For what was a two hour journey today, it seemed to take forever. We had to stop for diesel ( under £1 per litre), then we decided to put some chicken in the oven for lunch, thinking it would be cooked by the time we arrived. Then the gas ran out 🙄so Guy had to change the cylinders over. Stopped for LPG but they wouldn’t let us have any as it wasn’t for domestic use 🤔..something to do with tax apparently!
By this point the chicken was drying out in the oven so we stopped again to eat. The motorway was incredibly windy – sometimes speeding us up and sometimes trying to blow us over from the side.
Eventually parked up just outside Zaragoza and got the tram in. We’ve been to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pinar before and it is absolutely stunning – seemed to be free today, so we just wandered in.
We asked about going up the tower to see the rooftops and were told that it’s accessed from the outside.
Had to wait to be taken up in the glass lift which went at warp speed up several floors. After the lift, there were four flights of stairs followed by a spiral affair to get to the top. It was very windy up there and I was less than pleased when the handrail disappeared for the last turn. 😬
The funny thing was, the view was actually better back down where the lift finished as the glass was discoloured at the top.
Good thing to do though, as I think the tiled domes are best seen from above.
The other main attraction in Zaragoza is the Moorish Aljefería. Last time we came here, there was a massive queue so we had to make do with a walk around the outside. Today we walked straight in (after a 25 minute trek along the Ebro).
The palace dates back to the eleventh century, and even predates the Alhambra and Seville’s Alcázar, although a lot of it has been adapted since, when it fell under Christian rule. Although really beautiful in places, with its intricately carved arches, courtyard and spectacular ceilings, the rest of it left us a bit underwhelmed as it was a bit like walking around a conference centre. A lot of it was given over to an exhibition of Goya paintings ..not my cup of tea.
After a Spanish haircut for Guy (no dirty nail brushes here 🤣), we made our way back to the main square, noting that one of the towers has as much of a lean on it as the one in Pisa!
Sat near the modern waterfall which is based on a map of South America and had a sugary Sangria concoction whilst watching the world go by.
Caught the tram back but couldn’t validate our tickets for some reason so we had to hide from the inspector – it’s like being on the B1 to Heanor baths in the ‘70’s! 🤣
