Today we head out in our very comfortable rental car for a day in Zaragoza. It is about one and a half hours from Lleida. Along the way we cross the Prime Meridian which has an arch indicating its position. The landscape seems to be drier and drier as we head north.
Our first visit is to the Moorish castle, Aljaferia. It was built during the second half of the 11th century. After the reconquest by the Christians in 1118 the castle underwent many renovations over the ensuing centuries and received major damage during the Napoleonic invasions. It was restored during the 20th century.
The castle has typical Islamic decoration with geometric patterns and Islamic script with no human forms which are prohibited in Islam.
It seems a shame to give up our good parking space but we want to take a look at the Zaragoza cathedral. It is located close to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. When we come up out of the parking garage we are not sure which is which. I am not interested in the Lady of the Pillar church since it was mostly built in the 17th to the 19th century and is a pilgrimage site. Apparently the Apostle James saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary and she asked him to build a church dedicated to her on the site. I am not interested in seeing this church because it is out of my interest zone of medieval and early Renaissance art. But we go take a look just in case there is anything good inside. (There is not.)
The Le Seo de Zaragoza or Zaragoza Cathedral is at the end of the immense plaza. It is another gargantuan church. It is built on the site of the Roman Forum and was formerly a mosque. It has undergone a great deal of renovation.
Since I have not recovered from my fall yet, I am hurting by the time we have done all the walking to and inside the churches. I am feeling grumpy and want to stop for lunch so I can sit down. We walk most of the way back down the plaza pass the the Goya Museum and the scary looking sculpture outside the city hall when we finally find an arcade with a restaurant, El Ciclon.
The waitstaff are very nice and explain the menu to us. For 14.90E you get a first course, a main course, a dessert and a glass of wine. Eating seems like such a production here. I am beginning to long for fast food. Although the lunch got off to a good start, my main course, bacalao, comes out stone cold with congealed sauce. I really don’t care because I do not want to eat it anyway.
So now it is around 3PM and we have an hour and a half ride back. I am trying hard not to fall asleep during the ride. When we got back I take a nap and shower before heading off to the dinner extravaganza.
We have a dinner reservation at 8:30 PM and show up promptly. I am not sure that any of the staff is actually expecting anyone before at least 9 PM. I do not understand why Spaniards eat so late! The dinner is lovely but I am fooded out. It all seems to take so long. Seriously if they had just given us a basket of bread with that exquisite olive oil and a glass of wine I would have been happy.
Last day of sightseeing tomorrow. Time for bed!