GK Tours. Day 17
Wednesday 20th November 2024 Tarazona to Zaragoza
The weather was really strange last night. The app we use said the night would be quite windless, but it was blowing hard enough to rock the van as it swept past our very flat and exposed car park. Not that it stopped us sleeping and laying in of course 
.
It’s getting very confusing about where we’ve been and where we are going as we seem to be speed touristing 
. Also, the names are too similar. Last night while trying to type Tarazona I kept typing Taragoza . And that because Zaragoza was our planned stop for today.
We saw our first Black Bull of our trip today, sat atop a hill alongside the motorway. They are normally a familiar sight in Spain.
As we have the smaller van we are getting braver at coming further into the centre of the towns and cities to find parking.
Today we were very lucky to grab the last parking spot in the Zaragoza university area, free parking and just a 20 minute pleasant stroll through parks and across the river into the city centre.
The first thing that grabs your eye is the enormous cathedral, dominating the skyline on the riverside.
We didn’t count how many turrets it has and only a part of it was accessible today as a mass was in session when we arrived. It’s obviously gorgeous inside though we respected the requests for no photography, taking turns to stay outside with Meg while the other had a meander.
A large part of the cathedral plaza has been cordoned off as they transform it into a mini Bethlehem for their Christmas celebrations, I wish we could see it complete, as I expect it to be fabulous.
The usual Christmas market chalets had been installed as well as an ice rink. Wow, with all the lights strung through the plaza and the city centre it’s certainly going to be a sight for sore eyes.
Walking across the bridge and onto Avenue de Cesar Augustus we passed his statue and part of the old Roman walls that used to defend the city.
Straight ahead is the central market building, built in 1902 and still used everyday for shopping, it’s not a mall but a smart market, and it’s huge.
Zaragoza is a smart city, big buildings with big windows and doors, everywhere is clean and tidy, and there’s a frequent tram service.
We walked along the main road, taking in the lovely facades and fountain before heading down the lanes called El Tubo. This is very similar to Calle Laurel in Pamplona but being a Wednesday lunchtime it wasn’t as busy.
The welcome is just as warm as we sat for tapas and a Radlers each.
One lane even had a garden area, cordoned off for each of the bars that owned a bit . We made a mistake of stopping at a bodega, I went in and chose our tapas, I had a radler but Gareth wanted a coffee, oops, no coffee served here, only wine and beer, and it was packed .
Coming out of the lanes we visited another Cathedral with beautiful Mudejar detail – Iberian Muslims in the medieval period. We had to look that up as we’ve seen lots of references to it over the last few days.
Sadly another mass was in progress, so no entry for us.
There a couple of museums here including one for Goya, born in Aragon.
Crossing the old stone bridge we walked back to the van via the park, and then decided to find a less busy spot for the night.
We have parked ourselves in the square of a small village called Pina de Ebro. The square – a big children’s play area – is lined with bars and restaurants, not all open today, and they have a bull ring just outside the centre used about 3 times a year during festivities.
It’s cute.
Little children have been playing by the sports centre and in the park well past streetlight o’clock – how refreshing, parents watching from the bar and park benches.
I think everyone has gone home now as it’s gone very quiet outside.
I forgot to mention the storks. Though we have seen a lot of nests, this evening was our first glimpse of them as they returned to their nests in the village clock tower, opposite our spot .
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