I'm behind!! I don't know how this happened, but I have to catch up or else I'm going to be in over my head in the blink of an eye. Against my nature, I'll just write a few poorly descriptive posts about the past week to get everything up and then cover all future events and adventures in better detail, to my liking, as they happen. Deal? Good.
Okay, Segovia, April 27. It was a day trip to a super cute city that I totally remember visiting the last time I was in Spain. I even saw the bar (see right) where we used the bathroom. I still don't know how much that bartender appreciated 4 blonde Americans using the toilet without buying anything from him...oops. Anyway, here's the high points. TTFN
Roman Aqueduct - constructed between the 1st and 2nd centuries (A.D.) and fully functional until the 1930s or 40s when they stopped using it. The whole thing is made of stone, just stone. No cement, no mud, no clay, no nothing. The holes you see in each block in the first picture were for the 'crane' of pulleys that picked up each stone (like tweezers grabbing legos or something).
La Casa de Los Picos - used to be called "La Casa de los Judios" (House of the Jews), but when the Jews were expelled from Spain and the Christians came to rule, nobody wanted to live in a 'Jewish' house. So they put a new facade on and changed the name.
Intricate facades - to appear richer than they actually were (nobody wants their neighbors to think they're poor) and to personalize the government-gifted houses (it was an incentive to live in Segovia), they covered the outsides with stone, carved in beautiful designs.
La Catedral de Segovia - can you say Gothic? Almost. They didn't finish all of it at one time, so when they went to put on the main door, so many years had passed that the style had changed. Can you tell the difference?
El Alcázar - castle with inCREDible ceilings (unfortunately we couldn't use flash so all of my pics are blurry - but I'm sure you can Google it with this link), one of the inspirations for the Disney castles (Your thoughts, Angela?)
La Granja - palace with French-style gardens including a huge hedge labyrinth and a plethora of fountains. Also, the majority of las bovedas (the vaulted ceilings) were major works of art. Of course, my camera died so I don't have any pictures. Again, Google it! :)
Okay, Segovia, April 27. It was a day trip to a super cute city that I totally remember visiting the last time I was in Spain. I even saw the bar (see right) where we used the bathroom. I still don't know how much that bartender appreciated 4 blonde Americans using the toilet without buying anything from him...oops. Anyway, here's the high points. TTFN
Roman Aqueduct - constructed between the 1st and 2nd centuries (A.D.) and fully functional until the 1930s or 40s when they stopped using it. The whole thing is made of stone, just stone. No cement, no mud, no clay, no nothing. The holes you see in each block in the first picture were for the 'crane' of pulleys that picked up each stone (like tweezers grabbing legos or something).
La Casa de Los Picos - used to be called "La Casa de los Judios" (House of the Jews), but when the Jews were expelled from Spain and the Christians came to rule, nobody wanted to live in a 'Jewish' house. So they put a new facade on and changed the name.
La Catedral de Segovia - can you say Gothic? Almost. They didn't finish all of it at one time, so when they went to put on the main door, so many years had passed that the style had changed. Can you tell the difference?
El Alcázar - castle with inCREDible ceilings (unfortunately we couldn't use flash so all of my pics are blurry - but I'm sure you can Google it with this link), one of the inspirations for the Disney castles (Your thoughts, Angela?)
La Granja - palace with French-style gardens including a huge hedge labyrinth and a plethora of fountains. Also, the majority of las bovedas (the vaulted ceilings) were major works of art. Of course, my camera died so I don't have any pictures. Again, Google it! :)
I miss you, but I am comforted knowing that you are having the time of your life! Keep doing that and keep me in the loop--pretty sure that's all I need to survive your absence.
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