August 30^th, 2003

Winding down out of the Pyrenees, we headed back into Spain where we stopped for a quick lunch in the Catalan town of Seu d’Urgell. The town was preparing for a fiesta and the streets were hung with pennants and amusement rides were being set up in a small section closed off to traffic. There was a feeling of festivity in the air and we ate our lunch amidst the shrieking laughter of boisterous children playing and the adults talking loudly to be heard over the children. Ah, we’re back in Spain again. (the Spanish have GOT to be the noisiest people in Europe with the possible exception of the Italians).

Once out of the mountains, we crossed a vast plain with mesa-like hills baked brown from the sun and the road seems straight as an arrow. Occasional churches or half ruined castles survey the landscape from their setting on top of a cliff. The wind is strong but steady and the area is very dry looking; the pattern of erosion of the hillside tells me that the rainfall is scarce here but when it does rain, it carries a lot of the loose soil with it. (I was later to read that the area is called the Central Depression and the high winds contribute considerably to the aridity of the region by evaporating any moisture).

Soon we neared the city of Zaragoza, ringed with dense, seemingly concentric circles of growth as is typical in Spain. First we saw industrial zones, new apartment buildings being built and acres of tiny identical houses planted one next to another, then older apartment buildings already looking decrepit, but we could also see the four towers and numerous domes of a large church so we continued to follow the signs to the historical center. In the center, a stone bridge crosses the Ebro river, leading to the magnificent Basilica Nuestra Senora del Pilar whose four towers we saw from outside the city. Mudejar towers and a jumble of stones also intrigued us as we wandered around looking for a hotel room.

Earlier this spring, I had told you about the Talone system of staying in hotels in Spain for €50; we still had one left over from our tour through here in May, so we asked at one of the 4 star hotels if they would accept it. They told me they would take the talone for one night so we moved in to the room and went out to explore after a quick change of clothes.

It was Sunday, so I quickly grabbed a handful of brochures and a city map at tourist information, then we headed to one of the sights in town that would be open today, the Palacio de la Aljaferia.  This palace was built in the 11^th century by the Moorish king, Abu Jafar Ahmed Almoctadir Bila, or just plain al-Jafar, who ruled the area at this time. He romantically named it Dar Asurar , or House of Joy. Predating the Alhambra, Spain’s most famous Moorish palace, it was home to a succession of both Moorish and Christian kings and today the Aragonese Parliament meets in a one section which is closed to the public. What is visible to the visitor is an austere façade outside; an almost square fortress with high walls and crenellated towers. Inside it is a beautiful airy space with delicate lacy plasterwork  arches and a large open courtyard with orange trees. Rich coffered ceilings with gilded pineapples and gothic calligraphic inscriptions ring the rooms of the later catholic kings upstairs. For many years it was left to slowly fall apart, and at some point the delicate arches were disguised with plaster and the building used as barracks. It has been recently undergone extensive restoration; little by little the plaster was stripped away to reveal a surprisingly beautiful monument.

On the way back to the hotel we found the municipal market, closed on Sunday, which on weekdays is busy with shoppers buying groceries at stall after stall of fresh produce and meats. We found a nice, new-looking hotel called Hotel Hispania nearby and went in to check it out. For €55 a night, the room was surprisingly nice, bright, and clean with phone and air conditioning. We were realizing that there are a lot of interesting things to see in Zaragoza and it would be worth staying a few extra days, so we decided to move here for a few nights. The Hispania was only a 2 star hotel and the room was not as deluxe (no mini-bar or bathroom toiletries!) but it was a comfortable place and the ladies at the desk were really nice. And we parked for free in a locked garage.

We wandered around town and found a slightly newer section of town with a broad avenue lined with arched arcades. Restaurants and a large department store called "el Corte Ingles" (my favorite place!) were busy with people out for their evening paseo. We found an interesting restaurant called Las Vegas, where we stopped for some tapas. I had seen a report on TV a few weeks earlier about how Spanish chefs are using tapas, the small plates of appetizer sized food, as a canvas for some truly creative cooking. Las Vegas was certainly one of those places. For example, I tried a tapa that consisted of a piece of peasant bread topped with a sliced of cured ham, some fresh cut figs and a paper thin curl of fried banana. We decided to have a dinner of some appetizers with an excellent bottle of Spanish wine and were not disappointed. Before they brought out the food we had ordered, the waitress brought both of us a bowl with about a delicious half inch of a creamy cold soup made with real Foie Gras, a few curls of the French liver pate garnishing the center of the plate. After the soup, we were given a glass the size of a shot glass. A poached egg yolk sat at the bottom, topped with foamy whipped potatoes and sprinkled with crispy crunchy fried bits of ham. We were instructed to eat it with the tiny spoon provided, ‘from the bottom up’. To say the potatoes were whipped is an understatement, they had the consistency of a delicate mousse, melting in your mouth. The ingredients of egg, potato and ham is certainly basic, but I have never had it prepared in such a way – it was heavenly! Then came the food we actually ordered, but to tell you the truth, I can’t remember what it was (but it was good)!

Long before the moors came here, the Romans had settled here and named the town Caesar Augusta, which if you leave off the “Cae” part of the name and sort of slur it as you say it, you will see how Zaragoza got its modern name. The Romans left more than the name. As we wandered through town, we stumbled across a section of the old city wall, and an archeological dig where they were busy uncovering the remains of a Roman Theater built in the 1^st century. In fact, there is a string of four Roman museums, covering variously, the theater, the river port, the forum and a small fragment of the public baths. The museum at the theater I found the most interesting, as it took you through time from the building of the theater to present day. We learned that by the middle of the 3^rd century, the theatrical activity had declined and that they were going through a period of political instability and barbarian invasions, so they dismantled their own theater and took the stones to build a wall of protection around the city. The old quarter of the city still clearly preserves the rectangular shape imposed by the strong walls. Over the next few centuries, the theater site was used for different purposes, and by the 1400’s, the area was part of the Jewish barrio and was inhabited by people who probably had no idea that they were living in something that was partly built by Romans, since there wasn’t much left but the foundations and a few walls.

