Pfaeffikon to Segovia

Wow, it seems like weeks ago since I left Switzerland, but it’s only about 12 days ago. I’ve been having an amazing time and have had full days and late nights, subsequently no time for my blog.

Before leaving Switzerland I was thrilled to catch up with a number of wonderful friends and take that fantastic trip down memory lane, passing my pretty little house i called home for four years. Somebody has been busy decorating the fence!

How lovely to join Nik and Irene for a walk around the lake to Jucker farm after a tasty lunch. Nothing has changed and it was great to see the storks nesting again.
What a perfect idea to walk around to Jucker farm for dessert, with the fabulous view over Zurich Oberland.
And then, it was time, after some quick catchups with friends at academia in Zurich to head to Dennis ready for our incredibly early departure from his place at 5.00 a,m.to Madrid.
We took a smaller road to Segovia, which proved to be beautiful but at the same time totally bereft of villages with restaurants open it seemed.Just as we were beginning to get rather hungry, we found a very quiet village with a restaurant right beside the church where a pair of storks were nesting! What a bonus!
Time for a selfie,
We ended up going over a pass of 2000 metres, which was truly impressive and the scenery on the way was stunning. ( the next evening it snowed there,) We stopped on the way up to take a walk amongst the huge boulders, which reminded me so much of Castle Hill. The place was called Navacerrada and is really very special.
The combination of gorgeous wild flowers, spectacular scenery, blue skies was breathtaking.
Dennis looked so small against these giant, beautifully formed rocks.
Such lovely flowers attracting so many bees.
And lavender everywhere,
It was hard to tear ourselves away, but we knew there was still a lot more to see!
By the way, it was extremely cold up there, around 5 degrees but fortunately not windy.it is about 1300 above sea level. 
Our next stop just outside Segovia introduced us to the speciality which Sergio had recommended us to eat! It was everywhere , suckling pigs, served in their entirety still with head, eyes and ears. The advertisement even had the poor creature smiling. It nearly turned me into a vegetarian, and certainly made us both determined NOT to eat it. We think we were the only ones in the restaurant without a poor little pig in front of us, 
The little town was also one of the many residences of the Royal Family. 
Segovia was more amazing than I could ever have imagined. I had read briefly about it in my guide book, but hadn’t really taken that much notice of what it offered. It proved to be a perfect choice. A must visit place in Spain.
The aqueduct takes your breath away when you see it on arrival in the city. I’ve never seen anything so magnificent in my life. Apparently it was built in the first century AD to channel water from the mountains 17 kilometres away to Segovia. Some of the 167 arches are up to 28 metres high and the stones are not cemented together. It is the most outstanding feat of engineering and has undergone various restoration works, not small undertakings, 
We arrived to dark clouds but exceptional lighting on the colourful buildings. The main square was simply beautiful and grand.
The cathedral is magnificent too. I tend to get a little bored with cathedrals, but this was well worth the visit.
Our accommodation was fantastic, with this view of what looked like a fairy tale castle, perched about 70 metres up above us! The Alcazar of Segovia, a medieval fortress and favourite home for the monarchs, especially Queen Isabella 1.
What an incredible place it is. Again it left me wondering how these people hundreds of years ago could manage to build such phenomenal buildings.
From the Alcazar we could look down on the little hamlet we had stayed in. What a beautiful location.
We both had tickets for the tower, but after climbing one set of wide stairs, the final set of very deep, narrow stairs,180 of them, winding up the narrow tower made me choose not to attempt it, so just Dennis got to the top. . no regrets, I enjoyed the expansive views from the balcony. 
Segovia was amazing! What a fantastic start to our trip in northern Spain.




 








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