Day 42 – 20 August 2023 – Madrid Day 3

A wake up call at 6.30am & another good breakfast at 7am before we meet & join the bus at 8am for our trip to Segovia. Segovia was the old capital of Spain & is around 90 km away so the bus drives through the dry Spanish countryside for around 90 minutes, passing through a tunnel under the mountains before reaching old Segovia. Sonia is very knowledgeable about Spain & tells us all about it along the way.

The bus parks near the ancient Roman Aqueduct of old Segovia, an amazing stone structure around 2,000 years old built by the Romans to supply water to the old city of Segovia. The Aqueduct is over 16 kilometres long & over 28 metres high, imposing itself on the landscape. Even more amazing is that no concrete is used in the construction, it is all dry rock, perfectly fitted together.  

We walk up through the old town, with lots of the buildings dating from the 1400s. Lots of buildings have the old Arabic Moor stucco designs on the walls. We walk past the old Jewish quarter, apparently the Jewish people were kicked out of Segovia by the king unless they converted to Christianity.  King was OK about the Moors keeping their religion (they were good builders, which could have helped). One of the old synagogues is now a Christian church. We pass lots of shops in the narrow street before we reach the main square & then see the Cathedral, my goodness, what an amazing huge building. The turrets have carved stonework & the rainwater drains through carved winged lions with a dragon headed pipe in its mouth.

More walking through narrow streets surrounded by very old buildings before we reach the Alcazar. The Alcazar is the old fortress & the royal palace. This is a beautiful old building that has been restored amazingly well. It is a stunning piece of architecture. we walk over the drawbridge to enter the Alcazar. The moat is a very long way down.

The ceilings in each of the rooms we enter in the Alcazar are amazing works of art in themselves. The windows have beautiful stained glass windows & old paintings of the kings & families adorn the walls. There is lots of metal armour on display plus swords, pikes & crossbows. The crossbow belonging to a former king is an elaborate example inlaid with ivory. There are lots of old cannons on display, the Alcazar was also an artillery school after the king moved to Madrid. Our guide, Claudia, was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the Alcazar & the different generations of royal family that lived there.

Back past the Cathedral, we couldn’t go inside as a church service was being held, it is Sunday. In the city square outside the building of the Mayor a large TV screen has been set up & the women’s World Cup soccer final between Spain & England is being televised live. There are lots of Spanish supporters watching & the game starts just as we walk past. We buy some gelatos & after Spain scores the first goal we finish our gelatos (very tasty) & continue walking back down to the Aqueduct to meet our tour group.

Back to Madrid, the bus is nicely air-conditioned thankfully as it is now 40 C outside. We are given around half an hour to freshen up & then we are back on the bus to the Prada Museum. This is the best art museum in Madrid, full of paintings by the old masters such as Rubens, Goya & El Greco. Our guide is very knowledgeable & guides us through the museum, explaining the classic works of art that we only usually see in books. The tour is fascinating & at the end I want to explore more. On the way out we walk past a marble sculpture of a woman with a veil over her face. It is unbelievable that an artist can carve this masterpiece from stone. The illusion of the veil is extraordinary & it looks like someone has thrown a real veil over the head, extraordinarily exquisite. Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures in the art gallery.

At the hotel we have around an hour to rest & freshen up, still no luggage. Then out to dinner at 7pm, this time to a restaurant with singing waiters. One of the ladies in our group sits down & plays the piano masterfully, we discover that she is a concert pianist. We have Sangria, red & white wine (local), then the first of our four course meal, some traditional potato & egg omelette with a slice of Iberico ham on toast. Next is a prawn salad with four of the waiters singing accompanied by a pianist. They have very good voices. Our main meals are delicious as well as dessert, singing continues throughout all these courses. It is fabulous.

Absolutely full & happy we dance out of the restaurant & back onto our bus for the short drive back to our hotel. Our luggage has finally arrived. Thank goodness. Another good day.