We couldn’t find an easy train or bus from San Sebastian to Zaragoza so we decided to rent a car. Spain’s train network is vastly improved but still “in work”. We are still traveling with Paul and Kara and it makes a lot more sense to rent a car when traveling with 2 couples. This also gave us the flexibility to add another destination to our travel day. We stopped in Pamplona for lunch and to walk around a bit. It is was really cool to see the old alleys where the famous running of the bulls takes place. It was a bit touristy and certainly not the same Pamplona that Hemingway had experienced.
We eventually made it to the town of Zaragoza which is the 5th largest city in Spain. We were blown away by the views from our 2 bedroom Airbnb. I don’t think I would recommend the Airbnb for other reasons but the views were incredible. Zaragoza is famous for its huge Cathedral/Basilica called “Our Lady of the Pillar”. It was famous for the Virgin Mary “appearing” on a pillar in the nearby river. We kept taking pictures of the church during our 3 night stay. In the morning, at sunset, at night and from our apartment and from the stone bridge across the river. We even had a night watching the church during a lightening storm. Really amazing from the photographer part of me…
We did a lot of walking again and saw the other attractions in town. In front of the Pilar Cathedral was the biggest square in the European Union. We also saw some Roman theatre ruins, more churches, a bull fighting ring and toured the local “palace” (an old Moorish palace, now a museum and also used for everyday city government business). Everything was in walking distance from the river that our Airbnb was on.
We were out of Basque country but we still had a lot of good food to eat. Zaragoza has a neighborhood called “El Tuba” because the narrow alleys filled with tavernas feel like Tubes. We did a lot more pinxto and Tapas meandering during lunches and dinners. They are famous for their lamb “Teranasco” but we still had a lot of other seafood and meat dishes that we love in Spain. We mostly just enjoyed hanging out and drinking in Spain with Paul and Kara during our last 3 days together for a while.
It was really nice to not hear much English during our 3 days in Zaragoza. It is definitely a less touristy city than San Sebastian and it felt much more like the “real Spain” that we want to experience. It is still a destination for tourists but we mostly saw domestic Spanish tourism. It is a really beautiful town and I’m not really why sure it doesn’t get the international tourists that we see in the other Spanish big cities. We had a great time here with Paul and Kara, but it is time to explore a bit more by ourselves. Paul and Kara are heading to Madrid for a few days and we are flying to Porto, Portugal. It has been 7 years since we were in Portugal and we are excited to return for a longer stay than when we had jobs.