A Friend’s Eye-View of Segovia

Eye-View of Arevalo Gate SEGOVIA

by RICHARD FRISBIE

I travel to visit friends, to explore the history and culture, and to taste the local cuisine. My recent visit to the city of Segovia, in Castilla y León, Spain, combined all three, and I had a blast!

Jewish Quarter

Aqueduct

After a 30 minute train ride from Madrid, my friend Tomas met me at the Segovia station for a bespoke tour of this beautiful city with the best-conserved 2,000+ yearold Roman aqueduct in the world. The double-arch, freestanding structure is almost 100 feet high over the Plaza del Azoguejo. Its nine mile length, constructed without any mortar, has survived centuries, major earthquakes, and conflicts to become a leading example of Roman engineering in Spain.

The aqueduct is awesome! As we strolled in its shadow, Tomas pointed out the indentations where each of the 1,000s of stones were lifted into place. It’s almost too tall to look at from the plaza, but elsewhere it dribbles down to street level before finishing its water delivery underground. Together we walked the UNESCO designated old city and found the best spot to admire it from the top of the Postigo steps leading down into Plaza del Azoguejo.

That is, until Tomas surprised me with a balloon ride over the city at dawn. Distant rain squalls and low clouds almost scuttled our plans, but we lifted off with dogs barking and kids screaming, gaining altitude to cross the suburbs from the surrounding pastureland and rise over the city. The full length of the aqueduct stretched from the distant hills to the city center below us. The massive gothic Cathedral, with its bell tower reaching up toward us, ditto the slate-roofed turrets of the Castle Alcázar, said to be the model for the castle in Disneyland, and the twisting streets of the Jewish Quarter all looked like a 3-D map of our walk the day before. What an amazing vantage for a panoramic view of the city.

Balloon ride over Castle Alcázar at sunrise

Below us in the Plaza del Azoguejo, at the base of the aqueduct, we could also see Mesón de Cándido, the most famous restaurant in Segovia, perhaps in all of Castilla y León. From its 1884 beginnings as a humble inn, Cándido has grown into a large, internationally known restaurant catering to Captains and Kings. The walls of the ancient rooms are hidden behind historical memorabilia and framed photos of the famous who dined there.

Cathedral of Segovia

The specialty of the house is cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig). Order it and get ready for a show! Our pig was ceremoniously carried out by two men and placed on a nearby table. The stately grandfather of the current chef, wearing a formal jacket with the ornate medal of “The Greatest Innkeeper of Castile” around his neck, read a proclamation welcoming us to his restaurant. With elaborate gestures and more fanfare he grabbed a plate and chopped up our obviously tender piglet. Then, with a final flourish he smashed the plate on the floor, posing for pictures as the crowd gasped.

That could have been dismissed as pure theater except that it was the best pork I’ve ever tasted! Go to Candido for the spectacle and stay for the great food. The same could be said of Segovia and all of Castilla y León – GO!

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