Today began with a shower, packing, and a final view out our window, which included the moon. I will miss this nice view!
Our train departure wasn’t until after 1:00, so we had time to go out, get our cappuccinos and croissants, and walk for a short time. One more walk through the market, and down a few streets, but not much time to make photographs.
As we were ready to catch our taxi, our new found friends, Sharon and Bill came out the door as well. Turns out they were on the same train to go to Madrid. We thought we might catch a taxi together but that didn’t quite happen. Our ride was in a Tesla. I think that’s my first Tesla taxi.
We arrived at the station, thinking we could hang out in the IRYO lounge, but looking at it there really was nothing there! So after wandering to see if maybe there was another lounge, we went back to the security line to get to our track. You might guess who was also there — yes, Sharon and Bill! So we hung out for a time, waiting for the train to arrive. They have traveled much more than us so I do believe we will have to play catch up. 😉
When the train arrived we got into our carriage, which was the first one. It was quite nice, which is good since I (probably foolishly) purchased the “Infinita Bistro” ticket. This meant it was first class and they fed us. Rather ridiculous, as the ride was about 1 1/4 hours. But whatever. It was fun to have the little meal.
We arrived at our next and final European city … HELLO MADRID! We made our way out of the station to the taxi line.
Um, one guess as to who we saw there. Heh. I regret, though, that we didn’t get to say goodbye, and I didn’t grab a photo, as I’m not sure we’ll run into Sharon and Bill again. (But maybe they’ll read this and drop me a line … hint, hint ….)
A little taxi ride later (and it does appear that there are crowds here now) we arrived at Hotel Medinas, where we will spend the next four nights. We are on the fourth floor and we could stand out on the balcony and even jump off if we were so inclined. This means, of course, that I cannot go out there! Me and my acrophobia! I do like opening the window, though, getting fresh air in and hearing the sounds of the city.
Speaking of air … it was a whopping 57° when I checked the temperature after getting settled. Plus I saw blue sky (albeit with some clouds as well). Pretty darn warm!
Another shot of the bathroom amenities. This time we get toothbrushes with the tiny tubes of toothpaste. Those might come in handy since our tube is running low.
I cracked up at the note we have — the typical “we don’t change sheets every day unless you ask” — that begins “DO YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT ENVIRONMENT?” Hm. Are they trying to make me feel guilty? But yes, we care, and no, we don’t need our sheets changed daily.
I will post this now, and then update later for the remainder of the day … stay tuned!
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.
Tomorrow we have a bit of time before our train, so we can wake at a comfortable hour and relax a bit. Then on to our final city in Spain.
Learning to take my time getting up and going isn’t easy, but since I knew dinner would probably be at 8:00 it made sense to be slow this morning. I didn’t bother with the coffee in the room: it is some sort of instant stuff and I’m just not interested in that. Dan, though, had his decaf.
Eventually we went out, with the intention of getting to the Palacio de la Aljafería.
Right outside our door is the Plaza de Justicia, which caused us to stop and take some photos. We saw several tour groups there as well.
Then we walked down the street and, well how ‘bout that?! … a market. Now we do love markets so we had no choice but to go inside. Tons of stands, with a lot of them selling fish, poultry, and meat. I took a few photos, but wasn’t sure how much they like people to do that after being told in Seville that I should stop.
From there we continued our walk. Seeing this area, the opposite direction of what we did yesterday, I wasn’t as disappointed and decided our two days here won’t be a total bust.
And then we reached our destination. For 1€ each we could enter. Turns out much of the place was so destroyed that it’s been modernized. I didn’t take photos of the clearly very new walls if I could avoid it. I was surprised they repaired it as they did, but perhaps they have no choice.
A Goya exhibit was also there. If I’m understanding what I read online, the Goya Museum might be closed, so I’m thinking this is at the castle for people who do want to see Goya now. (**I later learned this is quite incorrect: the Goya Museum is open!)
Just a small piece of a Goya picture. Just because.
More from the palace.
When we finished with the palace we simply walked across the street for our tapas and water. We were quite satisfied for a whopping price of about $11.50. Yes, that’s for two of us.
Next up was a slow ramble back to our hotel.
