A few hours to wander in Segovia

Last night´s stay in a youth hostel was quite the experience. There were three classes of middle school kids spending a few days there, and they were having quite the time running around the grounds shouting and screaming. The three of us got the "private wing" where I had a single room with private bath, and IRONED sheets if you can believe that, for 12 euros. Unfortunately, the noise level was pretty high till around midnight, but there were a lot of happy screeching children running up and down the hills outside, so I decided I was happier they were doing that than sitting inside playing video games.

This morning, we were on the road by 6:45. We had a long day, almost 20 miles, and it was hot and sunny at the end. The first few hours were just gorgeous, up to the Fuenfría pass, which included several kms on the Roman Road. I´ve walked on a fair number of Roman roads, but it always makes quite an impression. Once we got to the top of our ascent, we walked along a ridge in the Guadarrama range for at least 5 kms, through pine trees, with lots of waterfalls and wildflowers in meadows. And we had to cross over three Roman bridges, none of which had been renovated according to the information posted nearby. Pretty amazing.

 

As we got close to Segovia, one of the Spanish guys said, well, there´s not too much to do in Segovia other than the cathedral, a few romanesque churches, the Alcazar (castle), and the aqueduct. I don´t know what kind of places he´s used to visiting, but that was a pretty full plate for me. I´ve spent a few hours just wandering, poking my head into places along the way, and there´s enough to fill several days here. But, no rest for this peregrina, so tomorrow at 6 am, José Manuel will knock on my 32 euro 1-star pension door and off we´ll be. From here for the next week or so, we are not going to be in any major towns, so I am not sure how much internet there will be.

Aside from one toenail turning black and looking ugly (which happens every year), I´m doing fine and am having a ball!