Tag Archives: palaces

Another Day in Segovia

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You know the story: first we eat breakfast. We are predictable that way. Once breakfast was eaten it was back to our room. I think Dan was writing more in his journal. I was just hanging out and wasting time.

Then a lot of bell ringing took place. And then more bell ringing. It didn’t seem to be signaling the time, though.

When we finally went out the door and crossed the street a hearse went by. Ahhh … perhaps that was the bell ringing reason?

Cities (and towns and villages) usually have graffiti. In Santiago de Compostela we noticed it was quickly covered over in the old part of the town, and I think it’s very similar here. Walls show evidence of paint. But it appears it’s not easy to keep up with. (And doors are another story: I suppose that might be up to the owner of the door, maybe …?)

Again with the stairs. I’m happy to do them, but sadly my pants are still too tight. Maybe I should have sent Dan on his way and done them a few times. Or not.

Today was our Alcázar day, so we had that specific location to aim for. Up to Plaza Mayor, past the cathedral, a quick shot of another wall since I’m rather enamored of them, and we were there.

I noticed some other tourists looking up at a tree and of course I had to look as well. And how about that. A number of stork nests. I even saw some young’uns up there.

We purchased our tickets and walked around a bit. I must have been using my Fuji camera because the two photos below are all I have, other than the birds.

The time passed quickly and in we went. It’s quite a place. (Rather cold, though, so we’ll skip moving in.) We did most of the rooms, up until our time for the tower arrived.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the tower. With my fear of heights some towers are a big issue. This one had a good number of stairs (and my pants are still too tight), with a spiral staircase nearer the top. When we finished the climb I found out I could handle the height problem pretty well, as there was more room than many towers have.

I stayed up for longer than my normal, “I gotta get down” time. Dan stayed longer. On the way down we went by a room that we were told had been a prison for important people. No, they didn’t ask me to stay.

Another level down and I was closer to my comfort zone.

I waited for Dan down below and when he arrived we finished off the rest of the palace tour. (We had purchased the audio guide.) Then we left the grounds and walked toward the Plaza Mayor via a different route.

We found a lunch spot, and sat down and did a bit of people watching. Young people, that is. They looked to be university age, and many were speaking English. The outside area was primarily of them, and the few tables in the back — the ones in the shade — was mainly older people. Go figure! We assumed school had let out early since it was Friday, and the place we chose to eat must be their hangout. We ordered our food and sat for a good amount of time.

From there we decided to find the other end of the aqueduct, heading a different way than we had been before. We did manage to find the aqueduct. I continue to be rather astounded by it! Again I was challenged, due to the height of the viewpoints where we stopped. I did my best, but eventually had to go into a safe corner while Dan continued to make photos.

(And no, Dan wasn’t eyeing that young woman in the dress! Really. I just wanted to get a photo of her and he happened to be in front of me.

Finally it was time to head back to the hotel. Passing by a few places that caught my interest — or caught my iPhone’s interest.

From above I heard some singing. I hope it can be heard on the video.

We walked down to the base of the aqueduct and took a different route to the hotel, just to see what we might find. The church looked to be abandoned. Oh … and the photo on the shopping street has the iris store. Have you seen those? You can get a “family photo” by having everyone in the family get a shot of their iris. We’ve seen these stores in nearly every city as well. Between that and ALE-HOP I think we humans are rather odd!

We arrived before 17:00, and had a fair amount of time to waste since dinner probably can’t be until 20:00 again. I worked on this entry, slept, and enjoyed a cup of coffee. The last I did while sitting at a little table in our room, with the door to the very tiny balcony open, so we had fresh air and I could hear the sounds of the city.

And then I received a reminder message from Renfe, the train company for which we have tickets tomorrow. Part of our trip will be via bus, it seems, because the track (or something) is being worked on. I have no idea what to expect or how long it will take. I’ve always been a huge fan of trains, but this particular trip has had a few problems. I dare not complain, however … we are very fortunate to get to do what we do!

