“And I think to myself, what a wonderful world”
Segovia was a dream. It was somewhere I could legitimately see myself living in the future, and I wish we had spent more than just one day there, because it was nowhere close to enough.
To start the day, we drove to el Palacio Real de la Granja de San Ildefonso. This is one of the palaces of Fernando y Isabel during the 16th century. Specifically, it was their summer home. We couldn’t go inside, but we spent about an hour wandering around the gardens, which were spectacular. It was extremely similar to the gardens of Versailles, but on a smaller scale. Our program director gave us a lesson about the rein of Fernando y Isabel and their family, and he gave each of us a role to play while he told us the history. Since my name is Isabelle, I was clearly the role of Isabel. We learned about how their marriage united Castile and Leon to form Spain, about their kids, who were extremely influential leaders themselves, and so much more.
After the lecture, we continued exploring the gardens, and then we drove to the actual city of Segovia. As we drove up we were able to see the famous Aqueduct, which is the unofficial symbol of Segovia. It is one of the best-preserved Roman aqueducts in all of Europe, which is remarkable considering it is built without any cement holding the stones together. The aqueduct serves to bring water into the city from an outside source. After we spent some time taking pictures, we walked to a park in the city and ate lunch. We were given an hour of free time, which we used to explore the city center and buy some souvenirs.
We met back up as a group with our program director after our free time, and walked about 10 minutes from the Plaza Mayor to Alcázar de Segovia. This is the palace that inspired Cinderella’s palace at Disney World, and it was absolutely breathtaking. The architecture and stained glass were incredibly intricate, it was surreal seeing the actual thrones that Fernando y Isabel sat in and the bed they slept in. The whole thing was as just as grand as you would expect it to be. We walked up a spiral staircase in one of the towers so that we could get a view of the city of Segovia, and even though spiral staircases like that give me claustrophobia, the view was worth it.
Everything about Segovia took my breath away. I felt like I had stepped back in time or into the pages of a fairytale. Walking on the same floor that kings and queens walked on hundreds of years ago and witnessing architecture that was built by hand by the ancient Romans was incredibly surreal, and one of the most enriching experiences of my life.
Idly Wild 