Day One in Spain

Traveling with the kids can be challenging at times.  Especially with Princess who is able to express her own sense of adventure and fun while we venture about.  Dimples is pretty happy wherever we go.  The plane ride was smooth and virtually without any problems.  The kids were great overall and we got to Spain mid afternoon.  We rented a compact car (which is a VAN! We are happy for the space but do not understand how this vehicle is a compact!)  We spent most of the day getting settled into our beautiful hotel and getting some dinner.  We were all tired from the day of traveling. 

 So, for our first day in Spain we decided to travel to Segovia.  We jumped in the car and headed north about 100 km's from Madrid.  We put Segovia into the GPS and began our journey, opting for the scenic route instead of the toll road highway.  We were astounded at how late the sun rose here.  In Cairo the sun starts to come up around seven, here it was well after eight before we saw any beacon of light.  Once the sun came up we discovered a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and mountains.  Plus, there was wildlife just about everywhere that we looked!  Of course we saw cows and horses, but there was also and abundance of sheep and deer. 


I had heard a lot about this quaint little city and it was a priority to get there.  I am so glad that we did.  Segovia has entered my top ten list of great places to visit. 

Upon entering the downtown area we were greeted by a massive Aqueduct that was built during the Roman Empire.  It was very big and very old, but where the pyramids seemed kind of "sloppy" in places, the aqueduct was immaculate.  No stone was out of place.  We continued up the hill and went further into the downtown area and discovered that there were over 60 historical sights in Segovia.  This was more than I had originally thought and everywhere we looked there was a church, monastery or convent.  The major places to visit in Segovia however are the Aqueduct, the Cathedral and Alcazar. 

As we approached the downtown plaza, the Cathedral was definitely the main attraction.  Absolutely huge in size, the Cathedral was "magnificent" as Princess declared.  The spires were massive and the architecture was unreal.  It reminded me a lot of St. Vitas Cathedral in Prague, except that this Cathedral did not seem as dark and eerie as St. Vitas.  I am always astounded by the incredible detailing in the ceilings and walls in historical Catholic Cathedrals.  I cannot the amount of time that went into building them. 

We continued to walk down the narrow and quaint little roads an ultimately arrived at Alcazar.  Apparently, Walt Disney used this Castle as inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle.  So, with that in mind, we told Princess we were going to Sleeping Beauty's Castle, and she got really excited about that.  The Castle was tremendous and although we did not go in, I have a slight feeling that we will be going back to Segovia before we leave this incredible country.

A family pic amidst the mountainous terrain...although it was foggy.

Ancient Roman Aqueduct in Segovia.

Narrow roadways, historical buildings.

Cathedral in the main plaza.

Princess sitting on a wall of a historical church.

"Sleeping Beauty's castle"...or the Castle where the Spanish Monarchs lived...

In the evening we ventured down to a shopping district.  We thought it would be fun to walk around, look at the Feliz Navidad lights and find a place to eat.  Little did we know that the Stadium where Real Madrid plays was in the same area, and, surprisingly, there was a game!  People from all over Madrid were filing into the area and it was loud!  Everyone was decked out in Real Madrid jerseys, scarves, hats and horns.  They were ready for the game to begin.  We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere.  Perhaps if it was earlier in the day, we would have tried to get some tickets to the game, but the kids were pretty tired as it was well after seven and we had a pretty long day already.

So, it was back to the hotel to settle down, relax and rest for the next day of adventure.  If someone would have told me last year at this time, that I would be spending this Christmas in Spain, I would have laughed.  Spain has never been high on my list of places to visit.  But, I am so glad that we are here because there are so many interesting places to see and things to do.  I think that we will have a very busy 10 more days!