30 April 2011

Segovia & La Granja

 One day, we decided to go to Segovia and La Granja.  We got on the train and rode to Segovia to see the aqueduct and the castle.  The aqueduct is one of the best preserved in Spain, and is quite impressive.  Where it enters the city's citadel, it reaches 28.5m (93.5ft) tall.  This is the main entrance to the citadel, and passing under the enormous arches of the aqueduct make you appreciate the engineering of the Romans.  This citadel is nice; a typical citadel of winding streets.  When you reach the opposite end of the citadel from the aqueduct, you come to the Segovia Alcazar.  This castle is like a castle of fairy tales.  Inside it is rather simple.  Large open rooms.  Some painted rooms.  It was not so much a palace as a fortress, but it is still quite beautiful.



After visiting the castle and aqueduct of Segovia, we got on a bus to go to La Granja.  In Spanish, "granja" means farm, but La Granja is nothing like a farm.  It's a royal palace, and a very impressive palace at that!  The interior was lavishly furnished as most palaces are.  What was the greatest was the gardens.  This palace has half a dozen intricately sculpted fountains scattered throughout it's acreage.  Probably the most fun of all was the hedge maze.  If you know me at all, you know just how much I adore mazes.  We had so much fun in the maze we were almost late to catch the last bus back to Madrid, and we had to run to catch it!