Segovia
Segovia is a relatively large town with a gorgeous antique center featuring three big attractions: an enormous cathedral, a big castle about which "it is said" that Disney's designers copied it for Disneyland, and an extremely impressive Roman aqueduct. Some of us from the school where I'm taking Spanish classes went last Saturday on the bus.
Can I say a word about the bus? There's a combination bus-subway-train station in Madrid called Moncloa. That's where all the buses going to points north and west leave from. And the bus is super cheap and comfortable. We paid $5 to to to El Escorial and $4.30 to go to Segovia. You can reach both places by train too but the train leaves from the ChamartÃn station, which I hate.
We were met at Segovia by a guide. Turns out to be the same guy who led the "wine tasting" a few weeks ago. He does have a lot to say, about wine or whatever, and it was a lot more interesting (to me) to hear him talk about the buildings and architectural touches of Segovia, and about the aqueduct. It was a gorgeous day and the only thing that flawed the trip was that by the time we were ready to eat, all the restaurants were filled. So we got some very mediocre pizza at a sidewalk cafe, but the three teenagers I was with -- the Iranian guy and two Japanese kids -- were fine with it. The guide was very vexed, though. He wanted us to eat the stuff that Segovia is famous for. I forget what he called it but it sounded really complicated and fatty, so I was a little relieved just to have the pizza, too.
