The Aljaferia in Zaragoza
Zaragoza was our first overnight stop in our Spain road trip itinerary. We had just left Barcelona that morning and stopped in Lerida for lunch at the Celler de Rosier restaurant. After a heavy but delicious late lunch of paella and pork ribs (among many other things) we walked around Lerida for an hour or so before continuing on our way to Zaragoza where we were going to spend the night.
We got to Zaragoza in the evening and checked into our hotel, the Hotel Silken Zentro Zaragoza. The hotel is updated and modern, and even if the rooms were a bit compact, it was still comfortable.
I remember I liked the breakfast room, but I can't find a photo of it now. The best part of this hotel is its location--perfect for our one-night stay.
Outside the hotel figuring out where to walk...
A moonlit Catedral La Seo (Cathedral de San Salvador)
Zaragoza is beautiful at night because the cathedrals and monuments are nicely lit. We also had a full moon that night.
Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar
Plaza del Pilar
The shops were closed but many people were still walking around after dinner--almost midnight!
What I was really excited to see in Zaragoza was the Aljaferia Palace. Ever since a past trip to the southern part of Spain (Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada--topic of another post), I've been enamored with Mudejar architecture. We were going to the Aljaferia in the morning after breakfast.
The Aljaferia is small-scale in comparison to the other Mudejar structures in the Andalusian region, so you can walk through it quickly and then go back and look at all the details again.
Take a look at the detailing of these ceilings...
This is in another room...
And yet another ceiling detail...
And then beautiful window details
We all went wild snapping so many shots of the place.
After our morning visit to the Aljaferia, it was back to Zentro to pick up our bags to head off to Pamplona for lunch. Our final destination for today was San Sebastian, which proved to be the gastronomic highlight of the trip. Post on that coming up too!
On the road again...
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