Spain
San Ildefonso

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    • Day 12

      Palace of San Ildefonso Farm

      July 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Coming into Segovia, we left our luggage at the inn and drove another 20 minutes into San Ildefonso, where one can visit the palace that was used by the royal family as a summer residence. The palace itself wasn't that impressive, with only a few interesting items along the way (in a way, the arrangement of the rooms reminded us of the European furniture collection at the Met).

      What was fun, though, was visiting the gardens, which holds more than forty fountains within its walls. Turns out we arrived at the time that the garden offers a show with the fountains and we had a blast! (literally and figuratively). During the show, guards of the garden led us to four different fountain plazas within the garden. The water reaches a height of almost 30 meters in one of them, and the water reaches to the audience! Nadia was really happy getting wet during the show, but Oliver got scared by the water a couple of times. Napoleon was holding Oliver on his back during the fourth show when the water reached its peak height and washed their back out of the blue! They started running further away from the fountain but couldn't escape from getting fully drenched by it.
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    • Day 26

      La Granja de San Ildefonso

      October 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      After we completed our walk we got back on the bus and started the drive towards Segovia. We stopped on the way for a well deserved beer or wine and also to visit the gardens of the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, known as La Granja (the Farm). It is an early 18th-century palace in the small town of San Ildefonso, located in the hills nearest to Segovia and about 80 kilometres north of Madrid. It became the summer residence of the Kings of Spain from the 1720s during the reign of King Felipe V.

      As it was a Monday the Palace was closed but the gardens were open, and entry was free because they weren’t operating the fountains. The gardens are extensive and magnificent. We had about 45 minutes to wander around and enjoy them.
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    • Day 231

      Granja

      February 27, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      With only a half-baked plan, we arrive into the town of Granja at 6pm following our busy day in Segovia. I park right outside the Posh Parador hotel and feeling lucky go in and ask for a room. They have availability but only for 2 people and being so fancy, don’t do camp beds. A suite is all they offer our little party of three and the price is eye-watering. I go back out to the car, take a breath and begin searching for accommodation online and by phone. 40 minutes later the windows are steamed-up, mirroring my stress level. I let the children know we may have to drive back to Madrid for a bed even though we are exhausted.
      Aware that I am red-faced and flustered I figure that now might actually be the perfect time to chance my arm and twist the arm of the Parador Receptionist. I ham up my panicked state petition her to turn a blind eye to the fact that there are three of us. After some whispering to her colleagues in the back she returns with a smile and proceeds to check us in to a double room. Our three delighted souls scurry through the lobby and dive into our fancy room. Everything in it is big and luxurious and we are here to make the most of it. The bath is run, strawberries and chocolate are smuggled in and Netflix is locked and loaded.
      Although we are 3 abreast in the bed, it is still luxurious and we sleep soundly. My children have inherited my love of buffet breakfasts and they can not hide their excitement. They beam happiness every time they arrive back to the table with another leaning tower of assorted goodies. Love is in the air and they thank me so many times. Ruby even gives me her Mother’s Day card and present a whole month early.
      We are in the perfect mood to enjoy the gardens at the Palacio Real de Granja de San Ildefonso. The Versailles inspired fountains have brought us here and they are beautiful and numerous but they are also empty or not running. In fact these wonderful fountains are off more often than on because they use so much water. They are still very impressive and we would love to return sometime to see them in all their glory. There are only 3 days in every year when they are running simultaneously - the tickets must be like gold dust.
      We spend a lovely few hours walking from one fountain to the other, through formal gardens, along avenues and woods. When we get to the large reservoir lake it feels like we are in Killarney. This is the closest we have come to an Irish landscape in Spain.
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    • Day 35

      San Ildefonso, Segovia

      November 6, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

      We were up bright and early so we could have breakfast and be packed up, ready to be picked up at 9.30 am by Jorge from Senderos y Pueblos, the company that is organising our trip around Segovia.

      It was a great relief when Jorge arrived, right on time. He packed us into his station wagon and we headed out to San Ildefonso where we are to be based for the next two days. It is not a busy time here so we were able to check straight in to the Hotel Roma.

      Then it was off for our first walk. Jorge gave us a GPS which makes it easier to follow the track. A map is nice, a written description is nice, but the GPS stops you from wandering far off the intended track. It really makes it foolproof.

      Our first walk was to the village of Valsain. From there we had the option of returning via a different track, giving us a total of about 10 kms, OR we could continue and end up doing 17.3 kms. Naturally we opted for the latter, notwithstanding the rain we encountered. It was raining when we left San Ildefonso but stopped after about 1 km. We thought we might get away with it from then on, but just after halfway it started drizzling again, and it continued most of the way home. Notwithstanding the weather we had a great time, and saw some lovely countryside.

      Dinner was a problem again, finding some place open early enough for us. First up was a drink and some nibblies at the Half Moon, where there was a documentary on northern Australia! It was a bit loud there so we then found the Miami which had a nice menu and there we stayed. It was a lovely place, quiet with a most attentive, and interesting, man behind the counter. The highlight for me was the Russian salad, whilst Robyn really enjoyed her lamb cutlets. All in all, a good day.
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    • Day 6

      Schloss La Granja de San Ildefonso

      November 9, 2021 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

      Das Schloss La Granja de San Ildefonso ist die ehemalige Sommerresidenz der spanischen Königsfamilie. Es entstand ab 1720 und wurde stets erweitert. Seine Lage in über 1200 m Höhe war die Sommer sehr angenehm.
      Heute dient der Palast als Museum für die umfangreichen Kunstschätze der Königsfamilie.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    San Ildefonso, La Granja de San Ildefonso, Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, Sankta Ildefonso, Сан-Ильдефонсо, Сан-Ільдефонсо, 圣伊尔德丰索

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