Evening in Segovia

We rested for a while in our hotel rooms after spending the afternoon roaming around Segovia.  Around 8 PM Phyllis and I headed back downhill toward the Roman aqueduct. We were planning on having an early supper (at least by Spanish standards) at the most famous restaurant in Segovia... Mesón de Candido.  The restaurant is an old inn at the foot of the aqueduct, and has been operated by the Candido family for generations.

  
For starters, Phyllis ordered a very tasty (and very large) mushroom appetizer.  I had the traditional Castillian soup... a garlic soup with a poached egg.

 Although the specialty of the restaurant is roast suckling pig, Phyllis ordered an enormous veal chop and I had duck served over a pear puree.  It was an excellent meal.

After our supper, the owner, Señor Candido, told us that we should stick around for a few minutes because he was about to serve suckling pigs to a large group of French visitors.  In a tradition going back to his father, he cut apart the pigs using the edge of a dinner plate.

It was a lovely evening, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed as we strolled back to our hotel.  One of my favorite memories of Spain is of sitting at a sidewalk café on Segovia's town square eating tapas at 10 PM.  Even though it was a week night, the plaza was alive with people... couples strolling and children playing... and the sidewalk cafés were very busy.  At the far end of the plaza, the Gothic cathedral was brightly illuminated.

Last night the town seemed almost deserted.  There were very few people on the streets, and the cafés that had not already closed had very few customers.  The last time I was in Segovia, all the historic landmarks were lit up at night, every night.  Last night, nothing was illuminated.  I wonder if the economic problems have hit the smaller towns harder than the large cities.

Even though there were no floodlit monuments, I managed to take a few interesting photos...