In 80 B.C., the Celtic settlement of Segobriga was occupied by the Romans. From there, it went on to become an important town of Roman Hispania. The town saw fighting between Christians & the invading Muslims until the latter were evicted in A.D. 1085. The city triumphed in backing the future queen Isabel in 1474 but chose the wrong side in the War of the Communities in 1520. After sliding into several centuries of obscurity, Segovia began to recover in the 1960s, when tourism helped to regenerate the town. Today, Segovia is known for its acueducto romano, as well as its catedral & alcázar.
Madrid was first established by Muslims in A.D. 854. From the Arabic word for "water channel," Madrid's location in the center of the peninsula led to the city changing hands between Muslims, Visigoths & Christians. In 1085, Christian king Alfonso VI conquered Madrid's mosque & reconfigured it into the chuch of the Virgin of Almudena. For a while, Jews, Muslims & Christians were allowed to practice their own religions in Madrid, but the Spanish Inquisition ended the harmony & only allowed Christians to practice. In 1561, the seat of the court was moved to Madrid, effectively making it the captial of Spain. During the 16th & 17th centuries, the city enjoyed the Siglo de Oro, or Golden Century, but still depended economically on the patronage of the court iteself. In the 20th century, Madrid was hit especially hard by the Spanish Civil War, but after Franco's death, the capital became an icon for the new Spain & finally enjoyed the prosperity it needed to establish itself as the center of the Iberian peninsula.
On Friday, a friend & I took an overnight (1:00 A.M. - 7:00 A.M.) bus from Sevilla to Madrid. From there, we took the Metro across town & hopped another bus to Segovia. We spent the rest of the morning & most of the afternoon on a self-guided tour of Segovia's 3 main attractions: the acueducto, the Catedral & the Alcázar. I was amazed how extensive the acueducto is, & that houses & businesses have simply sprung up on either side of the structure over the millennia. The Catedral was particularly striking, but like most of Spain's religious buildings, only truly finished on one side. The Alcázar was also beautiful. We took a self-guided tour through the castle, which was home to swords, suits of armour, a spectacular view of the city, & (of course) some creepy artwork on the walls. We paid extra to climb to the top of the tower, which had an extraordinary view of the Catedral & the surrounding area. Then we grabbed some lunch & hopped a bus back to Madrid. After five weeks, I'm finally getting used to how easy it is to travel in Spain. Once in Madrid, we tried to find a few sights & succeeded in locating the Templo de Debod, the Catedral & the Palacio Real. Afterwards, we headed to our hostal, which was nice enough, & called it a night.
Day 1 photos here & here.
The next day, we enjoyed our hostal's complimentary "continental breakfast" -- which consisted of cereal, bread & butter, milk & tea -- then met up with SANDEMANs New Europe Tours, a free, 3 1/2 hour walking tour around the city. (My friend & I knew that Sevilla had changed us when we didn't even bat an eye at the concept of walking around for 3 1/2 hours.) Our tour guide was excellent. She was an American that studied in Madrid for a semester of college then decided she didn't want to return to the States. For the duration of the tour, she was informative, entertaining & enthusiastic about everything we saw. She led us through plazas, past churches & palaces, & even to the doorsteps of the birthplaces of a few famous writers. For lunch, she took us to get tapas... at Cervezería 100 Montaditos, a cheap chain restaurant we frequent in Sevilla. After the tour, we wandered to the Museo del Prado & the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, where I was reminded how little appreciation I have for art. When I realized I was studying what my guidebook described as "subtle yet strategically placed lighting" instead of the works themselves, I realized that an art museum is not the place for me. I did, however, enjoy seeing a few of the more famous works in person. After the museums, we again called it a night & began to walk back to our hostal. On the way, we were able to witness a group of men running from the police, carrying the sacks of bootleg DVDs & knockoff Louis Vuitton wallets they had been peddling on the sidewalk.
Day 2 photos here.
Sunday, we woke up early to fully enjoy the spread of our continental breakfast. Then we headed to El Rastro, a huge open-air flea market that sets up every Sunday on the sidewalks of Madrid. There were booths with everything from t-shirts & parachute pants (which are in style in Spain, by the way) to extension cords and multitools. We wandered for a few hours, & although I enjoyed the shopping, I had to fight the urge to flee from the solidly packed streets. After the flea market, we stopped for lunch. Feeling like we had seen the sights already, we headed to the bus station a bit early & relaxed until our 6:00 P.M. departure, another weekend trip successfully completed.
Day 3 photos here.
Nos vemos, Le <3.
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