Segovia

Our 2nd day (Sunday) in Spain found us catching a bus to Segovia.  It's a fantastic little town just an hour north of Madrid. We pulled into town around noon and walked the short distance from the bus station into the heart of town.  Again, it was HOT!  But we hardly noticed because we were so Wow'd by this amazing place!

One of the most stunning features of Segovia is the humongous Roman aqueduct that runs right through town.  I've seen a lot of Roman ruins, but this one was truly amazing!  It is HUGE and in such great condition.

We stopped to grab some lunch at an outdoor cafe just feet from the aquaduct.  We ordered little bocadillos - small sandwiches on baguette rolls - for 1 euro each.  Yum!

After lunch, we headed off to explore Segovia.  First stop, the cathedral.  Oh, how I LOVE European cathedrals!  I love how they dominate a town, and the details and workmanship that goes into them.  

Segovia's cathedral did not disappoint!  It was stunning from the outside, and even more beautiful inside.

I loved this painting that was in a chapel at the back of the cathedral.  It's called "Tree of Life" by Ignacio Ries.  According to Rick Steves:  It shows hedonistic mortals dancing atop the Tree of Life.  As a skeletal Grim Reaper prepares to receive them into hell (by literally chopping down the tree), Jesus rings a bell imploring them to wake up before it's too late.
Imagine the Primary lessons we could teach if we had this sort of artwork in our church buildings.  :)

Next stop was the Alcazar - the castle in Segovia that Cinderalla's castle was based on.  The cathedral may have been the glorious epicenter of town, but the Alcazar was the towering jewel at the far end of town.  I couldn't even begin to capture it's grandeur in my picture.

Torah charmed this cute Roman guard as we entered the castle.

Inside, the castle was truly medieval.  I kept trying to envision the real people who lived here hundreds of years ago.  It made all the Hollywood movies come to life.

I especially loved the side-by-side thrones in the throne room.

Despite the heat & our exhaustion, we climbed (& climbed & climbed up a winding, narrow stairwell) to the top of the highest tower so that we could take in the views.  They didn't disappoint.  It was so fun touring Spain with these two great guys!

See what I mean about the cathedral being the epicenter of town?  Awesome!

 After just 2 days in Spain, it was time for me to say good-bye to Micah & Russ for a week.  They spent the next week at a church camp in Segovia - FSY (For the Strength of Youth).  They were the only English-speaking kids out of hundreds of Spanish kids.  And they had a blast!!

It was fun to watch them head into this unknown experience with such excitement and confidence.  I'm glad they had each other, but they also made a lot of great new friends.

Meanwhile, Torah & I had a week to kill in Spain.  I considered a lot of options, but ultimately I'm so glad that I decided to just take it easy and book us a room at one of the only hotels in town that had a swimming pool.  It was a fun, relaxing week for us.

We would get up in the mornings, eat some yogurt, bread & cheese in our hotel room, then catch the bus to do a little exploring.  I never could get enough of seeing this amazing aqueduct!

We roamed through the local outdoor market and mourned the fact that we didn't have a kitchen so we couldn't really take advantage of all this great produce (although we did enjoy munching on fresh grapes as we wandered).

Torah had been happily eating jamón (Spanish cured ham, sliced very thin) with our bread & cheese for days, until we watched this woman slicing it off a pig's leg (complete with hairs & hoof).  But she was only grossed out for about a day and then she was back to devouring the delicious meat.

It's really hard to eat healthy when you are living in a hotel for a month.  I tried my best to find us fresh vegetables to eat.  This is Torah painfully trying to eat her entire carrot before I would buy her an ice cream cone.  

Segovia had one of the coolest bullfighting rings!  It was easy to imagine the roar of the crowds coming from its ancient benches. 

After a morning of exploring and an afternoon of swimming, we would look forward to the cooler evenings when it seemed like all of Segovia (all of Spain!) would head outside to socialize.

I love finding delicious, cheap eats!  This was one of the best meals I've had yet in Spain - 2 poached eggs (perfectly cooked with runny yolks), chorizo and fries.  All for 3.5 euros!  

Then it was time to find a park!  This one was so cool - just a huge pile of boulders to climb all over.

Torah was never shy and loved jumping right in when she found a group of kids playing on the playground.

She could also just sit and play with a new friend, even though they couldn't understand what each other was saying.  She didn't care; she was just happy to have someone besides mom to play with.