Spain part 4: epic castle and church quest

After the match, we drove to Zaragoza, an ancient city founded by Romans sometime around 25 BC. It was once ruled by the Moors, evidence of which can be seen in some of the architecture, like the Aljaferia castle, built in the 11th century.

Basilica del Pilar

The Basilica Del Pillar was a spectacular church built on the foundation of a mosque. The christians seemed to like building churches on top of anything Moorish. Personally, I think the Moorish architecture and art was much more beautiful and was pleased whenever I saw a remnant, like the beautiful arch above. They've done a great job restoring the Aljaferia castle which had fallen into ruin due to having been converted into a military barracks. Back then, people didn't really care about old buildings. It started being restored in 1947.

Wandering the historic streets of Zaragoza, Dad's search for the perfect espresso was incessant, constantly interrupting our activities. Meanwhile, Claudia was content with her café con hielo, but needed a continual supply of precious sopa. This absolutely needed to be accompanied by pan y mantequilla. So as long as dad had espresso, I had a wallcreeper and C

laudia had her sopa/pan/mantequilla, then we were all happy! Luckily, those area all easy to come by in Spain (except for mantequilla which she needed to ask for every time).

"It's ESSPRESSO, not EXPRESSO!"

Claudia disfrutando de un café con hielo

Parking in Zaragoza was tricky (not our car!)

The most epic castle we visited was Loarre, one that I regretted to have missed last trip in favour of an unsuccessful search for Lammergeiers on my last day, which resulted in having to rush to the airport and receive a speed camera ticket 2 weeks later. This time, I would enjoy this epic castle in the most magical of conditions as it received a vigorous coating of fresh snow. Loarre was built in the 11th century to help fortify and expand the frontier of the kingdom of Aragon as they gradually conquered territory from the Moors.









This groundskeeper regaled us with stories of when he met celebrities like Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom and Eva Green. They filmed Kingdom of Heaven and many other medieval films here. He was constantly following us around sweeping a path in the fresh snow due to a legal safety requirement that visitors are not allowed to walk on snow. 

Drive east from Loarre and you will find another castle, a solitary silhouette atop an austere, brown hilltop. This is the castillo de Montearagon, a castle built in 1086 by King Sancho Ramirez as a staging point for the future siege of the Moorish stronghold of Huesca. Sadly, it was used as a powder magazine in the 19th century resulting in an explosion, and it was never rebuilt. We still had some fun exploring these ruins!










Keeping with the medieval castles theme, our next stop was Alquézar, an 8th century castle and village. Breathtaking! (Especially the wallcreeper on the nearby cliffs!)

Alquézar, inside the castle

An arm bone from some saint or something

Inside the castle, it is evident that the Christian conquerors wasted no time in redecorating the place with loads of creepy relics (old bones, etc) and what appears to be their medieval brand of propaganda, portraying Moors torturing Christian martyrs. Ouch!

Some Moors subjecting this poor Christian martyr to the "belly rake" Ouch! 

Another Christian suffers an unfortunate fate at the hands of some turbaned tyrants

Finally, we visited the amazing architecture of Gaudi at the park Guell and Sagrada Familia (my second time) but this time we didn't stinge and went for the tower tickets, which was awesome! I can't show restraint when it comes to photos of this magnificent building, the most beautiful I've ever stepped foot in. Notice the endless nature-inspired forms apparent in Gaudi's work, from the tree-like supports in the nave to the mollusk shell-like spiral staircase and the multicolored, tiled sprigs of wheat and bunches of grapes atop the facade, representing the holy communion.

Workers take a break

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Our last destination was the epic Montserrat, which had surprisingly few interesting birds but did have many famous paintings in its museum. It is an impressive monastery and a large tourist attraction well worth a visit.