Segovia: A Winter Wonderland

To put it simply, Segovia is a magical city.

It is a small city just an hour north of Madrid. It is built upon a hill and you enter through the two thousand year old aqueducts that are still in almost pristine conditions. Segovia is very cold in the winter since it is located in the mountains and when we were there a thin coat of snow covered everything. Local shops, bakeries and cafes line the winding cobblestone streets. 

We began with one of the local cafes where I started my day off with a cafe con leche and a croissant with cream, sadly they were out of chocolate. We then explored the area around the aqueducts and learned of it's two thousand year history, how it was built when Spain was part of the Roman empire and next to no renovations have been done (minor support was added after they closed the aqueducts from being a road, the damage caused by cars in twenty years was worse than the damage over the thousand of years before). From there we went on to the Cathedral of Segovia, which from the outside was the most striking cathedral I have seen thus far, but on the inside was very alike to the new Cathedral of Salamanca. The cathedral is off the main square which consists of shops and restaurants surrounding a gazebo in the middle of the plaza. 

Continuing on from the main square, we continued on to the monastery which is located at the bottom of the hill, on the outskirts of town. It is a very simple monastery, except for the crypt of a saint from the area which is very ornate but off to the side. We took the same path as the monks up the hill to the city, passing by to admire the castle. Yes, the castle. It is located on the edge of the mountain where the aqueduct ends, and is absolutely beautiful. You enter through the gardens and then must cross the mote into the castle. I didn't enter but I can only imagine the ornateness of the interior.

We returned to the main square for lunch, a simple ham and cheese toasted sandwich at a small local place. They are known for cochino, small roasted pigs, but I couldn't bring myself or my budget to get one. I did easily convince myself to visit a pastry place after lunch to try out the typical Segovian dessert, ponche segoviano. Its a small marzipan cake esque thing that is small but very very rich. I'm not entirely sure  of the flavors, my guess is pumpkin-almond-vanilla, but whatever it was it was very very good. 

I was a little nervous at first that whenever i said I was going to Segovia people would respond with "Es muy muy fria", but it truly turned out to be a winter wonderland.

Aqueducts

Snow! Castle in the Background

Castle

Ponche Segoviano and Cafe con Leche

Plaza Mayor 

Monastery