Segovia – The Laid-Off Life

I’m back in Spain now after a great week in Morocco. As much as I’ve loved the Moroccan meals, I was craving jamon; despite knowing very little French, I’m still finding myself defaulting to “merci” instead of “gracias”; but one thing’s for sure – it’s so nice to be able to dip my toothbrush into the water running from the faucet and not have to worry!

I’m in Madrid again for a couple of days and I decided to finally take that day trip that I tried to take last time but found myself having some train issues. So, onward to Segovia.

The massive aqueduct was the first thing I saw after getting off the bus. It’s the defining feature of the city, and very hard to miss. It dates back to the 1st or 2nd century and is made up of 25,000 granite blocks held together without mortar. Unreal!

Next up was the Cathedral. A beautiful Gothic structure with works of many artists inside. I especially loved this Tree of Life painting, and the unexpected Candyland-esque trim on one of the many internal chapels.

I walked through this charming city to the opposite end in search of The Alcazar…the castle. It was the favorite residence of Alfonso X, Isabella, and Henry IV, but abandoned when the monarchy established residence in Madrid. Later the castle became the Royal Artillery School. From the outside it is truly what comes to mind when you think of a castle from a fairytale. But walking up the tower (actually the first tower or spire that I’ve climbed this trip), I was brought back to reality – I’ve been away from home and out of the gym for a while, and all of that jamon probably isn’t helping :).

These 3 historical features of the city were all fantastic, but what I really loved most about walking through Segovia were all of the amazing building facades, full of texture. I couldn’t help but take a million pictures for future inspiration for my own house, or castle…who knows what the future holds, and why limit my possibilities?!