I am going to try to catch up on my blog a bit, but it will be a long post because I have such a hard time only picking a few pictures.

Saturday, Oct. 3

We visited the village of Santillana Del Mar, which is said to be one of the prettiest villages in Spain.  The town grew around a monastery, La Colegiata, which we visit, after a walk through the streets and some more tapas at one of the local bars. Bob also tried a glass of local cider which the bartender poured, holding the bottle about three feet above the glass.  Very impressive!

La Colegiatas
Several beautiful big old books, but I am only able to view these from a distance…
 This church has beautiful capitals in its cloister that are amazingly well preserved.Sunday is a quiet day, figuring out the next part of our trip, packing and tidying our apartment.

Monday, October 5th we are on the road early and head south to Burgos.  The drive takes us through some very interesting, constantly changing countryside. It is very windy and cloudy but no rain to speak of. We find parking easily in Burgos, which is a surprise, and head off to the Cathedral.  7€ each to visit and that includes an audioguide, which is very helpful.  It is one of the biggest Cathedrals we have visited yet, and incredibly ornate, with lots of paintings, sculptures, vestments and furniture.  There is way too much to absorb, every where we looked there was something else that was absolutely incredible.  This is without doubt the most ornate ceiling in the cathedral!On the lower level there is a scale model of the cathedral with reflections on the case from the stained glass windows of the cloister.  The windows into the cloister.We must always remember to look up when in cathedrals.      

We arrive at our next Airbnb after a long day of driving and settle in for the next four days in a very comfortable apartment about 45 minutes outside Madrid.

Tuesday, October 6

Segovia is our destination today.  It is about an hour from our apartment, but the drive goes quickly as the scenery is constantly changing. We want to see Segovia’s cathedral, which is the last great Gothic cathedral to be built, dating from 1525.  Take note of the cathedral tower, because we climb it!

 This cathedral has beautiful stained glass windows…  which cast their colours onto the interior when the sun was shining.

We climb the 185 steps, which are 25 cm high on a 70cm wide staircase to reach the bells in the tower.  The views are amazing.

After the climb up there is the climb down.  I have to admit my legs were feeling a bit tired by the time we reached the bottom.  The other main attraction is Segovia is the Aquaduct that was built in the first century AD by the Romans and was still in use until the late 19th Century.  It is stunning, and we spend a fair bit of time admiring this amazing feat of engineering. It was made without mortar, just rocks piled on top of each other over 2000 years ago!  It is hard to describe just how incredible the Aquaduct is, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The sun is setting as we head off for home.