Post it from Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain. Thursday 20th October, 2016.

I last wrote about camping here in April 2013 when we first stopped here and this our 5^th visit now. However we have only stayed overnight before and decided that it was about time we visited the city, which was reputed to be lovely, so we did on this occasion.

After arriving early afternoon after a short hop from Valencia, we enjoyed the warm afternoon sun before venturing out to Calle Beethoven to check out the bus stop for the next day’s visit and do a little bit of shopping at the large Mercadona supermarket. The area is a residential one with tower blocks of new style apartments. In the plazas between the blocks there were groups of families enjoying the early evening together, the children were in the play parks whilst the adults enjoyed a coffee or beer whilst keeping a close watch before going home to eat.

The bus number 41 travels direct into the city centre dropping us off in Puerta del Carmen and runs every 15 or 20 minutes at a cost of 1.35€ each way, a lot less than the 12€ taxi ride.

When we were here in early September we had temperatures of 42ºC and now 6 weeks later we had an overnight low of 12.6ºC so we set off in jeans and a cardigan for the bus. From the looks on the local’s faces I suspect they thought we were crazy, dressed as we were, whilst they were all wrapped up in winter clothes and thick coats. It was a little chilly in the shade but in the sun it was just fine and quite hot at times later in the day causing me to remove my cardigan.

The journey into the centre took around 20 minutes and allowed us to see the high quality residential area surrounding the camp site. There were many high value detached houses and from their style and construction you could readily see they had cold winters here. Many were very similar to houses back home but I suspect the bricks were just a facing rather than full brick construction. It was clearly a very modern city and this area was quite affluent with a good mix of types of properties.

Once off the bus we made our way along the roads that the camp site receptionist had recommended we take to the old town and the River Ebro. We stopped off for some shopping along the way and some special gifts for Sharon in the many high quality shops we passed. We were very impressed with what we saw, it was a clean modern city well served by trams and cycle paths. There were many rental bikes clearly used by the locals and tourists.

Almost everyone we had spoken to on our previous stops here had spoken about their intention to visit the old market so we felt it was a must visit place. We caught our first glimpse of the Basilica Cathedral Nuestra Senora Del Pilar at the very end of the shopping street Alfonso I on our way to the ‘Mercado Central’, on Avda. Cesar Augusto.

The market turned out to be a large fruit, vegetable, meat and fish market with fixed stalls all neatly set out inside a traditional Spanish style market hall. I really enjoyed all the fresh produce, especially the large variety of seafood available, and our only disappointment was we would not be able to buy the fresh chorizo sausages to take back with us due to the time out of the refrigerator.

Out the back of the market hall we had views of the remains of the old Roman walls which led to the Puente de Santiago Bridge (on the Camino of course). We had crossed the River Ebro many times on our travels through Spain from its origin further north west to where it enters the Mediterranean Sea but we had never done it on foot before. From the middle of the bridge you could see the back of the Cathedral Basilica del Pilar with its ornate towers and domes and the much older Puente de Piedra Bridge crossing the river.

The Basilica Cathedral was set in the Plaza del Pilar along with the town hall and at the far end the lesser Cathedral of El Salvador. I understand it is quite uncommon for one city to have two Cathedrals but this one does and the smaller one is a world heritage site. At the opposite end of the plaza is a very modern glass fronted building with a rather fascinatingly designed water feature down the rear side. It seemed a little out of place amongst all these very beautiful and old buildings.

Inside the Basilica Cathedral there were paintings by Goya and the many high painted domes gave the appearance of 3D images, absolutely beautiful but photographs were not allowed. Many flags adorned the plaques on the wall but all were from South American countries so I am not sure what their significance was but I did end up talking to a couple from Argentina so perhaps it is something special for them.

A first for us was seeing a buffet restaurant of traditional Spanish cuisine. We have seen many Asian type restaurants in Spain but never a Spanish one. Whilst the food on display looked really appetising we wanted to have our last meal in Spain to be a more relaxed affair with typical local fare and no incitement to over eat. We seem to be going home having not put any weight on and did not want to spoil it now!

After a very traditional Aragón lunch, with a bottle of very good local red wine, we trod the streets once more taking in all the sights and resting in the sun before further exploring the larger Corte Ingles store in search of home decorations. No luck there but Sharon did find what she wanted at a small shop on our way back to the bus and I was pleased as some items were in the sale.

So shopping wise we, or Sharon, had a very good day and we both enjoyed the city very much. It was well worth stopping the extra night to see it and I would recommend anyone to do the same and not miss the opportunity if camping here, as many do on their way north and south.

The photographs I was able to take of the smaller size to post here do not really do the city justice and unfortunately I accessing  the free internet at the camp site to post it whilst here, but hopefully somewhere along the way back home I shall be able to do so if I am not successful tonight.

Regards, Roy

PS the map won't work again!