-= adventures in Europe =-

Posted In: Europ*ng . By Zεηιτħ

Segovia/Avila (Spain Part 2)

On Timeline: 17 Nov 2007

Backdated entry stored in my drafts...'cos I din have the time to upload the pics. Sorry!

Segovia, a city near Madrid, is DEFINITELY worth a day trip. In fact, many would have heard of the magnificent Aqueducts in Segovia, and the old city which is also part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The Alcázar is yet another prominent building in Segovia, which towers the countryside below.

It's about 2 hrs from Madrid via bus, and bus rides to Segovia are very frequent. I would definitely recommend anyone who's visiting Madrid to have a short day-trip to Segovia!

My journey to Segovia was pretty interesting. First, I could not locate the bus station, and it took me some time to figure out that an old dilapidated building ACTUALLY housed the buses...at the basement level. Gosh. The front absolutely did not seem like a bus station, and when I went to the basement, buses parked head to tail in an orderly fashion in 'garage' style.

Taking the bus to Segovia was nice as I had the company of a Japanese lady Takako who was studying in UK prior to her trip to Spain. So, at least this journey-man had a person to go with on this trip!

When we reached Segovia, it was a beautiful sight with a lot of slopes and the walking distance from the station to the old city and its famous Aqueduct was short. Soon, we found ourselves staring at the gigantic structure, all in awe (at least I was!) I was definitely amazed at how the Romans managed to construct such a gigantic structure which brought water from the Río Frío (Cold River)(about 18 km away) to the city! Engineering marvel, definitely.

Bus to Segovia!

The Aqueduct!

Panoramic picture.

Long!

Me and one of the pillars of the Aqueduct!

Segovia Aqueduct

Me and my Jap travel buddy!

After the 'tour' of the Aqueduct (well we do not go along all 18km of it!), we proceeded to the old city...where the 'charm' of the city still lies. One of the famous landmarks in the old city is the Cathedral, which stands in the city's central plaza. Constructed by architect Juan Gil de Hontanon in the late Gothic style between 1522 and 1577, it is widely considered Europe's last great Gothic cathedral. And definitely, it was huge as well!

Along Juan Bravo

Iglesia de San Martin

Juan Bravo Monument

Cabildo Catedral de Segovia

The Alcázar is located in the north-western side of the city, and is perched at the tip of the promontory and towers over the countryside below. The original fortress was transformed into a residence and each subsequent king added new parts to the building! Inside, one gets to view how the military changed over the years, and the rise of the canons and gunpowder men. Reminds me of Age of Empires, actually.

One thing about the military exhibits was that the armours and canons were very well-preserved! Even though there was a great fire in 1862, it is a wonder how the metal armour and canons got preserved over the years. Definitely recommended for military buffs!

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The Alcázar

The knights

Swordsman

Transportation of canons in the past

The cathedral. See how BIG it is???

Iglesia de la Vera Cruz

The above is an abandoned church which is near the Alcázar. Both of us made our way up, which was about 20 minutes on foot. From there, one can see an impressive view of the Alcázar!

And of course, the rest of the day was spent touring the old city. I had planned to go on to Avila, while she planned to go back to Madrid. Nonetheless, we did see quite a few interesting stuff despite hitting the siesta time for Spaniards, which meant that shops closed from 1 till 4pm, depending on the store owner!

If the car backs a little more it will just go down...

Raisin pastry!

Well, Avila is another town about 2 hrs from Segovia, and access to Avila is worse off than that of Segovia. For Avila, there are limited bus timings for the Segovia-Avila route. Therefore it's highly recommended to take note of the bus timings if one does the Madrid-Segovia-Avila-Madrid route. ;)

A pity was that it was raining and I reached Avila very late. Thus, most of the buildings were bathed in yellow light from the illuminating lamps, and the rain fell on me as I walked.