Segovia, Spain

Segovia, prenounced Say-Goh-via with the emphasis on the GO, is also just out of Madrid to the north west.

I had heard a lot of good things about Segovia before even going to Spain.  A colleague had talked about the Roman aqueduct; the Alcazar but mostly the ‘cocchinillo asado’ (roast suckling pig). 

Unfortunately for me, yesterday’s tour of Avilà and our strolling late in Madrid lead to some pretty awful blisters on the balls of both of my feet.  So basically every step I took in Segovia was painful.  That being said, I really enjoyed our visit.  The Roman aqueduct really is impressive.  I believe it’s the only one of it’s kind remaining and from what I overheard from an English speaking guide it seems there are some left underground but this is the only one left at this height.

As for Alcazar, the castle really is Disney-esque.  I was a little less amazed since it’s been rebuilt and renovated quite a few times over the last few centuries so though you get a sense of what it was it wasn’t as impressive as it could have been. 

Segovia's Alcazar

Now for the cocchinillo, the "I would be a vegetarian if I had to hunt" in me was a little terrified of the thought of a full roasted piglet on a platter on my table but in the end, we ordered a quarter pig, so I only had to deal with a pig foot.  Josée was nice enough to serve me so that I didn’t have to look at the pig and I have to admit that it was absolutely delicious, moist, tender and flavourful.  We hate at a small restaurant called Meson Juan Jimeno on the main street leaving the Alcazar. I definitely recommend it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sipping Sangria at a terrace in Plaza Mayor as we waited for our 8pm bus. Now what happened next, was another first. Our bus broke down about 15 minutes out of Segovia.  We didn’t really understand what was happening, the bus came to a stop, then the Police showed up and the bus was pushed out of the roundabout and down a little hill to the side of the road.  The police told us we could get off the bus and the thirty of us sat on the side of the road looking on as the driver looked at the engine and the transmission and scratched his head.  My Spanish is passable, I understand when people speak slowly and when I understand the context, I had no idea what was being said.  What I heard was another bus in twenty to thirty minutes and sure enough a new bus came by to pick us up.  All’s well that ends well and I can honestly say I was never scared nor frustrated, we had nowhere else to be but Madrid since we’re on vacation so we laughed and read and played games on our phones.  Plus one of the police was quite cute so he was fun to look at!

Segovia's cathedral as seen from Alcazar

Our broken bus and police escort