“What have the Romans ever done for us?” – Reg, Life of Brian
We absolutely loved Segovia and would highly recommend it to
anyone needing a break from Madrid and to see a regional town that is old and
well preserved.
Segovia is the perfect day trip from Madrid. In our case, a
perfect stop over on route to Salamanca. Upon reflection, we don’t think that
our fleeting visit did it justice. We would have liked to have spent the night
here and enjoyed the ancient town more by wandering the streets at night. As
lunchtime neared, we were keen to feast on conchinillo asado, a Castillian and
Segovian specialty. We were not determined to find “the perfect place”, rather,
we were hoping to find a restaurant that served the famous suckling pig, which
is fed on 21 days of mother’s milk and considered an absolute delicacy. This
was a recommendation made to us upon collecting our car in Madrid…and what a
fine recommendation it was.
Let me be clear here...we are NOT foodies that take a photo of our meals. Meals are to be enjoyed with by way of using ones natural senses...this photo is a rare exception! We stumbled across a restaurant called Asador Maribel, less
than 100 metres from our carpark and had a meal that will forever be remembered
as the best roast pork one will ever experience – light, succulent and melt in
your mouth conchinillo asado, accompanied by a simple salad and pan fried
potato.
Segovia is most famous for its huge Roman aqueduct and
imposing Gothic Cathedral (and the castle which we did not visit as we were on
a time schedule to Salamanca). The Roman aqueduct is a most impressive sight, which
stretches over 800 meters long. It towers over the town and is a dramatically
beautiful construction. The engineering that would have gone into its
construction in the 1st century AD is mind boggling. This two-tiered structure of giant granite
arches seems even more remarkable when you consider that no mortar at all was
used to hold the blocks together.
From the aqueduct, we climb the hill behind the aqueduct and
enter the old town's maze of streets to find Segovia's huge gothic cathedral
just off the Plaza Mayor. This too is an impressive structure, with
construction lasting some 200 years. The interior of the cathedral is very
beautiful, in a gothic style! It is hard to imagine this was built almost 500
years ago, how in the world back in the days without machines to even make
those huge tall columns and put them together. Amazing architecture and
engineering!
We were disappointed that we left Segovia after what was a
fleeting visit. However, upon reflection, experiencing the conchinillo asado
and seeing structures and buildings dating back centuries was satisfying and
our short time here will be fondly remembered.
