Day 13: Segovia to Villacastin, Spain, 36 miles; 368 miles total

The direct route was 20 miles, but this is a cycling trip, so we wound our way north of the direct route through a number of small villages, 36 miles. Given the short day, we left early enough to avoid some of the local work traffic but still stopped often as Stephen had not been out to visit some the Segovia sights. Lots of photo ops on the way out.

Most of the terrain was fairly flat, but the wind increased in the afternoon and became a headwind. Still, not a difficult day. We had Googled Villacastin and found a number of casa rurals listed. However, we discovered that many are weekly or monthly apartment rents, not overnights. Fortunately, a local knew of a single place, which we secured for 20 euros each per night. With few options, I shopped and prepared a pasta dinner featuring local white and red wine. The pasta included chorizo, red bell peppers, onion, green olives, and parmasean cheese.

Tomorrow is our last day of cycling, into Avila. Then we take the train into Madrid.

—Market Day in Segovia. Happenstance as we were riding out of town.

—Dog Park.  Poor dogs of Segovia. Eli and Lily never had it so good.

—Segovia Cathedral in Morning Light.

—Alcazar in Morning Light.

—Segovia Cathedral from the Hilltop, South View.

—Segovia Children in School Uniforms.

—Dog of the Day.

—Segovia Aqueduct from the South.

—Goats, Shepherd, and Sheep Dog. The dark dot of the left.

—Non-Steroid Sunflowers.

Stuart Passes a Monastery.

—This Monastery

—Holy Storks! That's a big nest.

—Bull Fight. Seems that most small villages have a festival that includes one or two nights of bull fighting. We will not be able to hang about for the bull fight tomorrow night. Hope to be in Avila.

—Festival Band.  The band was unloading as we cycled into this village about 12:30. One band member knew a bit of English, telling me that they were there to lead a village festival parade, starting a 13:00, from the Church to the town square. So we stopped, had some tapas and beer, and waited for the parade. 

However, they started from the town square and marched to the church, about two blocks. Few locals seemed to be around; the four of us doubled the parade spectator count. But people began appearing, men in suits and ties, and well-dressed women in short skirts and 4-inch heels, walking to the Church. We surmised that they were in for an hour of speeches/sermons (something about the Feast of San Miguel, but perhaps not of beer fame), so we left town.

—Another Bull Fighting Event. Note the practice bull on the bicycle.

—Band Transport. A Sprinter, better than most USA bands can afford.

—Enough Said.

—The Church service has started, their paid gig is over, and the band is in the bar.

—Good Ship Gosling. This village featured a small park, pond, goose family, and unique goose housing. Imagine the city council meeting when this was proposed . . . 

—Mr. and Mrs Goose and Family.

— Villacastin Town Square. Villacastin features one grocery store, our lodging, multiple banks with ATMs, multiple bars, and one restaurant to the east. We opted to eat in, as our lodging comprises two apartments, sufficient for all four of us. An adjacent plaque said this was the home town of a Spanish conquistador. The wealth that built many of the Spanish churches and public buildings that we have been viewing was extracted from the Americas. 

As I revise, correct, and augment this post, it's just daylight, 8 am, our last cycling day. As usual, I'm sorry to think of it ending and my Montana cycling season fading into winter, but look forward to returning to Nancy, family, friends, (yes, and to two poodles), and a familiar home and routine.

Avila, today's destination, is a walled city where the tradition is to walk the entire wall, open to the public. As it is only 20 miles by the direct route, we will seek out a meandering route via quieter roads.

—Stuart, me, and Stephen at the Alcazar, Sevilla, early morning. 

—We meandered through the countryside, many small villages, so this is not our exact route.

Day 12: Torrelaguna to Segovia, Spain, 32 miles; 332 miles total

When checking into our Torrelaguna Hotel, I told the staff that we were planning a route to Segovia and looking for a rail or bus connection to avoid a 9,000-climb over a mountain range. (Probably not that great, but someone came up with that figure and this is not a group of climbers, especially on loaded touring bikes.) After exploring Torrelaguna on foot and returning to my room, she called me over with recommendations. She had been researching information on potential rail stations, departure times, and cost to ride from Villalba to Segovia by train. (Only 5.45 euros). She presented turn-by-turn directions, a list of the 7 towns we would pass through, and two pages of Segovia lodgings. 

