Segovia

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Spain has a number of municipalities that fall into the category of “Spanish Town with a Castle and a Cathedral.” Although we had already visited what is perhaps the most famous of these towns - Toledo, we also had been strongly recommended several times to also visit Segovia, another one of these towns. I must say, that we were not disappointed. Segovia is a really pretty, clean, bright happy town. I took lots of pictures just of the streets and surrounding countryside, which seemed nicer than Toledo.

We walked down one of the main avenues until we found our first destination, some Roman aquaducts that were in nearly perfect condition. It was really cool to see something so impressive and so sturdy that was not just centuries, but millenia old! Amazingly enough, the aquaducts were built without mortar. I have no idea how they managed to survive so long, but they are still there, running straight through the city. They are obviously not used any more for transporting water, but have become almost the symbol of the city, which is quite proud to have them. We took pictures from the bottom and then walked up to where the aquaduct intersected the city fortifications and had a look out along them and across the city.

The second part of Segovia was the castle and was, quite possibly, the best part of my trip to Spain. This was a real castle, built by the Visigoths in the 13th century (though on the site of a much older Roman fort). It is perched dramatically on the edge of a sheer bluf, some hundred feet high at the edge of the city and looks for all the world like something out of a fairy tale. In fact it sort of is. It is said that Walt Disney used the building as inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland California! Interestingly enough, the castle is not built in the traditional Spanish style, but in a more central European style, with pointed cone roofs on the tops of the towers and so on. It is really a beautiful thing. The castle is built in two segments. In front, by the entrance is the keep, which is the fortified part of the building, with a main central towers and a drawbridge and moat and other defensive elements. Behind it, protected by a small wall and the sheer drop is the palace where people actually lived.
We spent some time just walking around the outside, before going inside to look at the museum, housed in the palace, which is basically a reconstruction of the inside of several important rooms in the castle (throne room, chapel, etc.) It was amazing, looking and feeling every bit like something out of a legend or fairy-tale or fantasy. Suits of armor stood around guarding the rooms while in the armory we got to see how the castle was actually defended. They also had a room on the later uses of the castle (as a military school). Then we went up the long and tiring trek up to the top of the central main tower. It was a huge tower and simply dizzying to be up at the top, looking down several hundred feet to the ground below. From up there, you also get a great view of the town and surrounding countryside. It was amazingly windy and it was pretty scary going too near the edge, which felt like you were almost going to get blown off! I have to say, the castle was a highpoint of this whole trip.

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