Segovia and Bilbao, Spain

It’s been awhile since we l~~istened to 80’s music~~ took a road trip so we set off last week for a small jaunt to northern Spain. We already have a relaxing apartment on the coast and we didn’t really want to pay double lodging, but sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet for an aqueduct and a famous museum.

Another road trip! Another map with arrows!

Segovia

Our first stop was Segovia, to see the aqueducts. We were very impressed by their massive structure and how well they were maintained. Many people feel like the one is Segovia is one of the best preserved in the world. So it was definitely worth a road trip. Segovia also knows how to do tourism, as they outlined the path of the water that was underground and led us to the Alcazar, which was a beautiful building that can really only be described as part castle and part royal residence. All along the way were these cool bronze plaques that told you that you were on the right track. The Plaza Mayor and Cathedral were also beautiful and great to explore on a sunny morning and afternoon.

Our hotel was right on the square so we had to use the valet parking service. When we were loading up we were the only car in the square. We felt very James Bond-ish with the car and the church.

The Cathedral, which was right across from our hotel. So pretty.

Strolling down the street and BOOM! Here’s the aqueduct! It was amazing how well it was preserved. It’s big.

You could climb up a bunch of steps and see it from above as well.

Dad was teacher for the day. I don’t get physics.

These were the little markers that showed us where the aqueduct was underneath the street, leading to the Alcazar. We laugh about Haley’s missing foot in this picture. We think it was busy texting Texas.

This is where the little bronze markers led, to the Alcazar.

You can see the Disney similarities. But this one was real.

Some knights inside the Alcazar. It was amazingly cool inside. Those Romans knew how to build a palace with natural A/C.

Great views of the area from the Alcazar.

We were feeling silly with selfies. This is what happens when you don’t get the audio guide.

While wandering around Segovia the girls and I enjoyed exploring the gift shops and collecting small items to put in tiny tins we fill from each country. We noticed how many pig items were in each store, but we had no idea why, so we had to research it. (Sidenote: we told Dan that we were learning new things by being in the stores. He was unconvinced.) Turns out Segovia has a very well known traditional dish of suckling (young) pig. OK! We know what we are having for dinner! Many restaurants serve it looking pretty similar to how it looked in the barnyard, only laid out in the sun too long. We made sure to order it at dinner but we asked for the “make it look more like chicken” version. Even Haley, who has avoided pork products since stumbling across a pig slaughterhouse in Panama, took a bite and thought it was pretty tasty.

The internet helped me show you how it’s supposed to look.

More stock photos because clearly I was not thinking about writing this blog as we were eating. But this is what our entree looked like. Better.

Bilbao

We decided to add on a quick trip up to Bilbao so the girls could go to the Guggenheim museum and we could dip our toes into Basque country. The Guggenheim was a departure from our latest museum experiences that mostly contained “old art and old wars” and instead we were viewing modern art this time. Zoe was much more intrigued by this but the rest of the family had a hard time getting into it.

The lobby area was a nice showcase for curved glass and steel sculptures. The elevator shaft was like this too.

There were large steel things that didn’t seem to have much meaning. To us anyway. So we posed for goofy photos.

This was how they all looked in very small scale. (Dan thinks this is boring even showing it to you guys. He says “Wake up!!! No napping during blog posts!”)

An example of the modern stuff that we didn’t really “get”. I was totally not supposed to take this picture.

More “modern art”. I got the finger wagging from the security guard for taking this one. Dan says he was busy thinking of ways in which he could get the price of admission refunded.

We really, really tried to take an interest in what we were seeing, but we… um… struggled. Dan illustrates the struggle.

I am laughing so hard trying to take that last picture that I was having trouble breathing. Haley snapped this pic.

After an underwhelming museum we had fun with the statues outside. It was great weather.

This giant spider was outside the building. I liked this one.

Part of the exterior. Very recognizable, I guess. But odd.

This is the image you see a lot when you hear about the Guggenheim. Looks like big bucky balls. They sold bucky balls in the museum gift shop. The gift shop was really cool.

Pretty “art” also on the outside. I liked these.

Inside the black bags are two guys. They made a “clacking” sound with their wooden beaks while dancing. We loved them. They got a good tip from us.

Zoe and I in front of the famous flower puppy. Daniel and Haley declared themselves done done done and were sitting in a park nearby.

We weren’t in Bilbao very long but we were there long enough to notice how different the language was. We are used to hearing various dialects around Spain. Most of the time they appear to have some kind of Portuguese / French influence and we can usually figure it out with our knowledge of Spanish. But in Bilbao the dialect was clearly very different and looked a lot more like a Slavic language like Russian. It was fascinating. We didn’t really hear it spoken, however.

After our third night struggling for WiFi and a place for everyone to get a little time alone in a small hotel room, we decided to make it a long driving day back from Bilbao since we knew our cool, comfortable, great internet apartment on the coast of Spain was waiting for us. Hotel WiFi just can’t compare. One room for four Shermans is also not our best formula, so no one complained about the 8 hour return drive across Spain, with 80’s music to help pass the time. We were happy to be Home Sweet Home, even if it’s just an Airbnb.

Segovia

Bilbao

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