Day 80 & 81 Spain, Zaragoza (Day 79 travelling)

Very cool place. Driving though and over the Pyrenees was a great idea by Big Rick. Saw snow on the peaks...but not where we went. Temperature actually hit 18 degrees. It was a lovely mountain drive. Great scenery, cute towns, some obviously set up as ski towns. Just like I would have thought country France was like. One thing we did notice after hitting Spain was the how barren the landscape appeared...almost desert like. Zaragoza appears out of nothing...almost like an apparition and is the most perfect place. It rates in both Big Rick’s and my top 3 places. There is such a nice feel about this place and EVERYBODY is so friendly. Our reception girl Natalia at our apartment (which apparently is a converted old palace) was an absolute delight and the guys at the Tapas Bar (El Tubo) where we ate both nights were great...very funny. They spoke no English...we spoke no spanish... but we got through it with lots of gestures and lots of laughter. Had the best Tapas (not that I know much about it). Also indulged in 2 very large vodka and lemon served in the biggest wine glasses I have seen. Not only ate Tapas, but was ready to Tappas on the counter. There are so many old sites to see and we explored most today. We started off walking back down the main mall towards the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar on the bank of the River Ebro. This massive church is in one of the nicest and grandest plazas that we have seen in Europe. The Basilica is huge and has a statue of the Virgin Mary that people make pilgrims to touch. It also has some works by Francisco Goya, who was from Zaragoza – and there are statues and fountains in his honour.
After walking through the Basilica we walked over a very old and quite grand stone bridge over the River (Rio) Erbo. Nice views back toward the Basilica. Next stop on the walking trek was the old Moorish Palace of Aljaferia (in Aragon) – This was a castle built for the Arab sultans in the late 11th century. It was just stunning and was well worth the 25 minutes walk. Sun was out now and it was quite warm. Had a leisurely picnic lunch in the surrounding park...looking at the castle. Bought tickets, only to realise that it shut at 2.00. We had been sitting there for ½ hour eating. Oh well. Did a rushed visit anyway. Very glad we did. It was unlike anything we had seen. Was very “Arab” like with the architecture. I was picturing Lawrence of Arabia for some reason as I wandered through the rooms. Big Rick and I decided to head back to the Old Town. On the way we passed a huge colosseum style structure. As we walked around it on the outside, we realised it was a bull fighting ring called Misericordia Bullring (Plaza de Toros de la Misericordia). They seat thousands and thousands. Fortunately no bullfights.
Lots of lovely Piazzas, churches, great shopping, fantastic Tappas, very friendly and helpful people.
Zaragoza is a beautiful place and not as touristy as many other places we visited – even Rome. We decided that we could live here – Alex, Zaragoza has a football team in the Spanish Division 1 league.