Departed Toledo about 11:00 and drove to the Parador Segovia. Our GPS worked great on the road, but when we got near Segovia, it got confused and we drove into town and got lost several times. Finally, we asked a local for directions, and after she tried to explain in Spanish, but our English ears didn’t quite get it, she drew us a map that we couldn’t take with us….
We finally made it to the Parador, and it was a welcome sight.
We checked in, and got treated to a view of the city from our balcony.
After a quick snack, we immediately left for the town of La Granja to see the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso and its world-famous gardens with fountains. It was about a 30-minute car ride from the Parador. The Palace looked majestic from the outside:
We got a 1.5 hour guided tour of the inside of the palace by an English-speaking tour guide named Ignacio. He was super friendly (he told us to just call him “Nacho”) and very knowledgeable. We had to be scanned for metal like at an airport before we could enter. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace. Here are some highlights of what we saw: Dozens of huge, giant beautiful Flemish tapestries (1500’s ), magnificent ceilings, sculptures, hundreds of paintings, chandeliers, etc. We were walked through many rooms, each with its own beautiful treasures. All the fountains there work based on gravity water pressure (no pumps), being fed from the mountains.
We wanted to eat before we went back, but because it was 6:30, there were no restaurants open! We found a pastry shop with the owner there who offered us bocadillas, to which we said yes and they turned out to be large pork sandwiches – very good!
When we made it back to the Parador, it was almost dark, and within a few minutes, this was the view from our balcony from a different angle:
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