Segovia

7 & 8 November 2023

Yesterday and today have been spent wandering around the old city of Segovia. It rained for most of yesterday and there was light rain this afternoon. 

The days are quite short now. Sunrise was at 7.55am and sunset at 6.04pm.

Today we visited Alcázar, a medieval castle dating from early 12th century - although it's foundations has granite ashlars similar to those of the Roman aqueduct meaning that it was possibly built over, or originally was, a Roman fortress.  According to a brochure about the castle twenty-two kings have passed through it's rooms, as well as some of the most prominent figures in history. 

Our first glimpse of the castle.

Alcázar Castle.

In the cellars

The Throne Room

Large, faded, tapestries covered the walls of this bedchamber.

On the chapel floor.

Some views from the castle:

The Catedral de Segovia sits high above the city.

Snow covering the tops of the nearby mountains. Segovia sits at 1005 metres so the mountains will be quite high.

Some random street shots:

Salamanca to Segovia

6 November 2023

We said goodbye to Salamanca and came to Segovia by train. Once again we enjoyed travelling by train. Apart from walking, it's the best way to see the land you're travelling through. 

The train went north of our Caminos Teresianos route but took us through the same landscape - mostly flat with views forever. As we neared Segovia though, mountains, with a dusting of snow, came into view. Although the landscape we travelled through was mostly flat, it was still high - Segovia sits at 1005m.

The Segovia railway station is 4.5 kms from central Segovia so we shared a taxi with a couple from Nova Scotia. 

As always, once checked in at our accommodation, we went and found a supermarket. We enjoyed our first look at this city. People, so many people, were out and about. The temperature was 8°C at 6pm.

Walking through Salamanca streets on our way to the railway station: 

Footprints of St Teresa in Salamanca. 

A few snaps taken while on the train:

We went past large areas of pine trees. Most of the plantings were in rows. We have no idea what they are used for as their trunks aren't very big, nor are the trees very tall, and they all had a mop top canopy.

In Segovia:

Walking to our accommodation as the taxi couldn't drive into this part of the city.

The view from our window. 

On our way to the supermarket. 

Toffee apples - they looked so good. 

Views out over the city - still on our way to the supermarket. 

Then we got a bit sidetracked as we saw the Roman aqueduct. It was built in the 1st century to channel water from mountain springs 17 kilometres away. It was in use until 1973. 

On our way back to our accommodation from the supermarket. 

A chestnut roaster - we bought a small bagful to nibble on.