Segovia

Dr Alvord was generous enough to take Ella and I to Segovia! It was really fun, and we had a great time talking to him and getting some of his background knowledge on what we were seeing.

Segovia is a beautiful, very ancient city. My favorite thing here is a Roman aqueduct, which was completed between 98 and 112 AD. This is one of the best preserved aqueducts in the world, and has only been restored one time. That restoration was completed in the 15th century by the order of Isabel and Ferdinand. It's pretty amazing-- even then only a few arches had fallen, and all original stones were used. It includes 167 arches over 11 miles and reaches a height of 93.5 feet. I don't understand how the romans were such great engineers, but it's crazy to me that it's lasted nearly 2000 years with hardly any damage, and provided water to the town until the mid 1800s, even though Segovia has been fought over multiple times (Visigoth conquest, Moorish conquest, The Reconquest, etc).

The rest of the town is a gem as well. There's an old romanesque church with original murals, beautiful alleyways, and an awesome Gothic cathedral.

It was so much fun to explore the city. At the edge of town is my favorite Castle I've seen yet. 

This is the one of two castles in Europe that were major influencers on Walt Disney (the other being the iconic Neuschwanstein castle in Germany). It's easy to see why with it's whimsical towers and turrets.

We loved exploring the castle