SPAIN 2026
Monday
Our last road trip with our little car would take us from San Sebastian and down South to Zaragoza, but there would need to be a few stops along the way.
Castillo de Loarre
The Castle of Loarre is one of the oldest castles in Spain starting construction in 1020. It was built largely during the 11th and 13th centuries, when its position on the frontier between Christian and Muslim lands gave it strategic importance. Castillo de Loarre appears in the 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven.
For most of our time here, there was us and 2 other couples, we had this whole castle to ourselves.
Huesca
Our second stop on the way was Huesca, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. Huesca dates from pre-Roman times, and was once known as Bolskan.
This place is old, and it's a ghost-town, almost all the shops are closed, and the few people around are part of an old folks home tour group, waiting for the church to open. We tried to duck into a restaurant for lunch, and are told that it is now closed, even though there's people eating outside.
When the cathedral finally opened at 4:00, we rushed in to get a look, because there was nothing else to do here.
The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord, also known as the Cathedral of Saint Mary, or Huesca Cathedral, began construction in the late 13th century and was finished in the early 16th century.
As we are looking at these bishop chairs, one of the old ladies has to reach in and try to lift the seat like it's a toilet lid, and then drops it. The sound of 500 year old wood slamming down echoes through the entire church. We all just stop and point at her.
Make sure to choose wisely
We always would have wondered if we didn't stop there, and very glad we modified our travel plans to not stay in Huesca. Time to jump in the car and find somewhere a little more lively.
Zaragoza
Our place to stay in Zaragoza was another fully equipped apartment in the old town. We had to drive down pedestrian only streets again, luckily our host Ivan, noticed our slightly bewildered navigation technique, and came over to the car "You must be Dave". Parking was very tight, and involved Ivan outside the car guiding me in. I think I'll leave it there until we take the car back.
The views from our room
Zaragoza is a much more happening town, lots of sights to see, places to eat, and shops that are actually open. Founded in the 1st Century by the Romans, it became the political and spiritual centre of the Kingdom of Aragon after the 1118 Christian conquest.
The Caesaraugusta Theatre Museum showcases the ruins of the ancient Roman theatre in Zaragoza, it dates from the 1st century AD and, with its 7,000 square meters and 6,000 spectator capacity, is considered one of the largest in Roman Hispania . Its ruins were discovered in 1972 thanks to a local resident who alerted the local newspaper to the existence of archaeological remains amidst construction work.
As it's evening now, some of these places are closed, and we'll have to come back tomorrow.
The riverfront and bridge area of Zaragoza is especially beautiful, majestic anatomically correct statues, and the historical towers of the city hall and cathedral set against the setting sun. We could stay here all night.
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar's present building was predominantly built between 1681 and 1872. Numerous churches have been built upon this site through the years. A tiny chapel built by Saint James in 41AD, later gave way to a basilica-like enclosure during Constantine I's time, subsequently being transformed into Romanesque, then Gothic then Mudéjar styles.
Our dinner stop tonight was at Leone Pizzería Tradizionale Casco Histórico, an award winning pizzeria just around the corner from our place. The pizza was delicious.
Today’s road trip saw us leave San Sebastian and end up in Zaragoza. The two stops in between were an old medieval castle (Castillo e Loarre), and an old run down town (Huesca). Really glad we chose Zaragoza as our last stop with the little car, it's back to trains tomorrow.
Tuesday
We spent most of the day exploring Zaragoza before returning our car, our first destination was the Zaragoza castle. The Aljafería Palace is a fortified medieval palace built during the second half of the 11th century. It was the residence of the Arab Banu Hud dynasty. The structure is the only conserved large example of Spanish Islamic architecture from the era of the taifas (independent kingdoms). The Aljafería, along with the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba and the Alhambra, are the three best examples of Hispano-Muslim architecture and have special legal protection. It is now home to the parliament of Aragon.
This is another location where you need to book your entrance tickets in advance, and then lienup for your entrance time. We chose the first entrance time, and got there a little early, yet still people think us old Canadians are invisible and try to cut into line. A mother and daughter appear to be offended when I tell them where the back of the line is.
The details and craftsmanship in the doorways, the arches, and the ceilings are amazing, it is a truly beautiful building.
We tried to visit the Plaza de Toros de Zaragoza, it is currently used for bullfighting. The stadium holds 10,072 spectators. It was opened in 1764. Because it is still a functioning bullring, you can only visit it on event days, today was not an event day.
La Puerta del Carmen is the only gate that remains from the twelve (four Roman and eight medieval) gates/doors that the defensive wall of Zaragoza had.
Our next stop was one of the most important ones of the day, the MMM Que Rico Chocolateria. A perfect place to stop for breakfast, the breakfast was good, but the Hot Chocolate and Tejerincos... very similar to a churro, but fresh from the oven, dipped into the Hot Chocolate, which is more like melted chocolate than any kind of drinkable beverage. OMG!
The church of Santiago El Mayor, formerly the church of the convent of San Ildefonso began construction in 1625. The current dome dates from 1860, replacing the original one which was destroyed by lightning.
Mercado Central de Zaragoza was designed in 1895 to replace the traditional open-air market held in the old market square. It was completed by 1903 and has been a national historical monument since 1978
It was time to start back-tracking, and venturing in to the places we had missed the day before because they were closed.
The Iglesia de San Juan de los Panetes construction was completed in 1725. In 1933, the church was declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument. Shortly afterward, in 1935, the church was burned by anarchists during the major uprising proclaimed by the anarchists against the Republic, which had a particularly strong impact in Zaragoza. Firefighters were shot at when they arrived to extinguish the flames. From 1960 onward, the State began plans to renovate San Juan de los Panetes, especially to restore the walls to their natural color and texture.
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar was open and ready for visitors. The size of this Basilica and it's massive pillars are something I haven't seen before.
There is a fully enclosed chapel inside of the cathedral!
Nearby is the Cathedral of the Savior in His Epiphany, it is one of the two metropolitan cathedrals, commonly called simply La Seo, as it was the first cathedral built. Construction began in the 12th century in the Romanesque style, incorporating the former mosque, and it underwent numerous renovations and expansions until 1704, when the Baroque spire was added to the top of the tower.
This white star patterned ceiling is the interior of La Lonja de Zaragoza, a 16th-century building originally constructed as a merchant's exchange market, and now it is an exhibition hall for the city council.
We spent most of the day exploring Zaragoza, and revisiting a few places before returning our car and taking the train back to Barcelona for our last 3 days in Spain.