Given 11:59 or 19:29 departures from Villalba, we wanted to arrive for the 11:59. We had an early breakfast and left Torrelaguna about 8 am, daylight but not yet sunrise. The initial 10 miles included several significant climbs, the early temperature was 47F, but the route flattened and we found the Villalba rail station by 11:25. We purchased tickets and I foraged for food in the nearby shops. 

Rail travel with loaded bikes offers some risk. The station stops are unpredictable and often short, sometimes a minute or less, so we need to determine if the conductor wants bikes on a bike-specific car and then quickly load the bikes, and panniers, or trailer, while stopped. Our usual approach is to jump on with one item, jump off, grab the other item, and jump back on. That's all while dodging passengers who are getting off and on.

In larger stations, the siding is unknown and announced shortly before the train arrives. In Spain, the safety warning are in English and Spanish, but the siding and arrival announcements are only in Spanish. All passengers clustered at Platform 1, the usual one, but a last minute announcement as the train approached was for Platform 3. Everyone had to return to the terminal, take an escalator, stairs, or elevator to the overhead bridge, then back down to Platform 3. For me, that's a bike under one arm and the trailer in the other, sometimes rolling and sometimes being carried/dragged. Those with heavy touring bikes and mounted panniers often have difficulties balancing the bike on an escalator, and elevators, if available, are often quite small and slow. 

We also try to board at different doors, allowing more room to board and park bikes. However to reduce the weight, John took his bike and panniers separately, and in the time required to make two escalator trips, missed the train. We thought he had boarded at a separate door, but we spotted John standing outside the door as our train departed.

John, being resourceful and experienced, simply hired a taxi, beat us to Segovia, booked two rooms, and met us at the cathedral.

Segovia is well worth a visit, as you will see from the photos. Tomorrow, we will head for Avila, planning on taking a looping route for 2 days. Segovia is a historic city with the last Gothic cathedral built in Europe, the Alcazar (Moorish palace), and the longest remaining Roman aqueduct in Europe.

—Early Morning Riding West.

Overheard while walking down a Segovia street: If it weren't so grotty it would have been great. No idea what the were discussing.

—Dog of the Day. This wiggling, eager puppy with a faux-jewel collar, approached us at roadside. No owner was evident. 

—Roundabout at the Entrance of Mazanares Featured Cats.

—Manzanares

—Approaching

 —Manzanares Castle

—Dog of the Day #2. She pointed us to the Villalba Train Station.

—Segovia Aqueduct

—Segovia Church. Many were scattered throughout with no real pattern evident, except that if someone donated the funds, another church would be built.

—Church Entrance. (Note the facial details below).

—Street configured for all types of vehicles, animals, and people.

—One of many chapels in Segovia

—Typical Timber-Frame Building

—Segovia Cathedral. Last Gothic Cathedral Built in Europe.

—Cathedral Tower Detail

—Dueling Pipe Organists. Just lucky, while visiting two organists on opposite sides of the orchestra were practicing. Amazing sound. 

—Choir Stalls. 

—Bishop's Meeting Room

—Alcazar. Moorish Palace. A bit new for Segovia, perhaps 400-500 years old. 

—Nuns Entering the Jewish Quarter. 

http://www.redjuderias.org/google/google_maps_print/segovia-en.html

The fact there no news was coming out of Segovia about the Jews, prevents us from knowing, even approximately, the number of Jews who left the city and of those who decided to convert to Christianity. The only reliable data is provided by a census of converts in 1510 eighteen years after the expulsion which affirmed that there were 788 converts in Segovia spread around 209 families. In any case, bearing in mind this data, we should bear in mind that the figure does not solely refer to those christened in 1492, but also to all the converts residing in the city.

The converts, having converted to become New Christians, kept living in the same streets as their forefathers. The old Jewish quarter thus became the Barrio Nuevo (New District) whose urban layout whose essential lines have remained unchanged until today.

 —Bike Rote to Villalba, then train (or taxi) to Segovia