Segovia, Spain – Day 2

View of Segovia from Alcazar

I got up bright and early today, hoping to get an early start and see as much as I can.  One of the things that was recommended to me was to try “churros con chocolate” at Chocolateria San  Gines.  This being a very famous chocolateria, I was able to find it online and checked the hours (open all day).  So when I got there at around 7:15 am and they had their metal gate almost all the way down, I got a little suspicious.  I asked a person who was walking out if they’re closed and he said that they close between 7 am and 9 am to clean.  Oh well, it will have to wait.

On to the train station I proceeded.  (The Spanish public transportation within the city is very easy to use, even for someone who doesn’t use trains/busses/light rail/etc. every day.)  The ride to Segovia was only about a half hour by train and the ride was very pleasant.  Once I got to town, I knew to take the bus to the Aqueduct and start my day there, but I also grabbed a city map at the tourist info office at the station (the one in the city doesn’t open until 10 am and I was ready to go well before that).  So, off I went to see the things on my itinerary.  Before putting the itinerary together, I did quite a bit of research on Trip Advisor and got a lot of advice from forum members there; a very helpful group of people.

Casa de los Picos

With map in hand, my first item to see was Casa de los Picos.  This ancient house has little pyramids on the facade, which look like little spikes, hence the name.  Not really sure what it was supposed to accomplish, other than be a curiosity.  I didn’t go inside as the description of what’s inside didn’t interest me and I thought I might not have enough time for other things.  But, check out the cool double-door.  See the actual door that’s used now, carved out of the main big door?  You see that a lot in Europe, in ancient buildings to be more precise.  Several pictures later, I was on my way to the Jewish Quarter (Juderia).

Old Jewish Street Sign

Segovia used to have a fairly well developed Jewish quarter (as did m any Spanish cities before the Inquisition) but today there are only a few buildings remain and fewer memories.  Synagogues were confiscated and turned into Churches and not a shred of the previous glory remains.  Corpus Christi church, which used to be the main synagogue (Synagoga Major) is a small and fairly barren place, and really doesn’t feel like a church.  Not sure what it feels like religiously and I’m not sure if it’s used for religious services any more.

A few minutes’ walk from the Corpus Christi church brought me to the Didactic Center of the Jewish Quarter. It is a museum and information center, which is located in what used to be a Jewish doctor’s house.  I’m somewhat intrigued about how Spain is handling its Jewish past.  But there’s only so much to see in this two-room center and once I saw the highlights, I was onto my next destination; the Cathedral.

Segovia Cathedral

The Cathedral of Segovia looks warm and inviting from the outside, but the inside matches in tone almost all other cathedrals and churches I’ve ever seen; like being swallowed by a giant monster and being inside its cavernous belly.  But that could just be my imagination running a bit unrestrained.  Personally, I find dark places a bit depressing and these monumental structures are naturally dark, and thus depressing.  Some are also depressing on the outside as well, but not this Cathedral.

Meandering through the town brought me back to the Jewish Quarter just in time for lunch.  Actually, I was aiming to be in the Jewish Quarter because I had read about two restaurants and wanted to try one of them, but left the final choice to my whim once on the spot.  I think I picked well.  I decided to eat at the restaurant called Juderia and they claim to specialize in Jewish food (and still managed to have a suckling pig on the menu).  The restaurant had several menus of the day, each one with a different bent, and one of them was what they claimed to be a Sephardic menu, though I’m not sure how authentic it is.

Tuna Stuffed Tomato Appetizer

Main Course - Veggies and ground meat

Dessert - Baklava and "cheese cake"

This is the menu from which I chose.  My appetizer was a tomato stuffed with tuna, with saffron béchamel sauce.  Having never had that combination before, it was a bit of an unusual dish, but delicious.   For the main course, I ordered baked beef with vegetables.  Though the server maintains that it was beef, it really tasted more like lamb, but I’m happy with either one.  The dish was served in a clay dish, with tomatoes, onions, and eggplant all placed neatly, with the chunks of ground meat dispersed throughout and a bit of dry herbs sprinkled on top.  I had never had anything like it and it was absolutely amazing.  Just lip smacking.  For dessert, there were two items to try; their version of baklava that wasn’t as sweet as traditional baklava, so it got both thumbs up from me.  The other item was their take on cheesecake, with some sort of cheese and polenta mixture somehow prepared and sprinkled with pistachios and drizzled with honey.  It sounded better than it tasted.  I like the baklava much more. [Ignore the reddish tint to everything; it was "mood lighting" at the restaurant where everything was bathed in reddish-pink light and all natural light was filtered through red curtains.]

A British couple sitting at the next table and I struck up a conversation and it made lunch so much more enjoyable, and helped contribute to lunch being 3 hours.  It was such a nice time, to sit and chat and eat great food and not be walking all over for a few hours.

After the very leisurely lunch, my next destination was the Alcazar.  This playful palace is set on a hill with stunning views.  It’s a postcard.  I walked there along the old city wall, where you can see the towers of the castle peak through the blooming trees.  There’s something familiar about how this looks and if it’s tugging at the back of your mind and you can’t put your finger on it, let me help you out.  It’s the castle on which the Disney castle was modeled.  Yup, this is the inspiration for the Disney castle.  I found the views and ceilings to be the two stunning aspects of the palace.

The ceilings in each room were more impressive that almost anything else; they were intricately designed, painted, gilded, carved, molded, etc.  But tile and detailed stone carvings added a delicate touch to other elements of the castle.

Chocolate con Churros

At the end of my exploration of the Alcazar, I figured I’d head back to Madrid and get an early start on the day to come.  But once I got back to the neighborhood where I was staying, I figured I’d give Chocolateria San Gines another try.  This time, I was in luck!  So I ordered churros con chocolate and was not disappointed.  Basically, it is hot chocolate with fried dough, but it’s so much more delicious than that.  The chocolate was dark as opposed to milk chocolate and was thicker than what we’re used to here in US as “hot chocolate”.  Imagine a melted chocolate bar, but just a little less thick.  That’s the kind of chocolate you’d get.  I’ve never had churros before, so I don’t have a point of reference, but it’s fried dough and it was pretty tasty when dipped in chocolate.