K & L's Travel Blog

8 February 2024

Solo mode is not my favorite way to travel. Kitty and I so have our schtick down. We help balance each other in any number of ways. Traveling, I can get a bit driven while Kitty is often content to relax in one place: I keep her moving and she keeps me paced. Sadly, Kitty was stricken with a stomach virus the night before our planned day trip to Segovia. I went ahead alone, solo mode, to this lovely, historical place.

I took the fast train on the Salamanca route, and the journey was a scenic 30-minute ride (about €10 r/t). The rolling hills north of Madrid were decked with blooming almond trees and the Sierra de Guadarrama peaks were snow-capped. Arrival at Segovia Guiomar train station demands a bus ride (€2.00) either into town (#12) or to the Roman Aqueduct (#11). I opted for the aqueduct, a well-preserved and amazing architectural site well worth experiencing and a perfect gateway to the town.

Part of the delight of Segovia is following all of the rich historical traces. As in Toledo, there were Roman, Arab/African, Jewish and medieval elements. The weather was wicked: temps in the thirties and big, scary gusts of winds. I think it ended up working for me for the most part, as the town was largely devoid of tourists—really empty of anyone, except at the weekly market in the main square. I found myself having to actually wait to get people in photographs as there were so few people about. 

The other weather consequence was that I ended up going into places I normally might not have gone just to warm up: a museum, the cathedral, two cafes and one restaurant. These all ended up being good choices with amazing views, not to mention helping with my pacing and understanding of place.

The cloudy weather was great for my architecture and landscape photos. The wind, however, had few upsides. I had to brace myself to take photos and withstand the gusts. Luckily, I was only hit by flying paper, though a metal casing came close. It reminded me of the tramontana wind in Cadaqués.

Despite all my attempts at self-pacing, I exhausted myself with double my usual miles of walking. Segovia proved to have too many fun photos opportunities to resist tracking. I got home about 6:00 to find Kitty still feeling sick. I’m glad to be here back by her side and out of solo mode as she recovers. We’ve had a quiet day at home during a cold and rainy Madrid day. And I’m happy to report that as of Friday afternoon, Kitty is feeling better.