Madrid - Day 4

We decided to leave Madrid and take a trip to the city of Segovia today. First we walked to the bus station at Moncloa in the north of the city. We eventually worked out that the bus we wanted left from the part that's below ground. We bought our tickets and got on a bus that left at 10am.

It was a nice drive that took about an hour and 20 minutes, passing through the range of snow-capped hills that we had been able to see from Madrid.

At Segovia we discovered that the city was over 1000 metres above sea level, and it was quite cloudy, so it was rather cold! From the bus station it was a short walk to the Roman aqueduct, which is one of the famous attractions of the city.

We followed the line of the aqueduct up and along as far as a cistern that was used to filter the water.

We then went back to the main bit, and up steps on the other side which gave a good view back.

We walked along the old winding city streets, and bought some sandwiches for lunch. At the main square of the old town is the cathedral.

From there we walked towards the Alcázar, and on the way got some good views from the city wall.

We paid to visit the Alcázar, which is a 12th century medieval castle. It has a very deep moat on the city side.

Inside the rooms are ornately decorated but mainly unfurnished.

There's a steep drop on the city wall side of the castle.

On the way back round we took a path outside and below the city walls.

We went back in through a city gate, Walked back to the cathedral and sat and ate our lunch.

We then paid to visit the cathedral, which had a huge model moon inside, and an art gallery in the basement.

We went for a drink in a bar and to warm up, then caught the bus back to Madrid. From the Moncloa bus station we caught the Metro back to the apartment.

Later we went out to the Temple of Debod, where loads of people gather to watch the sunset. I guess this hasn't been much fun recently due to all the rain, so the crowds were out. It was quite a nice atmosphere.

We had dinner in a nearby restaurant, Dudua Palacio. Shirley had "Blonde Cow Entrecote" steak, and Scott had Cochinillo (roast suckling pig), and we shared a bottle of wine. It was all pretty good.