Heading to Callao Metro Station, we took the metro to Atocha Renfe. As mentioned yesterday, Atocha Renfe is a station for trains (Renfe vs Metro) that are heading out of Madrid or into the capital city. We bought the tickets to Segovia and waited about 20 minutes or so. My father told me that when he visited Segovia in 2005, the trip from Madrid to Segovia took about 2 hours because the track between the two cities had not been finished and or was under reconstruction, and so their trip consisted of a longer journey through the countryside. Our trip took 30 minutes.

Writing a small CD review for the blog while on the Renfe

The station in Segovia is called Segovia Guiomar and seems like it is in the middle of nowhere. There is literally a cow-pasture located to your right as you exit the station. The cows are either grazing or laying down soaking in the slight breeze that blows through the valley. Upon doing a 360 and looking around, one sees mountains all around, a bunch of “small” buildings in the distance. You’re only real choice to get to Segovia from the station, is to take a 15 minute bus ride to the site of the Aqueduct.

Segovia Guiomar Station

Once we arrived at the Aqueduct, I was floored by the immense size of the ancient roman vestigial structure. What used to travel for miles-on-end, bringing water from the mountain sides to the city, now stretches a total of about 70km. Either way, in terms of height, I felt like an ant looking up at it.

The Aqueduct in Segovia

Once we passed under the Aqueduct, we started walking through the historic part of the town. We came upon the Plaza Mayor that was the site of the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y de San Frutos. The Cathedral is very large and takes up a lot of skyline.

Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y de San Frutos

A very busy Plaza near the cathedral

Finally, we reached the main attraction, the Alcázar (fortress). This fort/castle was built in the 12th century but was later used in the 1500s by Felipe II and his wife as their favorite residence.  Carlos III later turned it into the Royal Artillery School in 1764; it also houses many of the weapons used in battle during those times.  The Alcázar overlooks much of the valley of Segovia. Once inside, there is the opportunity to see the armory, the bedroom, the dining room, the royal court, and many more rooms. In the ceiling of some of the courts, the name of the king or queen that had that room built and decorated is written.

A monument that sits outside the Alcázar

The Alcázar with stormy skies in the background

I loved the armory; it had knight’s armor, canons, spears, swords, shields, and royal flags. They had a replica knight mounted on a horse in the middle of the room. What was funny was that while we were looking around within the castle, it began to rain – and it also brought a cold front as well. After viewing the armory and a few rooms, we decided to go outside onto one of the outlooks that overlook the valley and a courtyard area. With it raining, it was difficult to take photos, due to fear of getting the lens wet.

Seeing what it was like to be behind the sights of a cannon

The armory within the Alcázar

The valley below the Alcázar

Royal Court within the Alcázar

Royal Court within the Alcázar

Once we finished looking throught the castle, we decided to have some lunch. We found a great restaurant called Restaurante Mesón Don Jimeno. It is a family owned restaurant. As we came in for lunch, two children, owners son and his friend came in and were promptly served their lunch, consisting of what looked to be Cocido – A typical dish of Province of Madrid and the Iberian Peninsula.

Restaurante Mesón Don Jimeno

The interior of the restaurant

We choose to order from the Menu del Dia which consisted of a choice of appetizers (primeros) of: Sopa Castellana con jamon, chorizo y huevo (tipica) or Gazpacho (fresquito). Now considering it turned slightly windy and was drizzling, it was perfect weather for a hot bowl of Sopa Castellana. Boy was it a wonderful choice! If you’ve ever had egg drop soup, it had a similar texture in that the egg is cooked within the soup (not before) and so obtains a liquid tenderness to its look and texture.

Vino de mesa (this typically is a local wine)

Fresh baked bread to enjoy with the wine and soup

Sopa Castellana con jamon, chorizo y huevo (tipica)

Next, the main course (segundos) consisted of Filete de Ternera con ensalada y patatas fritas. It was a very simple dish, but with a lightly dressed salad (una vinaigrette – olive oil & vinaigrette), the fillet of beef and fries were just heavenly. These fries are not crunchy like normal French fries, but instead are softer, with only the outside skin slightly more tense than the tender potato inside (like homemade potato wedges in terms of texture).

Filete de Ternera con ensalada y patatas fritas

Finally, the meal ended with a wonderful dessert of Postre Casero. This dessert was a pudding of sorts, but with the flavor of a flan and a crème. A small cup of café con leche (coffee and milk – very typical in Spain and Latin America) was a wonderful cap to a very nice meal.

Postre Casero

Oh, unfortunately I didn’t get pictures or better yet, a movie of this…but my father and I saw an elderly man backup into another car, that was parked, and then just drive off. The elderly driver was backing out in order to leave, but I guess either he had parked too close to the other cars, or they had just boxed him in a bit. So he didn’t even back up slowly, in fact, I thought the other car had had someone inside it because of how much it moved back, it must not have had its parking brake on. Either way, the man pulls of and my father and I begin laughing histerically, because of how nonchalant the elderly driver had been with what amounted to be a small “kiss” to the other car’s bumper; or at least that is what the driver must have thought.

A look back at Segovia before leaving

After having a good laugh, we realized we needed to head back to the station, our train would be departing back to Madrid at 4:00 and we had about 45 minutes to get back. We quickly got to the bus stop, in front of the Aqueduct, and headed back. We had enough time to board; the only problem…where is the train? Well fortunately, we weren’t the only ones, we noticed a crowd of about 40 people waiting on the deck, so we knew we had not been left, the train was merely late from another stop. It showed up, we all boarded, and within 5 minutes of getting situated, we set off for Madrid. I really enjoyed Segovia. It was a peaceful town that had a lot of vibrancy in its architecture and history. Oh, and like I said, the food was great! J.

Filed under: Travel by Giancarlo Deleon