We did the obligatory rest time — not that we needed it, of course. Or, um, maybe we did. I slept for 20 minutes.
I had put together a map of five restaurants that might work, so when we went out again we decided to check those out. We went down a close alleyway and took some photos, and then I realized that maybe we first wanted to do the churro and chocolate thing, since the churro place that was the highest rated opened at 5:00 and it was getting close to that time. So off we went. When we reached it, at not quite 5:00, it was already hopping. I guess time is flexible here. We went in and watched what the people were doing to try and figure out how to go about it. Fortunately a woman asked us something in Spanish, we said we only spoke English, and she explained that she was asking if we were at the end of the line and that that is what we were to do. Then, when I said what we wanted to order, she helped me with that as well, so when the time came for us to place our order I almost got it right! “Dos chocolate.” And then something that meant half a dozen churros (don’t worry, they are skinny and small things.) They were quite yummy, and a great way to tide us over until our later dinner.
We started to look for the dinner places, got to one, and realized that we needed to find our way to the bridge that allows us to see the river and church to take some photos. So off we went. First we ended up in a plaza with a museum and church.
Then it was the bridge. And it was quite lovely.
Eventually lights on the bridge came on as well. Beautiful!
After spending time with cameras (Dan with his Fuji, me with the iPhone) we went back on our dinner surveying, first heading through the Christmas market.
Four restaurants and very cold hands later we settled on La Flor di Lis. I attempted to make a 7:00 reservation but the darn thing wasn’t working so we just walked back to see if we could get in. We were told we could be seated as long as we were done by 8:30. No problem! And dinner was lovely. At one point Dan looked two tables over and noticed the couple we met yesterday, Sharon and Bill. What a coincidence! We didn’t really chat, but it was fun to see them.
Just a few shots from the restaurant since I forgot, at first, to use the camera:
Then it was a quick walk to the hotel and, for me, a shower to be sure I can sleep. Or at least so I can hope to sleep.
The view from our room at night:
Tomorrow is our final full day here. I think it will be church visits and, most likely, at least one museum visit. Zaragoza has turned out to be a very fun city, and one that not as many tourists go to.
We were nearly packed last night, but today we finished our packing by a little after 8:00. We had coffee in our room. And we were ready to go. At close to 8:30 we walked over to the train station. A nice, easy walk.
But as an aside (since today’s entry will not be terrifically exciting, as our train ride is nearly five hours), I find it interesting to see what different hotels offer in their rooms. Sometimes you get the gamut: shower cap, hand lotion, sewing kit, eye makeup remover … it really does run the gamut. Some, though, just sort of crack me up. Like the Montpellier hotel:
Yes. A wooden comb and a shoe horn. That’s was it. And no, I didn’t take them. (Confession: I’m sorely tempted by the free stuff. Most of the time, though, I know better than to take things. Emphasis on MOST of the time.) I think I’ll have to start taking photos of what goodies (that I rarely need) are offered. Just for fun.
Oh … and then there was the hotel floor. If you looked at it with the very dim lighting you might think it was wood. But no. It was carpet. Sort of like indoor/outdoor carpet:
It sure felt weird under stocking or bare feet!
So … back to the train station. We arrived.
We bought breakfast. (I ordered a cappuccino but the person behind the counter said, “no” so I guess either the machine wasn’t working or I looked like I didn’t need one. Or something.)
Getting to our track, we found the chart to show us where our car (car two) would be. Well, sort of … they are never exactly where I’m standing.
We boarded, and are sitting across from a family: man, woman, two teen (I’m guessing) daughters. I think they are speaking Chinese, but how would I know? I am horrible with languages. The woman was sitting on her knees and mumbling while listening to something. The man was holding his phone to his ear and listening to something but I could hear it and it was sort of bugging me (I’m easily bugged), but Dan said it didn’t bother him so I worked on my attitude. But other than that they were quiet. We were quiet. And the only other people in this car were quiet (I saw only four others at the start of our journey). I love a quiet car! The seats were comfy, so while it was a long ride in a not-so-fast train, it was certainly comfortable.