Eventually it was time to do a dinner search. I had hoped to maybe find something on the earlier side, but it is pretty difficult to eat before 20:00. We walked up the non-stair way. I’m not sure why we usually went with the stair option, but there you go. There were tons of people strolling along, similar to the Italian passagiata (sp?). LOTS of college age people, so now I want to read up on the university here.

And then we were surprised. The carousel we’d seen on other walks was now up and running. And it was just the best carousel ever! Steam punk good. I hope this video will show you that. I took a longer one, but this is probably easier to load.

From there we ended up walking up to the Plaza Mayor again. It seems we are destined to eat there! And yes, dinner it was. The server we first had didn’t speak a word of English and we were having a rather funny time communicating until he called for “Mikey”. He had a bit more English. So we figured out our order … sort of. I had ordered some croquettes as a main, and a cheese dish for the two of us to share, while Dan ordered some pork. But they didn’t understand how we wanted things brought out (our fault for not explaining) and the croquettes came out first, as an appetizer. So we shared those. Then the cheese (incredibly yummy) came out so again we shared. Finally Dan’s pork came out and I had nothing left so I ordered some scallops. Truth is, I shouldn’t have: we had plenty of food. Dan said what with our difficulty in communicating and all, he saw the servers laughing about it all. Heck, we laughed too! But the food was good and it was nice time.

Oh … and it looked like another stag party was taking place. I wish I’d gotten the guys bearded face, but this will have to do.

Then it was back down “our” stairs and to the hotel. We had contemplated getting gelato, but we didn’t need it, it was getting cold, and we have a very early morning wake-up call.

Buenas noches!

First Full Day in Segovia

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Breakfast wasn’t until 9:00 today, so we could really take it easy. I did hear some sort of pounding noise around 8:00 (if not earlier) and finally went to open the window. Then it was tremendously loud! A man was working below us on a stone wall. I’ve no clue what he was doing, but I was then very thankful for the double paned windows here!

Breakfast was downstairs. I can’t remember now, but I must have gotten a good price to have paid for this (just like Santiago de Compostela). I think it’s the breakfast that wins the “most selections” prize. For me that doesn’t make a whole lot of difference: I simply don’t eat much for breakfast since I don’t eat any breakfast when we are at home.

Going out our hotel door we saw this scary creature.

From the hotel we went back up those wonderful stairs. (I’m hoping they help with all the food I’ve eaten!) Time to get up to Plaza Major again!

We had planned on going into the cathedral but when we reached the Plaza Major there was a small market so we first went around that. It’s fun to see all the food, even while we can’t purchase anything at the moment.

Then we did finally go into the cathedral (having purchased tickets on our walk there: gotta love the handiness of purchasing online while walking to a place!). The cathedral was huge, and I took a lot of photos. I won’t be explaining any of it (hardly needs it, really), but I will post a ton of photos now.

Out the door we reached the cloisters.

There were rooms with tapestries as well. (I had to zoom in on the flute and bass players!)

I find the art and the building so amazing. We Protestants seem to have rejected all of that when we rejected Catholicism. I’m embarrassed sometimes by our lack of taste and beauty! But that’s all I’ll write about that — you don’t have to listen to me whine!

Our cathedral ticket also included the Episcopal Palace (because of course a Bishop needs a palace!). So we walked a whopping three minutes to get there. Okay, four probably, because I first walked right by the alley where we were supposed to turn.

Most of it wasn’t of great interest to me: I’m really not into fancy silver and gold “stuff”. But still I managed to take some photos.

But really? An escape room in the palace? Okay, then.

Soon it was lunch time, and we ended up back at the plaza to have that. I would have written “to have a light lunch” but nothing seems to be light here! But hey, at least we had “cerveza sin alcohol”. (In other words alcohol free beer.)

Next up was a walk to the aqueduct. And yes, there is an ALE-HOP here. What a relief. Or not.

Finally, just WOW! The aqueduct is astounding. (Also below are a few non-aqueduct photos.) How in the world they built that thing is mind boggling. And it goes on and on. We walked one direction, up until it stopped. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll go the other way.

After that it was time for our little siesta. Or blogging. Or both. And more — I made reservations for a restaurant nearby. We’ve learned that if we can do that it’s a safer way to go. It’s supposed to be a “Castilian restaurant with a twist.”

