Zaragoza to Segovia

We left Zaragoza after tramping around in our first day of rain. We had sloshed to the Moorish castle, only to find out it was now the seat of the Parliament for the state of Aragon which was in session...so closed until 4 pm. After one more look around the immense cathedral and a quick buy of 2 more oranges in the market we headed off. The countryside on the way to Segovia was wonderful. It changed so many times...from semi arid regions, to irrigated areas of grapes and fruit trees, to forests and hills and then some snow capped mountains in the distance. Small towns with red brick walls and tile roofs punctuated the journey..many had a large square church spire in the middle. Evidence of poverty in the smaller places- deteriorating homes and empty buildings, just like the hollowing out of small towns at home.
We stopped for lunch in Soria...but without a detailed map it was hard to find the beautiful river area described in Fodor's. So we settled for a small restaurant near an interesting square. We did not find the wonderful meal of Spanish food we had expected. The waiter sent over someone who supposedly spoke Ingles..he just read the menu to us aloud in Spanish..and I had forgotten my Spanish book in the car! A greasy, soggy disaster ensued..in fact the guy took my pork unmentionables back and brought me a chicken breast with the same amount of pre requisite grease. Ah well! the joy of travel...though the vino del casa was good.
On to Segovia and what a beautiful city it is! we just walked around last night in the old city with its small streets, beautiful churches and delightful cafes. The whole city is out at night walking- old, young, babes in arms, lovers...you name it, and you could find it. We had thought we might take a sidetrip to Madrid by train and visit the Prado, but couldn't get info and couldn't make the on-line ticket ordering work on the netbook. All tourist info here is only by the city and even though many tourists come on day trips from Madrid to here, the people here know nothing about Madrid. In fact, once we asked about Madrid, we seemed to get no more service. We found the tourist bus that gave us a 1 hr tour of Segovia on our own...no one suggested it!
One of the most interesting things here is the Roman Aquaduct which we can see out of our window. Unbelievable that it survives from the 1st century. It is almost 3000 ft long and has 118 arches...a portion which is 2 story where it crosses the dip in the valley that is now the centre of the city. It carried water at the rate of 30 litres/min and even had a special cleaning house where the debris in the water fell to the bottom of a deeper trench to clean it. Jurg is marvelling at the engineering involved and amount of manpower needed in the construction.

Tonight we go to a recommended place for a fancy $$$$ meal. We may have compromised it somewhat by eating too much at lunch. Let's hope our cruise ship training session will allow us to make the most of the options presented.
Tomorrow we move on to Salamanca and then hopefully end up in Leon...this will move us closer to seeing the northern Atlantic shore of Spain and the Basque country. We have decided not to go to the more well known southern area of Seville, Granada and Toledo...might have to be another trip someday!
Hasta Luego