They say "go via Segovia"

Day trip to Segovia - a UNESCO world heritage town. Got to the metro, bought a card and tickets to get to the other main train station, Chamartin. Then realised we actually wanted to take the suburban railway not the metro (as it takes longer). So bought suburban tickets and made it to the station about 2 minutes before the 10.15 train - without tickets and in any case the train was totally full. Bit of a fail. Ended up getting the 11.48 train (bit more expensive) but worth it to get out there.

Wandered around the area a little - thought about going bowling to kill some time but the place hadn't opened yet. Back to the mall-like station - Wade was excited to try a vanilla milkshake from a vending machine but when it came out hot he realised it was a vanilla latte. Lol. Train was quick - 27 minutes.

Then took bus to town (although sharing a cab with two randoms would have been the same price and much quicker). Bus waited for 20 minutes for the next train and packed people on like sardines!

Arrived in town and saw the amazing Roman aqueduct. Built many years ago without mortar or cement and still standing (was in use until 1900s and goes underground through the town). Very impressive.

Walked through a weekly market and got a Christmas ornament. Lots of people around in Segovia. Then found a random little place for lunch which was surprisingly good (after some initial confusion over the menu given our limited Spanish). Russian salad and castellana soup for starters which were very good. Soup was kind of like tom yum and bread was really nice. Then battered calamari and pork with chips for second course. Good but too greasy, salty and too much for us to finish. Did save room for dessert though - apple custard tart and flan (delicious!).

Walked up to the castle and joined the short line for tickets and audioguide. Wade's audioguide went funny halfway through and switched back to Spanish - of which he understood 80% or so (yay). Eventually got it sorted for English to make life easier though.

Castle/Alcazar was interesting. Mostly rebuilt in 19th century after a fire. Thanks to a lot of detailed descriptions and artwork of the castle, it was able to be accurately rebuilt. Looks like it's right out of a fairytale (may have inspired the Disney Castle). Nice views over the river and surrounding landscape.

Some rooms were quite nice - cool ceilings. One roof that was destroyed was replaced by an identical roof off another room which happened to have the exact same roof! Apparently Spanish carpenters tended to make several copies of the same work (instead of unique one-offs) so identical roofs are actually a common occurrence from that time. One roof was filled with wooden pine cone decorations - each of them a unique design.

The stained glass windows were cool, and the audioguide did a good job of explaining each one. The throne room was very impressive. It contained little statues of all the monarchs just below the ceiling, each statue was stylised to represent something unique about the monarch. There were also plaques under each figure with a brief description of the monarch's life.

Also made sure to go up the tower for some nice views over Segovia. Overall enjoyed the tour.

Walked back through town - spotted the cathedral and found a cool shop. Also dropped a magnet and broke it so now we have two Segovia magnets (one which needs glue). Oops. Also visited a sword shop - some very cool swords and daggers were tempting, but ultimately no use for them so sadly abstained. Got bus back to station and then train.

Went to a taco place for dinner. Managed to get there ten minutes before opening and a big line continued behind us - a good sign. The tacos were almost authentic Mexican which was pretty good (and the michelada beer cocktail was good too). Then churros for dessert. Was a good day!Read more