Zaragoza, Spain

We said farewell to our friends Don & Renee in San Sebastian -- they will be heading back to Phoenix, while we are slowly making our way towards Barcelona.  We took an early train on Tuesday to Zaragoza which is a town about halfway between San Sebastian and Barcelona.

When we were booking our hotel, we couldn't believe the deals -- every hotel seemed to be at least 70 euro less than what we were spending in France and San Sebastian!  We wondered why...was there something wrong with Zaragoza?  Was it surrounded by fish-processing plants or something?  The answer came to us once we stepped off the train.  Zaragoza is located in an arid valley surrounded by mountains and it's very HOT here this time of year - well into the mid-90's.  So there's the answer to the mystery:  Zaragoza is the "Phoenix" of northern Spain.  After all the effort we've spent trying to escape the summer heat at home in Arizona, and here we ended up right back in it!  Oh well, we have made the best of our two days here.  The mornings were actually pleasant and we were able to get in some nice sightseeing walks.  It's a beautiful town with a history that goes back before Roman times.

Plaza del Pilar - at least the water looks cool.

To escape the sun, we stepped inside the Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar, which is a beautiful baroque-style church with a wide open plaza out front.  Inside are multiple side chapels dedicated to various saints and martyrs.  Frescoes by Francisco Goya decorate the interiors of several of the domes in the ceiling.  It's all very ornate, and very different from the gothic cathedrals we've been used to seeing in other parts of Europe.

On our second day in the city we took a walk over to the Aljaferia palace, which was originally an Islamic fortress that was built in the 11th century when the Moors ruled this area of Spain.

From the outside it doesn't look much different than the castles we saw in France, but the interiors are very unique -- you can definitely see the Islamic influence here.

The wood-paneled ceilings were amazing -- intricately carved and gilded.

Before it got too warm, we walked along the river back over to the old town so we could go up one to the top of the spire of the Basilica.  Kevin took a 360-degree panorama of the city (you can move your cursor inside the picture to see the view from the top).

Views: Zaragoza, Spain by Kevin Salt

It's so hot here in the afternoons that we are starting to understand the concept of the siesta, where shops close up from about two til five in the afternoon.  Who wants to work in a shop without A/C or walk around outside during the hottest part of the day?  We checked the weather in Barcelona and it's supposed to be about 15 degrees cooler.  Thank goodness we head there tomorrow.  But for now, it's time for a siesta back in the air-conditioned hotel!