Now that reservation wasn’t until 20:00, so we still had time to do more. Seemed as good a time as any for a shower and a wee bit of laundry.

And then it was time. We aimed toward the restaurant. It was only four minutes away, and when we got there (six minutes before our reservation time) it wasn’t yet opened. A woman sitting nearby asked us if we were waiting for it (in Spanish, but we could figure it out) and we said yes. We surmised she was doing the same. Since it wasn’t yet opened after we waiting until 20:00, we went up to the next level, took a photo or two, and waited. Nothing. And more nothing. Finally we decided to walk back and try the door. Nope. Locked. And then we saw a car pull up, a guy get out, and run up with a key. The woman who had been waiting went toward him, as did another woman. Just putting two and two together, we figured both of them worked there. Okay, then. Still nothing was happening.

And then we gave up. There was a restaurant up the stairs we had also considered, so we went there, we were told we could get right in, and I canceled the first place.

Now, for those of you who are anti-meat, skip this next part, please.

I had read that one must order the suckling pig in Segovia. I’m not normally a pig eater (I do fish and poultry), but I try to experience the flavors of a place, so we went for it.

First we had soup, which was delicious.

Don’t look at the photo if you are opposed! They first show you the thing whole, and then take it away and cut it up like this.


We also had delicious potatoes because, of course, potatoes! Spain loves their potatoes.

We also had lovely desserts. (And the price of all this was probably about half of what we’d pay in our neighborhood.)

Final thoughts: I doubt I’d order suckling pig again. Just not really my cuppa, although it wasn’t awful. But I am glad I tried it. I like to experience food of the culture!

We walked back to our hotel then, and I typed the rest of this up while Dan read up on sausages (I’ll leave that story for another time).

Now to bed with us. It’s late. We’re tired, and gosh, we have to wake up for an 8:30 AM breakfast. The horrors! Excuse any typos and silly or poorly worded sentences. It’s late (20:41 here) and my brain is rather fried.

Adios!

Slip Sliding in Sintra

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I had purchased tickets in advance for the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle and today was “our” day to go. This meant we actually woke earlier than the past two days. After coffee and getting ready we left the hotel, with a bit of time to spare, but not much, to catch our train.

Except I realized, after getting outside, that I forgot the tickets! Yep, crazy me. And we both forgot to lock the safe. So back we went. (Turns out I also had the tickets on my phone and I could have used those, but we DID need to lock the safe, so I’m rather glad I thought about the tickets.)

By the time we got to the train there were no seats available, so we stood for the whole ride. Thankfully it was a smooth ride and aside from the very loud accordion player who blessed us with his music for a while it was just fine.

It was interesting to see other parts of Lisbon. Clearly poorer parts. Tons of buildings that remind me to the projects in the US. Not all is perfect in Portugal, just like any country, I’m sure.

When we arrived in Sintra we stood in line for a shuttle. Or so we thought. Wrong place … we instead had to walk for about an hour to get to the shuttle, as one guy who was trying to get us to hire him to drive us said. But hey, we are fit and can do a walk, right? So we turned him down and started the walk.


And then the rain came … which convinced us rather quickly that we should get an Uber instead. (It’s never a good idea to grab the guys who pursue you at airports and train stations, as we learned once upon a time in Amsterdam. They might scam you.) The Uber driver was quite helpful, pointing out where a trail was for the Moorish Castle, and then he took us to the palace shuttle spot. The line was so long and so slow we eventually decided to walk. Oh, and we bought a couple sandwiches from a vending machine. (After getting into the palace we learned they have cafeterias there. Oops!)

The walk wasn’t bad, but did go uphill a bit. I think this is preparing us for our upcoming walking holiday, though, so I’m sort of fine with uphills. (Downhills, on the other hand, are NOT my friend.)

And the palace! What a crazy place. At times it rained. At times we were in fog. And it was pretty chilly. And windy. Really crazy weather. (We are hoping all the weather we’ve had here means we’ll have less of the crazy stuff when we do the walk.) But back to the palace … it’s just a fascinating place. Photos will show things in bright colors and no discoloring, but the walls are full of various kinds of what I’m assuming is mold or mildew. I even took a few close ups of the stuff.

