Sightseeing in the North of Spain

Thursday -- May 25 -- Madrid, Segovia, Leon

This morning came early, at 6:45, but a hour later than normal for me.  After showering we set off to the cafe next door.  Roy and I managed to sucessfully order our breakfast and I even got a glass of tap water :-)

Our bus left Madrid at 8:30 and by just after 10:00 we were in Segovia, the historic capital of Castille-Leon and the home of Queen Isabella, who wed Ferdinand in the alliance that created most of modern Spain.  The town is noted for the remaining section of Roman aqueduct, the cathedral, and the Palace.  We took the tour of the palace and it reminded me a lot of the Alhambra with its placement on a promontory overlooking a village below and with lots of Moorish designs and architectural features.  This palace came complete with a moat and drawbridge and very interesting slate roofs.  Jan--you would have loved it because this castle was used as the inspiration for some of the Disney castles!!  It was clear from the rooflines.

We left Segovia about 12:30 on the way to Leon.  In an attempt to acclimate to the Spanish timing for meals, we stopped in Tordesillas for lunch at 2:30. This town is famous as the site of of the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the New World between Spain and Portugal.    We had a lovely meal on the restaurant terrace overlooking a river and the old town.  With a table of 9 with some pointing and my meager Spanish, we made our choices, received what we had ordered, and paid the bill.  I told the group that I can order a mea  in 3 languages, so far I'm doing OK.  That was victory enough, I didn't try to get the server to split the bill 7 ways :-)

As we got back on the highway we saw our first sign for the Camino--it was the Camino Via del Plata, the Camino path that comes from southern Spain.  then last three hours we have been driving through prominently agricultural land --oats, wheat, alfalfa, grapes, tomatoes, rapeseed, and even sone plantations of pine trees.  And we've seen some solar panel farms, too.

After a couple of hours on the highway we arrived in Leon for a couple of cultural-historical stops.  We hurried to the archetypical Romanesque Basilica de San Isidoro because the crypt has the most famous Roman frescos in Spain.  it was incredible to think that these were almost 1000 years old.  For me, one of the most fascinating elements were the frescos representing the 12 months of the year in agricultural terms, based on the farming activities .  We also stopped to visit the Cathedral of Leon, a splendid Gothic cathedral with the best stained-glass windows in Spain.

Two more hours on the highway brought us to Villefranche del Bierzo, our destination for tonight  We'll be checking into the room and grabbing a quick cana (draft beer) and some tapas.