SPAIN: SEGOVIA

Today, I went on a day trip to Segovia, Spain! My friend Karly and I took the 10:15am train to Segovia, with a few hiccups along the way, but nothing that couldn't stop us. The train ride was a little under 30 minute and the scenery outside on the way there was absolutely beautiful. After we arrived at the train station, we took a taxi to the city center. Located there, is the Aqueduct. I didn't do any tours while in Segovia so I don't know the history of it, but, Google says it was built in the 1st century, stands 28.5 meters tall, and stretches for 14 kilometers.

The architecture in Segovia is nothing like Madrid. To me, it resembles "old town" European cities. Before grabbing a "café con leche", we went to a jewelry shop with the most adorable rings and necklaces. I was so tempted to get something, but I'm most likely going to see many other jewelry stores in my future.

For a pastry and coffee, we went to Granier and sat by the window to sip our coffee and people watch. Besides coffee, Karly also got a Napolitanas con Crema. I may have stolen a bite.

After that, we walked to the Cathedral de Segovia. Oh my gosh, it is stunning. It's amazing because you don't see it while you're walking and all of a sudden, you turn the corner, and it's right there. 

Once again, to save a few euros, we opted out of doing a tour. Google says it was built in the 1500's and was built in the Gothic style. 

We did, however, pay €5 euros to go inside of the Cathedral. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. The ceilings were super tall and there were paintings and stained glass everywhere. 

It was 100% worth the money to go inside because a lot of the rooms were open with different artifacts, tapestries, and crypts you could look at. I haven't been inside many cathedrals so it was a cool experience to see this one. 

I swear, everywhere I looked was a photo opportunity. Every street, building, and view was so insane. There is no place in the world I can compare it to.

Our last big attraction we went to was the Alcázar de Segovia. To my knowledge, I don't think I've ever toured a castle before. While the outside of it was breathtaking, the inside wasn't anything special and it's pretty much what you expect in a castle. Still, it was a fun place to see. 

Fun fact: this castle was inspiration for Cinderella's castle at Disney!

After walking through the castle, Karly found a set of stairs that led us on a trail back to the cathedral. While walking, we saw a few cats and tried to say hi. (I wasn't sure if I should have said "hello" or "hola") We were running close to the time that we needed to get a taxi back to the train station but we quickly ran into a souvenir shop and got a postcard. One thing that I'm trying to collect over study abroad is getting a postcard in every place I visit! 

Now, this is where things take a turn. We got back to the train station 45 mins early just to make sure that we would be on the right train. As I'm looking at the departure board, I realized that our train number wasn't on there. I went to ask someone what was going on and found out that we were at the wrong train station. How does that even happen?! We then realized that we had 20 minutes to get a taxi and get to the other station. Let's just say, that didn't happen. Instead, we bought another train ticket an hour later at the station we were at and sat and drank Coca Cola's while we waited. 

The faces of defeat.

Thankfully, everything after that went smoothly and we were able to make it back to Madrid. We celebrated with burgers from The Good Burger and I can't decide if it was the best burger I've ever had, or that I was absolutely starving.

Best Part of the Trip: Walking around and seeing all of the architecture because it's very different from Madrid. 

Worst Part of the Trip: Going to the wrong train station and having to buy a new train ticket.

Overall Thoughts: All in all, I really enjoyed my day in Segovia! It was the perfect place for my first trip abroad. It was a beautiful city, had really interesting landmarks, and was very inexpensive. All the people that I talked to were super friendly and helpful. I also learned many life lessons during this trip: triple checking your trains and sometimes it's worth the extra euros to get the tour. I wouldn't need to go back again but it was definitely worth going.