Segovia
7/01/25 - 7/16/25
Our travel day from London to Segovia sucked. What should have been about 7 hours door to door ended up closer to 11! We took the underground back to Heathrow and flew non-stop to Madrid smooth and easy… until we got to the 1.5 hour customs line – ugh. Once we were through customs we thought we would quickly get our luggage and get the fast train to Segovia… not quite. The baggage claim area had 20+ carousels spread out all over the place. We couldn’t figure out which ours was because our flight was no longer on the board (it had been 2 hours since we landed).
Once we FINALLY found our luggage, we managed to find the train. Nothing is very well marked (we got spoiled in London) and the ticket machine wouldn’t switch to English (no more just tapping a credit card in and out ☹). We finally got our ticket and found the train to get to the main train station in Madrid from where we would then take the fast train. We made it to the main train station, and once again, nothing was clearly marked! After a bit of wondering and asking a few people we finally determined that the fast train was pretty separate from the rest of the platforms and you could ONLY buy fast train tickets at the fast train ticket office. We were hoping to make the 6:15 train when we arrived at 5:45 (a reasonable expectation at any other train station in the world!). We got to the ticket office and it looked like a badly run DMV! We had to take a number and wait around with about fifty other assholes for our number to come up on the board. The 6:15 came and went while we were waiting, so we were planning for the 6:40 train. We were called at 6:20, but told the 7:30 was our only option – UGH!! Needless to say, the fast train out of Madrid is fast (and clean and nice), but the ticketing process is anything but fast!! If you haven’t gotten tickets in advance, it is probably faster to take a slow train!!
After a final taxi ride from the Segovia train station we arrived in Segovia. And it was all worth it!! I. LOVE. THIS. TOWN. It is cute and charming and cobblestoned and walled and all the things we love about Europe. Our apartment is in a very old (like 12th century!), very cool stone building in the Jewish district just steps from the main plaza. The main plaza is extraordinary – it’s huge with so many restaurants! We are here for 16 days!
At the far end of Segovia is the Alcazar. An Alcazar is basically the same thing as a castle, but with more Moorish architectural features. It is a term used in the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal). This particular Alcazar was Disney’s inspiration for the castle in Snow White and for Disney Land! It dates back to the 12th century and has been home to many Spanish kings and queens through the centuries. Queen Isabella I of Castille and her husband Ferdinand II occasionally resided in the Alcazar. Their daughter Catherine of Aragon was born there in 1485 – Catherine was Henry the VIII’s of England’s first wife (I know, everything comes back to that dickhead!)
The Aqueduct in Segovia was amazing!! It was built by the Romans around the 1st century AD to bring water from the springs in the mountains into the town (about 11 miles). At its tallest, it is over 93 feet high. At its lowest, it runs under ground.
Above the aqueduct there is a lookout where there is a devil statue (taking a selfie!). Old folklore said that the devil built the aqueduct in a night in exchange for a young woman’s soul. She was burdened by having to fetch water daily from a distant spring and struck a deal with the devil.
The walls of Segovia were built in the 11th and 12th centuries for defense primarily against the Moors. Some sections are walkable, but parts are actually incorporated into existing buildings. One section we walked on ended at someone’s private terrace. We were loving that terrace, but thought better than to climb up onto it, regardless of how cool it was!
The main cathedral of Segovia takes center stage in the town plaza - it is beautiful! Construction began in 1525 and it was the last gothic cathedral built in Spain. The inside is pretty much like most European cathedrals – over the top opulence, weird statues and paintings, fire and brimstone, and depictions of suffering.
We also visited the bishop’s palace. Much of it is re-purposed as an art museum containing religious art and artifacts, so there were only a few rooms depicting the life of the bishop. Let’s just say they didn’t lead a humble existence.
The highlight of the cathedral was the belltower! We have climbed a lot of stairs and visited a lot of belltowers, but never at night. We had a guided tour that began at 9:30, so by the time we saw a couple of the lower levels (bell ringers apartment, etc.) and listened to the info, we arrived at the top around 10:00, just in time for some final sunset photos. What was really awesome was that the views were unobstructed – no chicken wire or dirty plexiglass between us and our photo op. The sunset over the Alcazar was breathtaking. Our pictures don’t really capture just how spectacular the views were, but we did our best.
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