Jesus and Mariangeles suggested going to Segovia for the day. Although I had been there before with my brother on a daytrip from Madrid by train during our 2001 Thanksgiving week vacation, I was eager to go again because it's such a beautiful place. For a city of its small size Segovia is packed with important historical monuments ranging from one of the highest surviving Roman-era aqueducts to a magnificent Gothic cathedral, to the Alcazar of Segovia, probably one of the most perfect storybook castles anywhere. The Alcazar probably makes it onto almost as many calendars as Germany’s Neuschwanstein. I marveled at them as much this time around as I did seven years ago. I also lucked out with the weather in Segovia again. In June it’s usually blisteringly hot on central Spain’s Meseta where the climate has been described as "six months of winter and six months of hell", but record cool temperatures made for very comfortable walking around the hilly town.

Segovia has numerous less commanding monuments than its magnificent aqueduct and clifftop castle . Jesus has great interest in church architecture and guided me on an extensive tour of Segovia’s numerous Romanesque churches. One of the most notable was down in a valley well outside the old city perched defensively on a steep-sided hill. The Iglesia Veracruz is a unique 12-sided (dodecagon) building associated originally with the Templars and now Knights of Malta.

Food is very important to Spaniards, so Jesus and Mariangeles made it a point to check out menus early and reserve a table for lunch at a top place specializing in traditional Segovian cuisine. In Spain, of course, lunch doesn’t start until at least 2:00 in the afternoon and can last until about 5:00. They ordered the Menu de Degustation for the three of us which began with a series of appetizers: Judias con Morcilla (giant beans with blood sausage/black pudding), Judias con Chorizo (giant beans with spaicy sausage), Crema de Mongos (cream of mushroom soup), Duck Liver Pate, and a strange dish called Morro which consisted of chewy, almost gelatinous chunks in broth with a very porky flavor . I thought it might have been pig’s feet or knuckle, but in response to my question about it Jesus held his hands in front of his face to make a triangular shape (after I didn’t understand the Spanish word he used). Eeeew, I’m eating pig’s snout! So I ate both Jews (Judias) and Muslims (Morros) all in one meal.

The main course was Cochinillo, suckling pig, of which I got an entire hind quarter, one of the most typical Castillian dishes. The only accompaniment to this pig feast was dense country bread to mop up the juices, of which there are plenty. So would you expect a little baby animal to have a lot of fat or a little? It hasn’t had much time in life to put on much fat or develop much muscle. There was only a rather thin layer of visible fat on my piglet beneath its crispy skin, but the tender, succulent nature of the meat suggests quite rich fat content.

They told me dessert was going to be a typical Segovian specialty called Ponche, a mystery before it arrived that sounded like it might be a bug fruity rum drink. No, Ponche was a big chunk of torte with two layers of sponge, a thick layer of creamy marzipan-flavored filling, and a sweet burnt top as in crème brulee – fantastico! We finished the meal with some Licore de Hierbas, a syrupy yellow herbal liqueur with a medicinal flavor. Maybe that’s what you need to neutralize some of the artery-clogging fat from our massive pig feast. We had to follow up dinner with a short siesta on a park bench at the edge of a cliff with a great view of the surrounding countryside before we did more touring.