The journey takes 4 hours and passes through olive groves and fruit farms countryside for most of the way. The cherry trees were just about to flower giving the countryside large patches of pink and purple.
In Zaragoza, we took a taxi from the modern railway station to our hotel. We had rented a small apartment, but had been upgraded to a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a view of the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar. There is a legend that Mary standing on a pillar appeared to a first century Spanish Saint. The Plaza (a very long rectangular) in front of the Basilica is very large in deed. There is a clock which chimes on the quarter hour and never goes off duty, unlike our village clocks which don't chime during the night.
After a rest, we set out in search of food and for a wander around the immediate vicinity.
We called into the Basilica, which is impressively huge but not inspiring
Also in the Plaza is the Catedral de la Seo, two cathedrals on the same site must be quite unusual
Close by is the old bridge, Puente de Piedra across the river, Rio Ebro
which is guarded by lions
and from which, there is a good view of the Basilica
At the other end of the Plaza is the Iglesias de San Juan de Los Panetes with its slightly leaning tower and roman ruins close by
We set off in search of the 'Tapas area', El Tubo, as described by the hotel receptionist. On the way, we passed a wine shop, where we purchased a few bottles of the region (appellations Cariñena & Campo de Borja) and encountered the children pouring out of school, all obviously starving and chatting loudly to their mums.
We also found the shopping area which is in chaos - the streets are being dug up to install trams. They seem to be using the 'big bang' approach with maximum disruption, hopefully for a shorter time.
On our way back we passed another interesting church, Iglesias de San Pablo
By now, it was time for another rest, followed by the blog and a glass of wine before searching Trip Advisor for a restaurant. Perhaps Zaragoza doesn't have a large tourist trade, but certainly, the number of reviews was not encouraging.
We set out and fell on our feet!
The Donde Simpera is just a bar with 3 bar stools, a narrow bar and fantastic food.
We tried a couple of dishes from the counter, but John had spotted bunches of fresh asparagus. There was none on the menu, but on request, this was what arrived:
Roasted asparagus, padron peppers and Iberian ham. Delicious!
We wandered back home, taking photos as we passed. This is The Museo Pablo Gargallo right next door to the Tapas Bar.
El Tubo is full of bars in narrow streets which shows just how narrow it can be
and views of the Basilica
from a shopping street and from the Puente de Piedra
Pat and John on tour
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