Segovia, Spain – June 23, 2011

No photos from this journey.  I cannot believe I forgot my camera at home!

Today we all went to Segovia. For some reason, our TomTom GPS took us on a wildly different route.  I like to drive over the mountains by going through the small mountain town of Puerto de Navacerrada. I like it because it is such a beautiful drive. All of the switchbacks on the way down to the town of San Ildefonso sort of reminds me of Hoosier Pass just outside of Breckenridge, Colorado. However, this time the GPS took us past the exit I normally take. Just as we were going by the exit, I noticed it, but it was too late to take it. Instead, we were routed along a road that went beside the toll road. That means we went well to the west and then drove back in toward Segovia.

We finally got into town at about 09:15. I parked in the underground parking near the aqueduct. We walked from the parking area to the Plaza del Azoguejo, right by the aqueduct. We wanted to use the restrooms at the tourist center, but it was not open yet.  So we had coffee and churros at a small shop in the plaza.

After that, we walked south along Calle de San Francisco until we got to Calle Pintor Montalvo. There we turned left and walked to the Plaza de Dia Sanz, just on the east side of the aqueduct. I had not been there before. It was a unique view of the aqueduct.

We left and walked back to the Plaza del Azoguejo along Calle Teodosio. By the time we got back to the plaza, the tourist building was open.  We were shocked by the fact that they now charge 20 centimos to use the toilets.

Once we were all refreshed, we walked up the stairs, inside the walls of the old city. After looking out over the aqueduct we walked along Calle Obispo Gandasegui to Calle Conde Gazzola and turned back to the north. From there we made our way to Plaza de las Huertas by the Arias Davila Tower. We continued on to Plaza Mayor. In the Plaza Mayor, there were several vendors selling jewelry, clothing, books, and fruit.

After looking through many of the vendor booths, we walked along the east side of the Cathedral toward the Alcazar. Along the way, we stopped at several shops. In one of them, we bought a one-of-a-kind glass plate.  We continued on to the Alcazar. Once there, I went to buy our tickets. When I came back out, Leslie told me she had accidentally struck the bag against a light pole and broke the plate. She did not want to go into the Alcazar since she had seen it before.  So, she walked back to the shop where we had bought the plate. Leslie bought another one and walked back to the Alcazar. She waited out front for us.

Meanwhile, the four of us walked through the Alcazar. While Hillary and her friend, Becca, walked through some of the Alcazar, I went through the gift shop. In there I bought Leslie two magnets for her collection. One of the magnets had a caricature of the sun and the other one had the moon.  The magnets were about one and one-half inches square.

We all met in front of the Alcazar and began walking back to the city center. We went along Ronda de Don Juan II. That street turns into Calle del Socorro. We walked to the Plaza del Socorro. There we found the Bar Socorro. We stopped to get a drink and have some tapas. Leslie and I had red wine.  Tyler and Hillary had a diet coke.  Becca had a bottle of water. In addition, I got some croquetas and some chorizo to share. As we sat there we were entertained by watching the cars vie for position at the Gate of San Andres.  It is only wide enough to allow one car at a time.

When we finished our drinks we walked up Calle de la Juderia Nueva back to Calle Marques del Arco. That took us back along the east side of the Cathedral. We walked along Calle de lsabela Catolica to Calle Juan Bravo. That took us alongside the San Martin Church. It was open so I went inside. It was very old, built in the 12th century.

We continued along Calle Juan Bravo to Calle de Cervantes.  As we got closer to the aqueduct we walked down some stairs to Avenida de Fernandez Ladreda. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe there. We walked from there back to the car and drove home, along my preferred route!

• Spain