Daytrip to Segovia

I’m here in Salamanca to do a week of Spanish lessons starting Monday.  But today I a day free today which was handy for doing a day trip to Segovia.

The bus from Salamanca to Segovia supposedly takes 2h45 but the fast train takes only 1h10.  Big difference!

I woke at 0640 and set off at 0740 for the 20 min to get to the train station in Salamanca with ample time for my 0840 departure to Segovia.  As the train was starting the journey here, we were able to board ahead of time and settle in.  The train clocked up to 198 km/h during the journey, making only one stop.

At Segovia, the high speed train station was located out of town and too far to walk.  That required a bus (20 mins, EUR2) and a little bit of waiting for it, meaning I got dropped off by the bus at Segovia’s famous aqueduct a little before 1100.

I was hungry and non-functional.  Fortunately I found some food before exploring the town and visiting the Cathedral for free (only on Sunday mornings).  It was a EUR7 charge to go up to the tower, but it is inclusive of the Cathedral normal entrance, but regardless of the fact that it was free at that time.

So I decided to go to Alcazar first and do the tower subject to time.  Alcazar was a rebuilt after a fire in 1862 and isn’t as historic as I would have liked.  It’s slightly Disneyesque.  I debated whether to go in but coughed up the money.  It was better than I expected and I was happy to have gone in.  Knowing what I had seen, I would probably be happy not having gone in too.  I’ve seen too many of old grand homes and castles, clocking in over half a century old.

I returned for a guided climb to the Cathedral tower at 1300, conducted in Spanish.  I got about 20% of the explanations but it didn’t matter.  There were three stops in total:  one for the video, another at the bell-ringer’s quarters and finally at the belfry.  The largest bell is called Maria de La Paz weighing 1.4 tonnes with a diameter of 1.6m.

I was ready for the 1500 bus back to the train station where I had some time to kill.  Having depleted my water supply in the heatwave, I had to pay megabucks for a small bottle of non-chilled sparkling water but fortunately they had ice.

The 1623 train got me back to Salamanca at 1730.  With the walk and a salad for dinner, I was in my room 12h after I had set off.  Despite the heatwave, it was a worthwhile day.