¡Hola!
My first Segovia post saw me visit the Aqueduct, Casa de los Picos and Cathedral and enjoy the general quaintness of the Old Town. Now we stood at the gates of the park which would lead us to the Alcázar, our final Segovian destination.
We arrived at the entrance to the Alcázar. As you might guess, Alcázar comes from an Arabic term and it means a building which is a cross between a palace and a castle in that it was used as both a royal residence and a military post.
We entered and admired some suits of armour. I really loved the circle pattern in the stained glass windows.
We visited the dining room...
...and then went through to the Throne Room, which is highly impressive and ornate. This is where Fernando and Isabel would sit and rule side by side.
The very Arabic ceiling is stunning.
Mean horse!
The pomegranate represents the city of Granada (Granada means pomegranate)
Gorgeous ceiling
What is it with these horses?
Queen Isabel I
Kids with weird black eyes
At last, a horse that isn't standing on anyone!
Another nice ceiling
We visited the Chapel which was small but elaborate.
Not again...
We stepped outside and enjoyed some nice views of both the building and the countryside. I threw a coin in the wishing well.
We passed through the armour room...
...before coming full circle and leaving the Alcázar. I really enjoyed the visit: Isabel and Fernando were fascinating people and the architecture is so sumptious and elegant.
I headed back across the park to the city. We were to make our own way back to the Aqueduct to allow us to buy some lunch.
I would have liked to sit down have one of the nice three-course lunch-menu meals I occasionally had in Salamanca and which I had enjoyed on the Toledo trip.
However, whereas the Salamancan menus would generally be in the region of ten euros, the Segovian ones I saw were all in the region of twenty which I couldn't justify, plus they tended to be meat-heavy and while I'm not a vegetarian, I don't really eat a lot of meat.
So, I had various bits and pieces rather than a proper lunch. I had a cheese and ham "crêpe" - more of a galette, really - in a bar. It turned out to be tiny, so I allowed myself some sweet treats as well. First I chose this lattice pastry from a bakey. It was very nice.
Then, when I arrived at the Aqueduct, I indulged in a Smöoy dessert. Smöoy is a chain of frozen yogurt shops in Spain which I really like - there's one on the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca and I got used to spotting their bright pink and white shops wherever we went.
My signature Smöoy is peanut butter and granola but this time I branched out and had chocolate. It was nice for a change but I prefer my peanut butter!
The rest of the group gradually appeared and when we were all present we set off back to the coach for the onward journey to La Granja Palace. I'll tell you all about our tour of that magnificent but - to me - slightly scary building in the next post.
Thanks for reading,
Liz x
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