December 18 in Zaragoza

We began our morning, after a leisurely time in the room, at a place just across the street for our cappucinos and croissants. For some reason I didn’t even notice this corner spot, but thankfully Dan did.

From there we walked back over to Basílica del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pilar Basilica), since we’d read that it was a spot not to miss.

It’s quite the place. A mass was going on in one section, but one can walk everywhere else while that takes place. Security guards made sure anyone with hats took them off, but when we entered I saw no women with hats on so I had already removed mine, and of course Dan took his off as he went in.

After that we were in the Plaza, and I saw an entry to what I figured was a Bethlehem scene (and I figured correctly). I’m sure it’s prettier at night, with lights on and the inability to see things quite so clearly, but it was fun to walk through in any case.

Eventually we decided lunch would be a good idea. Google maps told me there was a pizza place a few minutes away that was still open. Google was wrong. So we ended up on a main drag and went into a place that looked a bit like a fast food place. It was a mistake, but we only realized it after ordering: it was twice as much as a tapas spot (although finding those open at that hour is tricky), and not nearly as good. But so it goes.

Next up was our daily rest up time at the hotel, since our next destinations weren’t open midday. On our way there I saw a good reminder, and then the reed transformer sort of appealed to me (But yes, it’s about Lou Reed, and I guess the “Use Hearing Protection” is also something from an album or label or some such thing. I am guessing one of our sons would fill me in on all that.)

It’s nearly always fun to walk through these alleyways, although sometimes check the graffiti to make sure I’m not posting something horrible. (But if I’ve done so this time I do apologize!)

Rest time over ‘n out, we went back outside and walked toward another cathedral: Catedral del Salvador (La Seo) y Arco del Deán. From the outside it doesn’t look like much (I took a photo of that yesterday), so we were rather shocked when we went inside. It was huge! For once we had the audio thingie (my technical term, thank you very much) to use and it was actually quite interesting.

After that we went to the Goya Museum and spent some time there. No photos allowed. So guess any reader who wants to see what’s there will just have to go. In all honesty I wasn’t blown away. But that doesn’t mean others won’t be.

At that point it was nearing dinner time. Okay, okay, it was past dinner time on our clocks, but Spain has a different opinion. Some places were still not open since it was so early, being 7:30 PM and all. But we found a spot and headed in. I wasn’t as thrilled with the tapas — our first night here was the best — but they were fine, and we were glad to get in early because shortly after the place filled up.

Now from there you’d think we’d head back to the hotel, but yours truly mentioned something “a little sweet” so we found place to get cookies. I may live to regret that … or at least not sleep. But that’s life. I’ll survive. Then back to the hotel we went.