On the road (3) A (hopefully) sunny September road trip to Spain COMPLETED - Page 17 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Monday 6 September – part six: oh wow, this is an exceptional convoy!
Soon we were turning off for Segovia and we knew this would probably be a bit of a torturous road, as Tim was saying that it would still take an hour to get there, but we were probably only about 30 or 40 miles out from our destination. We successfully managed to negotiate one lorry, which wasn’t easy and then we got caught up in a convoy, with two huge concrete strips on them. We eventually managed to overtake both of them, but my goodness, it took some time and those guys of course had to crawl up hills, as they had no oomph to them, so our arrival time went back and back. Full credit to Mark thought for negotiating those. Not something I’d have wanted to have done. :
At least while we were stuck behind them, I did have a chance to do some cow spotting, as there were slightly odd signs everywhere, telling us that there were cows around. Anyway, we think it was cows they were talking about, although it could have been some weird cow/donkey hybrid! Have a look at the sign for yourself and see what you think!
We had plenty of cow sightings then, having seen very few to date on this day of our journey. We also saw a few more when we left Segovia and headed towards Madrid, so the final count for the day eventually was:
13 x Moo
7 x Moos
7 x Mooey
5 x Mooey Mooey
3 x Mooey Mooey Mooey
So it’s official, this part of Spain rules when it comes to counting moo cows! By the way, we did keep an eye for British licence plates on this journey as well and, just for completeness, we saw 10 of those, which again was much more than we expected.
Finally, the turning for Segovia came up and soon we were heading into the town.
One of the first things we saw as we approached was the aqueduct, which built at the end of the 1st century AD by the Romans. It says something for their engineering skills that it was in use until the late 19th century. Today it’s a striking monument to events of 2,000 years ago and I was delighted that our rote took us right up alongside it, allowing me to get lots of photos of it.
The two tiers of arches are a total of 2,400 feet in length and as high as 95 feet, and, as the name suggests, it was used to take water from the nearby River Frio into the city.
From there, we wound our way into the city itself, which was a labyrinth of narrow streets. I don’t know how Mark drove around them, as I was terrified in the passenger seat. It was way too compact and bijou for my liking! At one point, I did get out to get some photos of the various churches around, but we couldn’t stop for long in those narrow streets.
We were looking for the Alcazar and, more by luck than judgment I think, as Tim was sulking, after discovering the main route through was closed, we got there in the end. It lies at the far end of Segovia and one of the reasons we wanted to come here was that Mark had learnt that this place was one of the inspirations for Walt when it came to building castles. We knew he had extensively travelled across Europe, gathering ideas, prior to building Disneyland and it was while watching a (pretty awful) game show on TV, where people are on a Coach Trip (the name of the show), touring around Europe and then get voted off by other people on the tour, if they don’t like them. As I say, a pretty awful show, but you get to see a lot of Europe and that’s where Mark got the idea for this visit.
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Well, it looks pretty ear-y to me! Do you think they give milk with a kick?
I knew you would take pictures of trucks... but it wasn't me holding you up... I've "never been to Spain"... (hmmm, didn't I hear that once in a 3Dog Night song?..)
I do like the countryside, it reminds me a bit of the US West.
This next installment has piqued my interest, especially after seeing those round turrets on that building in one of your last photos in this one.
Okay, just found this and am all caught up. Great pictures Cheryl, I reading your trip reports. And your pictures...awesome!
I find the comment that "Tim" was sulking to be so funny...my DD's name is Tim and let me tell you, when it comes to driving and sulking when he is lost...I think they used him as an example for your "Tim".
Well, it looks pretty ear-y to me! Do you think they give milk with a kick?
I knew you would take pictures of trucks... but it wasn't me holding you up... I've "never been to Spain"... (hmmm, didn't I hear that once in a 3Dog Night song?..)
I do like the countryside, it reminds me a bit of the US West.
This next installment has piqued my interest, especially after seeing those round turrets on that building in one of your last photos in this one.
Okay, just found this and am all caught up. Great pictures Cheryl, I reading your trip reports. And your pictures...awesome!
I find the comment that "Tim" was sulking to be so funny...my DD's name is Tim and let me tell you, when it comes to driving and sulking when he is lost...I think they used him as an example for your "Tim".
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More great updates and photos. Does Mark find it difficult to do so much driving or the stiching from left side to right side of the road? I sure would.
I had missed a few of your updates but there is nothing better than catching up on one of your TR's You definitely had your fair share of cows on this trip so I am sure that had a smile on your face. Loved the pictures from the underground church, how weird to know that in instead was an underground graveyard....pretty weird to be walking through it (and knowing what was underneath it).
Your pictures are amazing, from the vineyards in France to the beautiful towns in Spain, everything just looks so tranquil. When I saw this picture I actually had to stop and call my friend...a year or so ago she went to Spain for a friends function and I remembered this picture, and after talking to her I was right, they actually had the dinner here....once I saw the name in your picture it jolted the memory and I had to see if I was right. When I told her that I just saw this picture in a friends trip report she said that they had amazing food....(note for another trip maybe ) there is actually a hotel I think she said and bar along with it.
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