Segovia.

Just an hour’s bus ride from Madrid, and a charming town. Incredibly picturesque, it claims that its castle was the model for the castle in the Disney logo. There is a church built by the Templar Knights (Warren’s must-see for this city), and an incredible Roman aqueduct that is the town’s signature monument among many. Having expected a typically warm Spain spring, we started our travels absolutely freezing. Segovia was probably in the low ‘40s and we were equipped with a jean jacket (Steph) and a waterproof shell (Warren). Oh yeah, and it rained a lot. I think Seattle stole Madrid’s spring, seriously.

You really can’t escape jamon (ham) in Spain, and we never tried very hard. The Lonely Planet, our trusty guide throughout our travels, reports that Segovia has a saying that goes something like this: “There are 40 flavors of pork, and all of them are good.” In Segovia, we happened upon some really bad ham. Or as Warren said, “I think we just discovered the 41^st flavor.” Nothing horrible happened, but for vegetarians on a wicked and celebrated break from their diet, this ham was enough to make us seriously question whether we could continue for a whole month with a steady diet of pork.

Large versions of the photos are available here.

A view of the picturesque castle in Segovia, and a view from the castle.

The Roman aqueduct. It’s hard to take a bad picture of this monument.