After finishing with Pena Palace we went back down and found our way to the Moorish Castle.

Part of the walk down was on a trail and the rain meant we had a muddy walk, but we got to our destination and headed in. The first part, going up to the castle, was quite pretty.

The castle itself is in ruins, but is quite impressive. We went up one stairway and were on the top of that side. Even for Dan one area was too windy! We then turned around and saw we could walk from one side of the top of the castle to the other, much higher side. But yours truly couldn’t do it. The wind was simply too much. It felt like it would blow me off the top! So we went down and around to climb the other side. But nope, the wind there go crazy enough I couldn’t go to the top there at all. Dan did go, though, and I am assuming I’ll see his photos at some point. As he was still at the top I went to a place where I’d seen some flowers I wanted to shoot. Then I went further down to find a sunnier, somewhat wind-protected spot and enjoyed myself there. Upon his return we went out of the castle area.

Then we had to hike back down a trail. It was muddy and slippery, and some of the stone stairs were quite awkward. Dan kindly would point out some tricky areas and occasionally helped me get down particularly high and slippery spots. And then Dan slipped, landing on his knee. I’m so grateful nothing was broken, but he was bleeding, and his pants were torn. Darn! Expensive pants, too. But it could have been much, much worse, so we both know he got off pretty much in the best possible way.

The walk down soon got easier, and we ended up going through an area that had identification signs for a lot of the foliage, and there were little waterfalls that we just lovely. As we exited we saw the sign for the place.

Finally we were back in the town. It’s really quite a pretty little place. We treated ourselves to a spot of Ginjinha — they say it’s medicinal, after all! And we saw people going and coming from a particular area so we went to see what that was. Turns out that was the third place I’d considered visiting, Quinta da Regaleira, but I’d not purchased tickets. I’m glad I didn’t: we simply didn’t have the time or energy for it!

We walked back to the train station, enjoying more of Sintra sights.

We arrived to the station a bit too early, but I was fine with sitting and waiting for the train. When it finally arrived we got on quickly, grabbing seats. Hooray! Both of us dozed a bit on the way back to Lisbon, clearly weary after all the walking.

For dinner we went to a place just around the corner. It was clearly a tourist sort of spot, but they had tapas and we were fine with that. Mostly it was nice to be close to the hotel.

As we walked back it started drizzling. I guess we might have to get used to the rain. We bought little desserts to take back to the hotel, and enjoyed them in the quiet of our room.

Tomorrow we head to the next town, so the morning will be a slow one of relaxing and then packing.

December 20th Adventures

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When we woke we noticed no clouds in the sky. No complaints from me about that. It was cooler than yesterday, though, so we were back to our down jackets.

Our first goal was to find the meeting spot for tonight’s Tapas Tour. Our tour guide is Andrés Jarabo and he runs Old Town Madrid Tapas and Wine Tour. I’ve read many good reviews of his tour and I’m looking forward to our evening.

The meeting spot was located, and we then moved on. We aimed toward the palace, but also looked for a place to have coffee and a small bite.

Mission accomplished.

Then we walked over to the palace. We weren’t really interested in paying 13€ to go in, so we just walked around part of it.

(Side note: There are people dressed up as various characters and animals. I took no photos because then one is expected to give them money. But it’s all so very strange. I realize this is not just here, but everywhere. Just seemed that there were more of them around the palace.)

We had a pretty nice view near the side of the palace.

As we went away from there, we saw a cathedral and headed in. It had lots of more modern looking stained glass. It had some really beautiful pieces. (And it makes me sad that we Protestants so frequently neglect art. Do we not care about beauty?! We seem to have given up on good music … and art … and, well, I’m rather sad and frustrated about that!)

I have to say, though, that the “candles” that are no longer real candles leave me a bit cold!

We saw the front of the opera house. No, we aren’t going to an opera, though. We have the tapas tour tonight and a Flamenco dinner show tomorrow. I think that’s plenty!

