Castella+y+Leon

=CASTILLA Y LEON - Segovia=

(see also the Alcazar, Cathedral and Salamanca)
Eventually we were spat out back onto a "real" street and decided to cut our losses and go straight to the car parking area. Carrying the bags up (yes, its ALWAYS up!) wasn't a lot of fun but I was well and truely over driving down alleys so narrow that I had my fingers around the side mirror to ensure we didn't scrape! || || It was worth it though (OK I've had a beer now) as we are right in the old city, next to the Plaza Mayor (main square) and within spitting distance of most of the places to visit. Then Gail mentioned that "we" had forgotten our jug (hey, at 2 Euro a cup why not make your own?) so back down to the car I went picking up some UHT milk on the way back for my coffee. Did you know UHT milk can go off and curdle? Neither did I! So no coffee - than goodness I also bought some beer! We're staying here for 2 nights to give us a break from the car and also to see all there is at our own pace.
 * [[image:IMG_2970.jpg caption="A real marriage test - one long pillow to share"]] || Before we left Pastana we ate out at a little bar - thankfully a young teacher arrived and assisted with translations otherwise who knows what we would have been eating? As it was he and the barmaid (who was Russian of course) suggested a "regional dish" which is diifcult to describe - basically half a plate of fried soggy bread crutons, a soft fried egg, some chunks of ham and chorizo and some grapes. The idea, we were enthusiastically told, was to mix them all together and get into it. We tried, honestly we did but I think we disappointed them somewhat. We just wish we had caught the dish's name - to make sure we didn't order it again! ||
 * Hmmmm, motorways sweeping us around Madrid with ease - I believe that was the thought we had yesterday as we had absolute confidence in "Sarah" our lovely GPS voice. Unfortunately even Sarah can't be prepared for roadworks or motorway exits that are closed for no known reason (well, WE didn't know the reasons!). So a few more wrinkles and grey hairs emerged as we battled on (with Sarah's calm help - she was a bloody lot calmer than me let me tell you!). Eventually we did reach Sagovia, found a parking spot only about 2km from where we wanted to go and therefore thought we were on a roll. A brisk walk brought us to the Tourist Info place which was right next to the huge 1st Century Roman aqueduct - that took what was left of our breath away! ||
 * [[image:IMG_2989.jpg]] || [[image:IMG_2982.jpg]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_2990.jpg]] || Amazingly the good folks at the tourist place spoke English (no-one, well almost no-one, in the back blocks does - but then how much Spanish would you expect in outback Australia? or even in Sydney?) and we sorted out a hotel - with FREE internet for a reasonable price (around $100 Aussie - better then home!). We were given directions on how to drive into the old city and park for a short time to unload our bags - the car would then have to be taken back outside to a designated parking area. ||
 * Seemed reasonable and straight forward and so were went back to the car and proceeded to spend the next hour or so winding our way through narrow (I mean NARROW) streets, none of which led to where we wanted to go.


 * [[image:IMG_3072.jpg caption="The archway we drove through when trying to get to Plaza Mayor - then we had to turn right - a bit of a sharp corner"]] || [[image:IMG_3075.jpg caption="One of the "streets" Sarah wanted us to take! We didn't !"]] ||