Hiking along the bluffs above the river, we came upon this,...

... the Alcázar. Al-qasr is Arabic for the castle.

"Is it the dookie castle?" asked Nadia. "Maybe you should check your map."

We toured the Alcázar, a 19^th century reconstruction of the medieval castle dating to the Muslim-Christian wars.

I wonder if someday people will visit Iraq and tour a Humvee-roadside bomb museum?

The weapons change, but the wars play on.

The "galley room," named for its resemblance to a ship. (?)

This may illustrate why Nadia and I don't spend a lot of time in museums.

Another part of the castle had an impressive display of arms.

Nadia wanted to take home one of the suits of armor to display it in our front hall, but the curator said no.

There were several monuments and museums to artillery in town, the natural antithesis to all these castles.

These posters are several hundred years old and show the development of artillery science.

Back outside, the sun was lighting up the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Our trip was almost over.

To celebrate, we stepped into the sharpest cafe we could find.

Ham-gristle and porkfat soup was the special.

We had one last stop in Segovia, the cathedral. I never tire of cathedrals.

Segovia's shared one characteristic we found in other Spanish cathedrals -- instead of the vast, open nave that gives such an airy sense of space that you see in other European and American cathedrals, in Spain the interior is partially subdivided into smaller, ornate "chapels," little areas separated by wrought iron fences, full of statues and altars.

Table of Contents for Spain.