Weekend Two: Segovia and La Granja

On Saturday morning, I left with Esme's family (mom, dad and sister) at 8:30 in the morning and headed for Segovia. The drive was about two hours and I couldn't keep my eyes open the entire car ride as we went out the night before until 3:30 A.M. We made it to Segovia and walked around and took pictures of the Roman aqueducts. These are the best preserved of the Roman aqueducts in the world...and they're in Spain. It really is an amazing sight. The city it built right around them but they are perfect, like they haven't been touched by time over all these years.

Aqueducts.

 It was a beautiful day too: blue skies, sunshine and warm weather. I remember visiting Segovia before when I studied in Toledo in 2008 but going back to the same spot twice never hurts, especially when it's as impressive as Segovia. I could have spent all day walking around and looking at them.

                           

Then we walked to the cathedral. We went inside and even though I couldn't take pictures it reminded me just of about every church in Spain I had been in: high ceilings, long, bronze everything, smaller rooms dedicated to saints. The outdoor patio was on of my favorite parts with the windows that looked into the garden. 

Cathedral.

Windows.

I love the ceilings.

Then we walked to the Alcazar. Inside there is the bedroom, dining room, meeting room and room with other old artifacts from the castle. The best part of the Alcazar is the view because it sits on the top of the hill in Segovia.

View from Alcazar.

Bronze ceilings.

Then we drove 15 minutes to eat lunch and visit the palace in La Granja. The palace in La Granja was one of the summer homes of the Spanish kings. I want every single chandelier I saw inside the palace. They were amazing. Apparently the queen loved to collect them and they are gorgeous! The doors from room to room were placed in the exact same spot so when you looked through the door into the next room it looked like a mirror, but really there were the doors. But the best part about the palace was the garden in the back. The palace sits in the mountains so the view of the mountain tops in the background is amazing. Going the palace in fall was probably the best time to visit because everything was still green with some trees beginning to change and fall to the ground. The gardens were full of paths and famous for the number of fountains.

With Esme and her parents.

With Esme and her sister.

After La Granja, we got back in the car for the two hour ride home and as soon as I sat down and put my seatbelt on I fell asleep. I slept the whole way home...

más luego,

j