Then it was back to the hotel for a moment, and then up to a different area of Madrid called Malasaña. I had read that it’s less touristy and that locals eat up that way. So up we went. Of course first we had to cross the most popular street, Gran Via. It was very crowded, and clearly is where all the shows are. I saw Lion King, Book of Mormon, and more.

For lunch we found place with a board outside that featured the daily menu. We had read to order that way rather than from the printed menu. Turned out to be far too much food (and we’d been told by Andrés to go light on eating before the tour. Oops!). The server didn’t really speak English and we muddled our way through. I’m so glad people here are patient with us!

Then, again, back to the hotel. This time it was a longer time so we could do some computer stuff (like starting this entry) and nap a bit.

After our bit ‘o rest, we again went out and just rambled.

I have enjoyed seeing the fabric stores, and have shared them with Kelsey since she has started sewing. She would LOVE these stores!

Eventually we aimed toward the meeting spot for our Tapas & Wine tour, and met up with the group. There were eight of us plus Andrés. We were the first there (hey, I’m on oboist and we are always first to arrive!), but shortly after two more (Rose and Taylor) came, and after that it was four more and how frustrating that I can’t remember all of their names. One of the younger men was a student at Santa Clara University, though, so we chatted a bit about that.

This tour … well … what can I say? Um … if you are in Madrid DO IT! Andrés is fabulous. He fills you in on things as you walk. He brings you to great places. We ate and drank some amazing things. (The dessert wine was so darn yummy and I want to see if we can find that before we head home, although that might mean we have to check a bag. OR we do the duty free thing, which is something we’ve never done before. ) I’d go on this tour again in a heartbeat. So thank you SO VERY VERY MUCH, Andrés! I’m so sad that we didn’t do a photo of all of us, but you are THE BEST! (Please, readers, feel free to contact me if you want more info about the tour.)

After our tour, which lasted until something like 10:30 (and began at 7:00), Dan and I walked back to the hotel. We both agreed it was a wonderful evening.

So far we have no plans for the day tomorrow. I guess I need to think about that. Do we go to a museum? Do we wander aimlessly (which I love)? Who knows? Check in tomorrow to find out what we did. 😊

December 17 in Zaragoza

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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.

June 1 in Edinburgh

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We had breakfast at the hotel this morning. At least this place does come with that, as it was quite expensive for what it is. I have a feeling Edinburgh is just an expensive place.

After our breakfast we took a walk to Greyfriars Churchyard and Kirk. There were several tours going on there, including one that was, we think, a Harry Potter tour.

There’s a story about the dog … but I’m too lazy to write about it now. You can always google it!

After that we walked to Holyrood Park and took a trail that led to Arthur’s Seat. It was a bit more of a climb than I had expected, and when I reached a fairly high spot I realized I’d not be able to go the rest of the way: my fear of heights is just too strong! But where I stopped had amazing views. (Thanks, Phil Kemp, for suggesting it!). Dan made it to the very top and assured me that I would not have been comfortable!

When we both got down off the mountain we went toward Holyrood Palace. There was a cafe in front so we stopped for sandwiches. Then it was in to the palace for a guided audio tour. Photos here are all from the outside, as there is no photography allowed inside. The narration on the audio cracked me up a bit: both Princess Anne (is that right?) and Prince Edward talked about the “intimate” rooms. Um … they have no clue what a normal house is like, I think.

Following the interior tour we saw a the Abbey, which is pretty demolished. Things were blocked off because they found some weaknesses that were dangerous. Then it was a little walk around the garden.

We had thought we’d walk over to New Town next, but we were so fried we opted instead for ciders and onion rings. Tomorrow we’ll again try for New Town (not really new at all, but newer than Old Town!).

From there we walked back to the area we had dinner last night since we knew there were a lot of options there.

Sure enough, we found a place and enjoyed our meal. But boy had I hit the wall by then.

It’s funny — I did all that walking on the GGW and didn’t feel this way. I think I’ve just sort of gotten into lazy mode. Or something.

Now we are back in our room. We signed up for breakfast, and sadly we can’t go in until 9:30 since all the earlier times are full. Oh well. Guess it’ll be a nice shower where I will even wash my hair IF there is hot water (there wasn’t much this morning).

Cheerio!