Sweet Odyssey: Segovia's Charms

After a deliciously authentic dinner the night before (Segovia's infamous roast suckling pig was of course on the menu) and a good night's sleep, we were ready to start the day in Segovia's old town. Situated on a high ground, the old town is full of narrow and twisting cobbled streets. Segovia's old town is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The weather was really great that day. We walked down the hill to visit the first place in our itinerary, church of Vera Cruz. We walked past the Alcazar at the top of the hill and the church, which is at the bottom of the hill, could be clearly seen from there. It looked like a long walk down but it only took about 10-15 minutes. The church was built by the Knights Templar and was said to once housed a fragment of true cross. The shape of the church is unusually circular, not like the shape of churches that I've seen before. Inside, it was very serene. I just sat inside enjoying the peacefulness.

We then walked back and visited the Alcazar. I wasn't feeling well and therefore I didn't really take much notice of what I saw. Looking up from the church of Vera Cruz, the Alcazar stands tall on top of the hill. From the outside, the building looks like the typical castle that is used in many of Disney stories.

The last thing we visited in Segovia was the Aqueduct. This is a must see in Segovia. From what I understand, the aqueduct was used to control water flow that was coming in to the town. It's probably equivalent to the dams or canals these days. It was how the Roman built it in the old days. I can't say that I understand how it was used exactly looking at the way it's located right in the middle of the old town. Probably there wasn't a town there before. But it's a great monument stretching around the old town of Segovia. Unfortunately, we only had limited time to check out one site of it. I think it's too beautiful to be what it is, you know, a water passage. I guess that's how people built things in the old days: beautiful and functional at the same time. A local cab driver was obviously very proud of this monument. He even tried to explain to us about it in Spanish knowing that we couldn't speak the language. But I could tell from his tone that he was very proud of the Aqueduct.

It was again another quick day for us but it was definitely worth coming to Segovia. It's a beautiful town with a lot of characters. And the Aqueduct is astonishingly beautiful and not to be missed.