Segovia’s old town sits atop a rocky outcropping between two small rivers which converge at the point of the cliffs. The famous Alcazar, which has hosted much of the Spanish royalty, including Queen Isabela at the time of her ascension to the throne, is a marvel to see towering over the western cliff point. The great cathedral at the highest point can be seen for miles from any vantage point. Arriving in the eastern section of town is the greatest remaining Roman Aqueduct, over 9 stories high built of graceful granite arches with no mortar. Still standing after two millennia, as are many roman bridges, it is a testament to great engineering.

I mostly enjoy Segovia for its number of Romanesque churches. These predate the Gothic cathedrals and, though smaller, exude a gracefulness the gothic style does not have. They usually have the very narrow tall windows with semicircular arches sided by decorative columns, columnated outer verandas and outer semicircular apses.  I have included a number of photos of some of the best of these iglesias in Segovia.

From Segovia I traveled back through Madrid and south to the very ancient capital of Toledo. This was the first capital city for most of the Iberian Peninsula, from which the Visigoths governed after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and subsequently it became the capital of the Moors who conquered the Visigoths in 712 CE, followed by the Christian Kingdom of Castile under Alfonso VI in 1085. It was only in 1561 when the capital was moved from Toledo to Madrid that Toledo stopped being the center of power. The city, somewhat like Segovia, sits atop a rocky outcrop around which the River Tagus runs on three sides. From the hills on the south side of the river one can see the entire ancient city covering the rounded hilltop as if floating above the river. Below I have included a smaller version of the 110 MP panorama photo I made from this vantage point – this is a view often painted as a background in the paintings of El Greco who spent most of his life in Toledo. The mirador, or lookout, is also the destination point of literally hundreds of huge tour buses which for about two hours take turns driving around to this view for the thousands of tourists that descend daily on Toledo from Madrid (just 45 minutes to the north). The Iglesia San Roman in Toledo is a 13th Century Mudejar style with stunning 13th Century frescoes covering the interior walls.

My final four days were back in Madrid, in a hotel room with a balcony opening right over the Plaza Santa Ana, in which plaza I have spent much of my total time in Spain over the last 25 years. My final day was spent in my favorite art museum in the world, the Thyssen, where the world-renowned private collections include all types and time periods of Western paintings for the past millennium. These are organized chronologically so that one can start at the top with 800-year-old gilded religious paintings on wood panels, then spend time observing the creation of perspective and lighting on canvas through the Renaissance and 18^th century, followed by the softening of realism in impressionism and, finally, through to the totally modern canvases of cubism, mindless geometric forms and splattered paint. (Sorry, I am opinionated when it comes to much that is considered “art” with the adjective “modern” attached. Great modern art, for me, includes the many bronzes I have included in my photos.

I returned to Tucson on Wednesday, and Thursday greeted me with the super-heated Arizona desert, hottest day in 4 years at 113 around the airport (116 at my house). Later. Dave