Though we are safe and sound in Sevilla now, before arriving here, we had a week in Madrid! It was amazing and very touristy (which I was pretty into), but one of my favorite parts of that week was our trip to Segovia. Segovia was an hour or two from Madrid, and a really ancient and beautiful city.
There is a Roman aqueduct there that is supposedly really old (like FIRST CENTURY OLD!!!) and also a really cool castle (Castila de Alcazar, I believe I spelled correctly) from the time that the Moors ruled Spain that was then used by the Catholics/future monarchy after that. Have some pictures:
(View from the top.)
There was also this cathedral that was absolutely beautiful (and called la Catedral Segovia, rightly so) and amazing. I have some great pictures but nothing does it justice because WOW. It was built in the 1500s but not finished for 200+ years and I’m just cryin’ all over the place about it because history. MORE PICS:
Cesar (our tour guide), also recommended we try these little cake things (I believe they’re called ponche?) so of course, we did.
After our giant lunch, we bussed about 45 minutes to El Escorial, a monastery (and what was the king’s palace there and also mausoleums) that was massive and really beautiful. There weren’t pictures allowed inside BUT KNOW THAT IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND HAD GREAT ART AND TOMBS AND RELICS AND SO MANY COOL THINGS. I recommend a quick search on the internet. Here are some photos of the outside and the cloisters there:
Overall, Madrid was great, and I loved our day trip to Segovia. It was a great introduction to Spain, and time to remember our Spanish! Sevilla, however, is something completely different. You’ll see!
(Also, here’s a group photo because we’re cute.)