We went past large bodies of water, and saw birds that Dan thought might, perhaps, be flamingos. It was difficult to tell from a distance. We saw a huge castle (or what I assumed was a castle) in Beziers. And then mountains covered in snow.
Our final stop in France was at Perpignan. Next up? Spain!
So au revoir, dear France.
Once we passed Perpignan the train really picked up speed. Prior to that I just assumed we were on a slow train but I certainly changed my mind! We also went through one incredibly long tunnel, whoever fills us in on things over the loudspeaker only spoke Spanish (prior to this it was French, then Spanish, followed by English), and the Spanish police came through the train. Mostly I was happy to realize I hadn’t chosen a slow train after all! (I didn’t think I had: I always compare times and check the train, but I was starting to worry that I’d made a mistake.) This is an “Ave” Spanish train. Hm. Maybe they just can’t go fast in France? Dunno!
Onward we went. When we reached Barcelona a lot of people got off and a lot got on. The latter are, I’m guessing, not going to our destination, but the final one on this route.
Our train began at 9:33. It ended at 2:24. Hello, Zaragoza! Aside from our flights, our long journeys are now finished. But then all of our train journeys but one are finished. So it goes … trips tend to speed by faster and faster.
We had a short and easy taxi ride to our hotel, where I checked in, and learned that my passport had been saved from our visit in Porto, but that was my old one. I didn’t realize they would keep that on file. Hmm.
Our room is just fine. Very simple, but with lovely windows that look out at a fine view!
The biggest news is that my tights now had to come off, and I only needed one top (I’d been wearing a merino wool Uniqlo turtleneck underneath a cashmere sweater.) The temps were in the 50°s when we arrived. Amazing!
And yes, I took a photo of the free items in the bathroom. More extensive here, but another comb and shoehorn are in the mix. (News you can use.)
After sitting around a bit so Dan could post a photo and do whatever he does we went downstairs for the glasses of cava we were given due to my booking directly with Catalonia hotels. (Always good to check for little perks and discounts … I compare several booking places and the direct booking and direct nearly always wins. When it doesn’t I write to ask if they will match a price.) A couple from Alaska, that we saw on the train and then saw go into this same hotel came down and we chatted a bit. They’ve traveled tons, and have done a number of walks. I was impressed!
Finally we went outside. It was still pleasant out, and we just took a leisurely stroll to a spot where a small Christmas market was, looking, along the way, for dinner ideas. Nearly every restaurant was closed, though. We knew people ate later here, but it seemed it was even later than we thought. What we did see, though, were loads of people have churros and chocolate! I guess that’s what one is to do in the early evening. Who knew? I suppose if all else failed we’d order something from this pizza kiosk. Crazy!
We continued walking, and ended up on a fairly busy street. At that point the weather was cooling down and I regretted not dressing more warmly. We went inside a place that had things like churros and Dan picked out some tasty treats that looked somewhat like skinnier croissants, but they were sweet as well. I asked for hot chocolate — or at least I think that’s what I asked for: they didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Spanish. Alas, no chocolate available, so I had a cappuccino instead. (I hope I sleep tonight!)
While there I made reservations for a tapas place since I could at least see they would take a 7:45 reservation and I wasn’t sure if it would be difficult to get in if I didn’t make one.
We went back to the hotel since we had a bit of time to kill and we definitely needed to put our warm things on again.
Then it was off to Viñedos de Cinegia. Where we weren’t asked if we had a reservation, nor was it needed. After all, we were there for an early meal, being as it was “only” 7:45! We figured out how to order our tapas and drinks, and then sat down and enjoyed them tremendously! So we ordered a few more. And paid so little at the end I was quite surprised. I’d forgotten how little one pays here in Spain.
The walk back to the hotel was quick and easy.
Now back in our room we will soon attempt sleep. Who knows, when eating so late, how that will go!
Side Note: I’m not sure, now, why I opted for Zaragoza. I know I’d heard about it somewhere, but so far it doesn’t have the charm of the other smaller places we’ve been. I’m hoping I figure out what it was that grabbed my attention some time ago, because at the moment I’m coming up empty, aside from thinking there was something similar to the cathedral-mosque in Cordoba, maybe. But here we are, so we will enjoy it as best we can!
