DAY 17 SUNDAY, 11TH OF
NOVEMBER ZARAGOZA
Sunday the breakfast room had been invaded by the Bus horde
who had camped out overnight in this NH hotel. The poor chap from the kitchen
was running his ass off trying to refill the items from the breakfast buffet
with little success. Jane and I had to use a ‘spill over table’ set up in the
bar area adjacent to the restaurant room.
Finally got a tray of bread and was able to feed the toaster
and the same for the coffee machine like our Jura machine was running non-stop.
All in all we had our breakfast and exchanged text with brother Rick at the
other NH hotel. He had checked out and was walking our direction. By 1000 AM he
arrived and put his luggage in our room until later on. We collected ourselves
and cameras and head out to explore Zaragoza.
First target was Palacio De La Aljafería free entry on
Sunday. It is a magnificently restored fortified ,medieval, Islamic palace.
Rick was most impressed. So much of the
Moorish influence with delicate filigree work and wonderful arches. It was
built during the second half of the 11th century!
Onward! Second target was Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. We
arrived during mass and had to tiptoe and not disturb anyone. As with most
cathedrals in Spain the sheer scale is impressive but the darkness one has come
to expect is not there! It was painted white and has a lovely bright aspect to
it. Now, the many chapels down the sides are a little dark but that’s okay, it
is off set by the natural light reflecting off the light paintwork and the
light stone. We are so used to the massive size of these religious buildings
but Rick once again, was overcome by it all. I wonder how many generations were
employed in the building of this magnificent building. I was started in 1680
and is the world’s 10th largest church building.
We moseyed across the Plaza for lunch, menu of the day and
Paul had his “rabbit for this trip”! It was a welcome rest. We hopped a taxi
back to the hotel for siesta. Now just in case you are wondering why the
devotion to siesta…..everything closes, the streets are deserted, museums and
building shut down for a couple of hours and the Beskows are getting older and
need to recharge their batteries before the evenings activities!
We called Bob and he came over to meet us. We walked over to
the old part of town, which by this time is teeming with people. Bright, wide
pedestrian boulevards beautifully lit and just delightful. Perfect for an
evening stroll before a light snack! We ate hamburgers at a backstreet place
where one of Robert’s first tutor students was employed. She was a bright young
gal of about 20 years of age who spoke very good English. The burgers with all
the fixings, and French fries with ketscup reminded everyone of the USA. After
a hefty meal we started our return journey back to the NH hotel. Along the way
we spotted two before dogs in full body coats one was a greyhound and the other
a pit mix their human was a well dressed and well spoke lady, a Russian she
said as we talked dogs etc before heading back again towards our accommodation.
We said our good byes and called it a night. Robert to meet up again on a
return trip to Zaragoza and Rick to meet again at breakfast before our Monday
AM journeys: one by car and one by train to Madrid.
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