May 11, 2013 - Madrid

Same breakfast...same hotel. Loading onto bus experience...not so good. Four of us at the end of the line get caught by a red light. Pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way so if the light turns red you do not step your foot off the curb! So...when said light turns green, we cross and can see NONE of our group. We walk to the next block and see NONE of our group. The guy with us says we should stay put and we do. Long story short, half an hour later I ask a businessman off the street to call the guide and they are all on the bus...

Oct 3, 2012 - A great day in Segovia

Hi Everybody Yesterday I took a bus 90 kilometers north of Madrid To this most beautiful city of Segovia. Small city, more of a town, with the walled old city, a nice cathedral, Impressive Castle, that they claim that Walt Disney did his fairy tale castle on this one..........(A bit exaggerated.) Cobble stone narrow streets, with lovely old buildings, and an Impressive Aqueduct build by the Romans, in AD 50 to bring water from 18 KM away. It is 894mt long 28mt high and has 163 arches. The town is on a hill with a valley all round it and...

Aug 11, 2012 - Back to Segovia (updates soon)

Today was another hot day in Madrid - it is predicted to be above 40, so I decided to try be like a local and get out of town for the day. Of course, by now, most of the locals have left Madrid and gone to the coast for Summer vacation, so the town itself is comparitively empty anyway. I decided I wanted to go back and see some of Segovia, as it was quick to get to (30 minutes by high speed train) and cooler than Madrid. So, I jumped on a train, and headed out to explore. The train itself doesn´t reach the heights of Barcelona, only doing...

Jul 28, 2012 - Avila and Segovia

I woke up nice and early this morning to make my way to the Plaza Espana and the Julia travel agency, where I have a birthday present awaiting for me. Ali has arranged for me to go to Avila and Segovia, probably after hearing me talking about how I'd love to see them both 100 times in Melbourne after my very brief visit to Spain last year. The first port of call was the small town of Avila, and a bit of a history lesson from the tour guide Arturos. He said today we would be a small reminder of how the Muslims used to have control of the...

Mar 13, 2012 - Échangeur Turcot

Bon matin! Hier j’ai mis un terme à la fiesta du weekend et let’s go pour un trip d’une journée à Ségovia, situé à 80 km au nord de Madrid, donc à 30 minutes en train (200Km/hr). Pour ceux qui me suivent, ici sur ce journal, vont se rappeler que j’ai écrit déjà que de voyages en voyages il y a toujours un rituel qui s’installe lors de visites dans un endroit nouveau : la cathédrale, le château, une tour à monter en comptant les marches et si tu t’es déplacé jusque là c’est probablement parce que cet endroit est protégé par le patrimoine...

Feb 26, 2012 - Segovia

Side-trip to Segovia! A wonderful smaller city a couple hours from Madrid famous for its enormous Roman aqueduct (made without the use of cement or any other material to hold its pieces together...pretty impressive). Lots of pictures in front of this amazing structure! The other main "attraction" here was its Alcázar (fortress/palace), which was actually used as the inspiration for Snow White's castle! We took a tour here with a guide who had grown up there. He was very popular as he greeted nearly 10 different people within an hour and a...

Jun 25, 2011 - Friday, 6/24

Friday, 6/24 Day trip to Segovia.....(an upscale quaint town) via Avante. The entire town is an Unesco World Heritage Site consisting of 3 major sites; The Roman Aqueduct, the Cathedral and the Alcazar. I am using this journal to document all the sights to keep it fresh in my memory. There are so many new things to see and facts to absorb, I could never remember them all! The 2,000 year old Aqueduct was very impressive - 2,500 feet long, 100 feet high, has 118 arches and made from 20,000 granite blocks without any mortar and can still...

Jun 24, 2011 - Segovia

On the road again, left Madrid and spent the day in an amazing town called Segovia. We drove up through the mountains to height of 1900 metres, obviously a popular spot in winter with huge ski lift on the very top but thankfully today only some adventurous hikers in town as it was a beautiful 24 degrees up top. When we descended the other side of the mountains arrived in Segovia and drove the cobble one way streets of the old town enjoying the sights especially huge 'roman aqueduct' that goes right through centre of town. It was constructed...

May 9, 2011 - Segovia, Spain

As you drive toward Segovia, the first thing you see is the large aqueduct spanning the streets in front of the historic walled city. Automobiles are banned in the historic center, so the first thing we had to do was find parking - no small task for a camping car in a medieval town, but we persevered and eventually met with success. The Aqueduct of Segovia is a Roman aqueduct and one of the most significant and best preserved ancient monuments left on the Iberian peninsula. It is the foremost symbol of Segovia as evidenced on the City's...

Oct 14, 2010 - Segovia

Today is Walt Disney day, the day to go and see the castle-palace ‘Alcazar’, which inspired the trademark of his magical kingdom. It’s only a forty-five minutes drive from Avila so we decide to say in Avila for two nights and make Segovia a day trip. As is Avila, Segovia is also designated as a World Heritage Site and – it surely is. First to the Roman Aqueduct, built in the first century AD, and considered to be the best preserved example in the world. High above the city, it is built with no use of mortar. Next to the ‘Magical Kingdom’...

Sep 9, 2010 - Segovia

Lovely sunshine and a drive through pleasant scenery in Northern Spain from Santander to Segovia. We crossed the mountains parallel to the coast and travelled past spectacular limestone formations. Eagles were circling above. The rest of the afternoon was spent driving over a plateau, most of which was at an altitude of over 1000m and our hotel is certainly at that altitude. The ferry docked at noon, but we were not free of the port until 12.45. 340km day so, after some planned stops in pretty villages and an unplanned one helping a...

Aug 30, 2010 - Segovia

With sadness we left Salamanca and headed Northeast to Segovia. Had a lovely stop at the walled city of Avila and then the Alcazar loomed up out of the arid plain - which was the signal we had arrived at our destination. We did a tour of Alcazar including climbing one of the towers. The Roman Alcazar is a fairy-tale fortess with towers and turrets topped with slate witches' hats and a really deep moat at the base. (The Walt Disney Castle is based on Alcazar). We only had one night here but also managed to see the 2000 year old 'Aqueducto' -...