Iter Facere

Zaragoza Day 1

OK, we changed our minds. Zaragoza is quite nice actually, if you don’t drive in it at rush hour. The Plaza de Pilar is huge, with the Basilica to St. Pilar lining on whole side of it. The Basilica is a bit plain on the outside with just a brown brick facade. The roof has several (eleven I’m told) cupolas with blue and yellow tiles. The interior is spectacular, although it’s too baroque for my taste. It is a vast open space, broken up into different chapels. It seems much more open than a typical Gothic cathedral. From there we found the Ruta de Cesar Augusta, the four Roman sites. They are the forum, the old docks, the baths and the theater. There is not much left, just foundations. The museums are well done, although they have audio visual events that turn off the lights in the entire museum so you have to watch them. The ones in the baths and the theater are in English or sub-titled, the others are Spanish only so it was a little less compelling for us.
After lunch, we visited the Seo, or cathedral. The brochure they gave us for our visit was the best we’ve seen. It gave a brief description (in English) of each chapel, the highlights of the church and other details. I wish they all did this. No photos were allowed inside. Its a big square space, very light and open. Again unlike most Gothic cathedrals. The exterior is Mudehar brick and tile. The Seo also has a Tapestry Museum, a collection of fifteenth century tapestries. Kathy noticed that each person’s nose was different. I guess that means they were representations of actual models or people.
Next we walked to the Museo de Zaragoza. Clearly the area is one of the nicer parts of Zaragoza, with BMWs and Mercedes the predominant car. The museum is on a pleasant park and it was a great place. It has a nicely laid out set of galleries for ancient finds. It takes you chronologically through the history of the Ebro river valley from Paleolithic to Late Roman. Upstairs is a fine arts gallery with a collection of Goyas (he was born nearby). Its an old Mudehar style building, with an attractive courtyard with the larger Roman statues. We loved the place. Then back to the Paseo de Independencia, which is the happening commercial place for a drink. After that to the Real for dinner on the Plaza del Pilar. We realized at dinner that we have yet to see anyone from the US. The only tourists we have seen so far have been Russian (?), some French and Spanish

posted by Jim @ 7:31 PM