segovia, spain!
Went to Segovia today. I got ready to leave at around 10:30, and it was 11:30 by the time I got on the bus. I looked up directions online, but they were 100% not reliable. They were so not helpful. Damn you advice givers who can’t give advice. For starters, I was supposed to go to an Intercambiar, also known as an Interchange. It’s where busses and trains and metros converge in one central megahub.
Okay, so online, it said to take a bus right in front of Hotel Florida. Well, there were bus stops in front of Hotel Florida. Then when one crossed the street, there was the Interchange. It was not clear that you were supposed to board the busses IN the interchange… I went out and asked around. I asked the hotel people, who told me the bus stop was right in front of the hotel (not helpful), and the bus driver, who told me to go into the interchange. Thank GOD I speak a little bit of Spanish, or I woulda been shit out of luck. When I finally found the interchange, things were fairly easy from there. Buy a ticket. Go to a gate. It’s kinda like an airport, but for busses. The actual bus was only about half full. They had assigned seat numbers, but a few other people didn’t pay mind to the seat numbers, so I decided that I wouldn’t pay them any mind either. Sat towards the back of the bus and it was all good. Dozed off a good amount… at least more than half… and that was that. Got to Segovia and didn’t have a map, but it was pretty small and easy to figure out which general direction to walk into.
Once I finally did get a map, though, and thought I knew where I was going, I discovered I had no fucking clue. A lot of the streets there didn’t have labeled street signs, so I definitely walked into some of the shadier parts of town (well… Segovia doesn’t really have anywhere shady, so by shady, I really just mean less populated). At one point, I took a wrong turn and ended up having to literally hike up a trail with HUGE HUGE HUGE staircases so I could get to Alcazar Castle. Holy shit I was tired.
Getting lost.
Monastery of Lost Vivians.
When I finally got there, I paid 6 EURO to get into Alcazar, which Lonely Planet claims the Sleeping Beauty? Castle was modeled after. Is that the same as the Disney Castle? If so, that’s funny, because there was a castle in Germany that claimed to be the same thing…………….
Alcazar.
This knight is really just a big carebear.
Mmm textures.”
I really like this photo. Reminds me of this one photographer. The name escapes me now, but I have a bunch of his postcards.
Anyway, the castle was pretty interesting, because the architecture was slightly … Moor? inspired, and thus the patterns and textiles were different from what I had seen so much of in other parts of Europe during this trip. It was definitely a good change. The castle was FOOKING TINY though. So I dunno if it was worth 6 EURO, but still.
Then I just slowly started heading back, stopping by random little stops along the way, including the famed aqueduct. I mean, it was OKAY, but I think I shoulda gone to Toledo instead of Segovia. Oh well. Next time… maybe. I definitely need to come back to Spain, though. There is just so much to explore. Having spent like 5 days in Madrid – which isn’t a HUGE amount but is more than usual – I feel like I at least kinda know the area. It’s kind of a nice feeling.
Aqueduct!
Aqueduct!!
Random stops.
Anyway. That evening, Sarah and I went to meet up with a lady from CouchSurfing named Francesca. She’s in Spain teaching English, but is originally from Scotland. We went to eat tapas at a couple restaurants. The first was quite tasty but was mostly a buncha cheeses and random things on toast… the second place we got a black rice pudding that was wrapped in a crispy crunchy egg shell. SO DELICIOUS!!
When we got back it was around 11:30pm, so I just sat around and talked to this one Aussie dude, Scott, who was playing online poker in the kitchen. Shite, I’ve no idea.
Word.
And that was that day. Hell, now that I’m actually taking the time to write down this crap, it’s not so bad………… not taking very long at all. YAY!