Segovia

On our way down to Sevilla, we decided to cut the driving down to 2 days and have stopover along the way. We had so many different itineraries for getting around Spain, that most of the time we don’t remember where we are staying and why. Tonight was one of those nights. The GPS led us around the city and not into it, I was pretty scared we were going to be at our equivalent Super 8 hotel. However, my trusty tour companion, pulled it off again and our hotel was right in the middle of a square with a massive church on one side of it, framed by cafes with outside seating.

Just before dinner, we toured the beautiful church, which had been built as the “new” church in the city starting in the mid 1600s and finished in 1768. There were certain pieces brought over from the old church in order to save money, the choir stand and organ were some of them, and they dated back to the 1500’s. We walked down to the Alcazar which was ….., and decided to come back in the morning so we could tour inside.

Based on our belief to try what the local specialty is, within reason, dinner was another adventure. The area is know for it’s specialty, which is cochinillo, sounds bearable, suckling pig. I can barely write without imagining the horror of the scene where this little piglet is being taken from it’s mother, brother and sisters, only to end up on my dinner plate. The description on the menu is “roasted piglet in our oven”, yikes. Sad for the little pig, fantastico for us. Rick got a shoulder, and I got the ribs, which are reminders of the size of animal you are eating. Rick’s had a tiny hoof still attached, and mine had the tiny ribs. Delicious, but I won’t have it again, too much guilt and drama in my head to manage another.

The day we left, we knew we had a long driving day ahead of us, almost 6 hours, but we couldn’t resist touring the Alcazar (palace) of Segovia, and it didn’t disappoint. The palace had a moat on one side, and a fortress wall on the other. We walked through the palace, which now displayed armour, weapons, tapestries, and furniture. A building/house is classified as a palace by the room placement. When you walk in the front door, you enter a long room, in this case it was called the room of the old palace, sided by a fireplace room, and the royal chamber on the other. Other rooms in this palace included, the queen’s dressing room, chapel, parade courtyard etc. Interesting was how high up the fortress wall was, scarily high. Definitely one of our best stops so far. On to Sevilla, yet another place we can’t remember where we are staying!