Zaragoza is a good sized city, over 600,000 people, but has a comfortable small town feel to it and friendly people. Zaragoza also seems to have a lot of Ecuadorian immigrants, more than we have seen anywhere else. In a town where 99% of the people are white, the community of immigrants seemed startling; their bronze Indian faces and black hair distinctly different from the Spanish.

We were not able to find a movie theater with original version movies here, only movies dubbed into Spanish, but we did find a good and inexpensive internet place, part of a computer school, where we were able to plug our laptop into their network and have a faster connection than the phone at the hotel.

Being a typical Spanish city, Zaragoza has a lot of churches. What I found interesting was that there are more Mudejar style church towers here than in Sevilla! (In April I explained that Mudejar style was like an imitation Moorish style, that seemed to have found favor here in Zaragoza in the 15^th century). I counted at least 7 Mudejar towers, one of the prettiest is La Magdalena with its golden brick inset with white, green and blue ceramic tiles and roundels.

Another interesting church is the ancient church of San Juan de los Panetes with its distinctly leaning tower. Then you have the magnificent Basilica of the Pilar with its towers and domes with colored ceramic tile roofs (see picture at right). Inside the basilica is also breathtaking, and the ceilings of a few of the domes have the added distinction of having been painted by Goya, one of Spain’s most famous painters. Certainly he is important here, as he was born in a nearby village and spent much of his life in Zaragoza. The domes of the basilica are said to be his first commissioned works.

To me, the basilica is more spectacular than the cathedral, although the latter has its own charm. The building of the cathedral began in 1189 on the site of the old mosque, and at first followed a purely Romanesque plan. Over the centuries, the building was added to and today’s cathedral is a startling mix of very different styles from the12^th thru the 18^th centuries; Mudejar, Romanesque, gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassic.

One section of the cathedral houses a tapestry museum, which I visited one afternoon while Mike went to the internet place to do some work. On display were some 60 panels each covering a good size section of wall, floor to ceiling. They were woven in Belgium between the 15^th and 17^th century of silk and wool and to give the scene they depicted more detail, the panels were woven with an amazing 50 threads to the square centimeter. I stood there gawking at one of them, by myself in the large room when the curator came, very apologetically, to tell me that he was very sorry but he was closing. “But if you come back in the morning”, he told me, “I will let you look at the tapestries some more”. For free, he kept assuring me. On the way down he stopped and led me to a case displaying some magnificent vestments and pointed out the ornate embroidery on the brocaded fabric, telling me there were 1000 real pearls sewn on to this single garment. I don’t suppose may people spend as much time looking at them as I did and he was happy that someone appreciated them as much as he did.

It was time finally to leave Zaragoza. We packed up and in the morning, first thing after a cup of café con leche, we set off. About 5 miles out of town it started to rain. Finding a bridge to hide under, we watched the rain coming down for the better part of an hour. We could see some lights up the road maybe ½ mile away, but couldn’t tell what they were; as the rain came down harder, the lights were gradually obscured in rain as were the hills in the distance and thunder boomed overhead.

Eventually, the rain tapered off a little and we were able to see more and more of the countryside emerging from the fog of water, spray and clouds, so we headed down the road as we debated what to do. The lights turned out to be a rest area, with gas station and a café/restaurant and we pulled in to get out of the rain and have some lunch. It was pouring down rain again, and a cleaning woman was busy trying to sop up water leaking through the large picture window, pooling on the windowsill and spilling onto the tables and floor in front of the window.

We spent a few more hours here, enjoying our lunch and a leisurely cup of coffee while we read books to pass the time. The rain is still coming down and it is now afternoon, no time to get anywhere; we were only 10 miles out of town. In the end we called our hotel and went back, somewhat sheepishly. Of course, it has finally stopped raining, but somehow, it felt like something was telling us not to go. After our spill in Italy, I had resolved to pay more attention to those little hunches.

We spent two more days; getting a little more organized, making plans and hotel reservations, spending time at the internet place getting some more work done. And, of course, the next day was sunny and nice again. The news on TV showed that the rains had been unusually severe, and in Calatayud, a town we would have gone through, they showed a flooded river and residents trying to clear water-logged homes.

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Here are some places we recommend in Zaragoza;

Hotel Hispania: 2 star with bath, TV, AC, telephone and free parking, €60. Breakfast available but not included. Avenida Cesar Augusto, 95-103 across from public market. Tel. 976 284 928, fax 976 283 916. www.hotelhispania.com  e-mail: reservas@hotelhispania.com   

Bar Las Vegas, Paseo Independencia, 19. Good wines, interesting tapas and meals. Pricey but worth splurging on a few tapas. Telephone: 976 238 034

Toscana

Although I didn't mention this Italian restaurant in the story, it is worthy of a footnote. The first time we ate there, we both ordered a plate of pasta each plus some garlic bread, and were horrified to see what they considered a single serving of pasta...It was HUGE! The next time we came, one order of pasta was more than enough for both of us, although our waiter claimed that he has had customers order a pizza to start, then polish off a whole order of pasta by themselves. Calle Cadiz, 6. Telephone:976 237 767

Another place I didn't mention: if you like wine, check out this tiny bar called Bodegas Almau on Estebanes, 10. It's a neighborhood type bar with good Spanish wines by the glass and a small selection of standard tapas.

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