Thursday, May 17 -- Day 5

** Thursday was fit for Royalty!


-Today was led by an amazing introduction to one of the oldest aqua-ducts in Spain, not to mention THE inspiration for Disney's Cinderella's Castle!  That's right, this means big time in castle language.  Just kidding... But this it's not hard to see why Walt Disney fell in love with it, we sure did.  It was something out of a fairy tale seeing this gorgeous structure built on the top of a hill with stunning towers that stretched into the sky. The views were picturesque and represented a completely new side of Spain. 

Each day we board the bus for a location unknown, and each day we are amazed by the grandeur that this country exhibits.  I can't think of anything more magnificent thus far in our trip than this marvel of engineering. We literally got to take a trip back in time with this incredibly charming city.   The aqua-duct, located in this beautiful town of Segovia was built with solid blocks of granite and absolutely NO mortar to hold it together! How this structure still stands is unbelievable.  The Aqueduct of Segovia, the symbol of the city, is the best known civil engineering feats owing to its monumentality, to its excellent state of conservation, and in particular to its location in one of the most beautiful urban sites in the world.  

-This was a great lead to our next location, which has been described as "the Versaille of Spain".  You know that can only mean good things for us...  

The Royal Palace  of La Granja de San Ildefonso is an 18th century palace that was built in the baroque style and was filled with all the gold, glitz and glamour that you'd expect in a royal palace. From the palace we moved on to the gardens that were manicured to perfection!  It was clad with formal hedges and  fountains that would impress even the highest of rank.  My favorite, had to be the stunning view from the top of the glorious fountains.  This was definitely a great ending to an impressive day