, actually built to replace an earlier Romanesque one which had been located near the Alcázar and was destroyed during the revolt of the Comuneros against Charles V.  Work on the cathedral started in 1525, so the style is extremely late Gothic.

The final stop was at the Roman Aqueduct of Segovia. Despite being 2,000 years old, the aqueduct still delivers potable water to Segovia! This Roman masterpiece was built with 20,400 stone blocks perfectly constructed (without mortar or concrete!) to resist passing storms and earthquakes.

What a morning! We walked and walked and walked! I love walking, but this is serious business! We definitely worked up an appetite for none other than a menú del día, what else? :)

 Paella mixta

Flan

Unfortunately, this menú del día just didn't cut it. I ordered the paella as my first course and it was very good, but my entree is not even worth talking about (nor worth taking a picture of). The flan was pretty good--I'm looking forward to trying better though!

Classes started today! I've already changed my classes around a bit and added some new ones! I'm really looking forward to getting into an actual routine--I need routine in my life to function well!

It's siesta time right now in Spain so I'm working on organizing my schedule and preparing for a full day of classes tomorrow!

Stay tuned for a post about our day trip to Salamanca!

Hasta luego!