Hello, again. Welcome back and our discussion of Segovia, Spain. This was the second stop on our tour out of Madrid. Segovia is in the mountains north west of Madrid, at about 3300 feet. As we passed Madrid heading north, we started to see snow. And finally found ourselves in quite a snow storm. The boys from Brazil had not seen snow and were quite excited.
Roman Aqueduct 
Segovia Alcazar (Castle) 
Cathedral of Segovia
Segovia has many treasures to visit. There is the Roman aqueduct that brought water from the Rio Frio (Cold River) about 17 km away. It was built in the first century and was used for many years. Some say beginning of 20th century others say end of 19th century.
Battlements 
Moorish Mosaic Wall 
Weapons Room
Rising out on a rocky crag above the confluence of two rivers near the Guadarrama mountains, the Alcázar is one of the most distinctive castle-palaces in Spain by virtue of its shape – like the bow of a ship. The Alcázar was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy since then.
It is said to be the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Disneyland Castle. And it looks like it was.
Since the snow had changed to sleet and freezing rain, they decided that they didn’t want to climb all the way to the Alcazar. Since I had already seen it many time, we did not do that. We looked around the city near the Aqueduct and went into a small pub to get warm. We had Chocolate and Churros, a local delicacy. The Churros are like fried donut sticks and the chocolate is as thick as chocolate pudding. Just the thing for a cold, wet afternoon.
Chocolate and Churros 
Sweet and Hot 
Not Chocolate
You’ll notice the third picture above is titled “Not Chocolate.” It is Cannabis Infused wine. No, we didn’t have any of that. The laws around pot are so confusing, I think it was better to just pass it by. But it sure looked interesting. Maybe next trip.
On the plus side, there were no Hop On/Hop Off tours and no tour trains and no crowds of tourists. On the negative side, Segovia looks a little less prosperous than Toledo. And in a way it looks a little out of date. So, maybe Toledo has the right idea after all.
Not your Momma’s Tacl Bell 
Lunch the kids like. 
I can get a Mojito or a Margarita with alcohol.
Back in Madrid we decided it was time to start thinking about dinner. Of course, in Spain we don’t eat dinner till 9pm at least, better at 11pm. But, the boys were hungry and wanted Taco Bell, so we did that for them. Notice that they serve Margaritas and Mojitos in this Taco Bell. A great improvement.
Paella de Mariscos (Seafood) 
San Miguel Market 
Spaish Flag
The boys had eaten but we all went out together to get the adults some food. First stop the San Miguel market, near Plaza mayor. Great place! If you go, check out the fish market inside the main door. Although it sounds terrible, I recommend the Cold Cod Tapa with Honey. Then we went to the Meson de la Guitarra and had some wine and tortilla de patatas. Then off to The Restaurant Cuidad de Tui for paella de Mariscos.
The next day we all left Madrid. Our brief visit was over. I will be back another time.
I hope you enjoyed our visit to Spain and that you are inspired to make a trip of your own. Bye for now.
I used to go to Mercado San Miguel almost every day for some delicacy. It didn’t look so glassed-in and upscale then: just full of great food items and friendly vendors. I liked to take my goodie from the market across the street to a local bar and eat it, with a pitcher of sangria to wash it down. Ah, the life!