Gira a Castilla: Segovia

Only one day was spent in Segovia, but that didn't keep us from seeing two different cool castles and one really old aqueduct.

The first stop in the morning (we had arrived at the Segovia hotel the night before and partied late in one of the rooms playing a rather heated game of Mafia) was at the Aqueduct.

This aqueduct was constructed by the Romans sometime during the 1st or 2nd century AD. And not only is it still standing in good condition after two thousand years, this aqueduct was constructed without the use of any sort of cement. It's held together purely by friction and gravity and those sorts of things. I don't know about you, but I'm in awe of the Romans and their engineering. After the Aqueduct, we walked through Segovia on our way to the Alcazar, the resident castle of the area.

A beautiful piece of architecture, rumor has it that this is the castle that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty castle off of. This castle was quite the center of the Spanish realm for awhile, being the residence of Isabel la Católica and hosting random different Spanish court functions. I was a big fan of all the armor etc that was displayed and tried to decide between a knight on either side

or a knight on a horse.

In the end I decided the mounted knight was the one worth my time. :)

After the Alcazar, we had free time to eat and Brittany and I decided that we needed a pastry to go with our lunch. Then we decided that it needed to be eaten in a park in the sun. Then the park decided that it would eat the knee of my jeans and chew on my actual knee. I was not amused. No worries though, I'm all healed up now from the scratches and bruises and the jeans will become shorts in a couple weeks when it's just a little bit warmer here in Sagunto.

We packed up the bus and headed out for Madrid early in the afternoon, stopping on the way at the Granja de San Idelfonso. I'm not sure what exactly was the function of the palace, but I do remember that it was built as a replica (more or less) of the Versailles Palace outside of Paris.

After seeing both Palaces, I think I like the Spanish one just a little bit more. Not sure why, but I do. Maybe it's because as you're approaching it from the street, it reminds you a little of the castle from Beauty and the Beast.

And after the Granja, it was back in the bus for a couple more hours until we reached Madrid!