Having 4 weeks in Spain seems like a lot of time – but it’s not enough. There are so many wonderful towns and cities to see. Being in the Barcelona area, I was told I must also visit Girona, Tarragona and Zaragoza.
Ellie and Laurie at Caesar statue in Zaragoza
Ellie on the carousel
Roman ruins in Zaragoza
This morning we got up and headed to the Barcelona train station for the first train to one of these cities. Well, there were delays due to some mechanical problems but we were not deterred. We grabbed a snack and our ticket to Zaragoza. Today is the day to go because on Friday the biggest festival of the year will begin. I don’t do well with big crowds.
We arrived in Zaragoza in about 90 minutes by AVE, a very nice and comfortable high speed train. It only cost us 22€ round trip for the reservation (separate from our Eurail pass). The Zaragoza Station is very nice, spacious and modern.
It was a beautiful day, maybe mid 70’s. We took the bus (they have very good buses in Spain) for 1.40€ and under 5 is free. It’s an easy 10-minute ride to Avenida Cesar Augusto and a short walk from there to the old city area.
Talk about old, in fact we saw Roman ruins from the time of Agustus Ceasar. We also went to the top of the beautiful Cathedral de la Seo – you can take the elevator for 3€ (worth every cent with a child). There are magnificent views of the city and the cathedral from the top.
More from the top of the cathedral
View from cathedral in Zaragoza
The square was BUSTLING with people preparing for the biggest festival of the year this weekend, the festival of Pilar. They had massive stages set up all around the cathedral and they kept testing the music so loudly – at one point blasting “Back in Black” as if it were a rock concert with AC/DC in front of cathedral! CRAZY!
Some local favorites
We sat in front of the cathedral on the main square and had a good lunch of dishes like fried eggs with potatoes and sausage. The grilled sausages and peppers from this area were out of this world! We walked around and shopped a bit – I bought a REALLY cool jacket at Desigual! Ellie rode a carousel in the main square, then we walked along the waterfront. We found a playground there and played with local children. We walked a short distance to the bus stop and headed back to the train station. It was a very nice, quiet ride back to Barcelona.
As Ellie said “best day ever!” – not really but a very good one at that! I found Zaragoza to have something fun for everyone!
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