Whenever I go on a road trip and travel abroad, on my way back, my mom sends me messages asking where we are and did we arrived at our (that day's) destination... As the trip lasts 3 days, that's intense messaging for all 3 days... 😃 On the last day, when we are entering Spain, I send her a message... Almost always, the response is: "I'm glad that you arrived home!" The problem is that from the Spanish border to our home, we still have 6 hours to drive (from this year 7 🙂)! Btw, we are not living on the other side of Spain, but more in the middle, so if you would like to cross the country, you would probably need a 12-hour drive...
Why do I mention this? Well, many people ask me did you visited that Spanish city, or did you visited another town, etc. While we do like to explore different cities, if you want to visit only 1, you would probably need at least 2 days (likely more), as 1 day is already reserved only for driving (of course, if you go by car)...
Before our son enrolled at the University in Valencia, he had an idea to enroll at the University in Zaragoza, which was a valid reason for us to go there and explore the Faculty and the city itself... When we went for the first time (I think it was THIS time), we went without him (only my wife and me) as he had some other plans, but the second time, he went with us... Anyway, long story short, the trip to Zaragoza took over 5 hours including a couple of breaks! With that in mind, we reserved the hotel for 1 night, to have more time to explore this beautiful city...
These photos and memories are from November 2023... The first day, after exploring the Aljafería Palace and a great meetup with two great Hivians, @palomap3 and @ninaeatshere (I did a post about the meetup last year, but didn't publish these 2nd-day photos!), we decided to explore the biggest city park called José Antonio Labordeta...
Our hotel was very close to the park, and we had to pass by the soccer stadium La Romareda, cross the street, and there we were! The park itself is huge and while we wanted to cover it all, we didn't have enough time for talks and photo-clicking... 😃
According to Wikipedia the park has 27 ha (or 270000 square meters if you like it more like that 🙂)... It doesn't sound too much, but there are so many things to see and so many small paths to take... Botanical gardens (from which you can see photos above and under this text), sculptures and fountains (like the one 3 photos above, named Fountain of Neptune), and much more...
As it was November, but still a sunny day, we saw many people jogging through the park and it was relatively peaceful to walk around... As you can see, even the animals in the small botanic garden were sunbathing... 😎
Green grass was a very refreshing sight for us as we were coming from a very dry area where we couldn't see too much "greenery" :)
I think that most plants were labeled, so you can learn a lot about them just by walking in the park, but I still forgot what this one is called and with a little help from the Internet, I learned (again) that it is Southern magnolia... 😃
I couldn't see any water passing by, but I suppose when it rains, these small bridges are helping people to pass over... Even if not, they are so cute... This photo, and the other one above reminds me of the children's show In The Night Garden, that my son was watching when he was little... 😂
And another sculpture, this time of King Alfonso I the Battler of Aragón, established in 1925...
As the sculpture is on the top of a small hill, you have to make a 180-degree turn and take a photo of the park (almost like a bird-eye view)! It's impossible to fit the whole park into one photo, but this part is what you can see when you enter (from the opposite side, in the distance)...
I have no idea what it is called in English, but in Spanish, this is Quiosco de la música, which was made for the Spanish-Frech exhibition in 1908, which is a great example of modernist art of those times...
And we are at the place where we entered the park, which means that our walk has finished... I remember that I did more photos, but have no idea where they are... Maybe it was from our second visit to Zaragoza, so maybe they will pop out from somewhere one day... 😃 I hope you enjoyed this short walk! Not sure when will I have time to visit again Zaragoza, but if I do, I will try to take more than 2 days as I skipped so many great places and I want to revisit this place again!
PS. Not sure, but this could be my first post in the Throwback Thursday community and I missed the day... 😃 It is Friday, so I will use the #fbf tag (that I didn't know what it means and had to Google it... It's Flashback Friday)!
Thank you for your time,
--ph--
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I loved that introduction about your mother, and I think all loving mothers are the same, mine does the same thing, but between small towns 🤣
I can't believe that our musical tour in Spain did not include Valencia and Zaragosa, and I wanted to do it because both places always resonate here through friends who know them, and also, my beautiful people from Hive happen to be in those cities. I remember that post where you mention @ninaeatshere and @palomap3, but I didn't know them well back then.
I know I'm a pain in the ass, but I'm still happy about that meeting in Madrid, and now that you're on #fbf Fridays I can't help but share this photo 🤣 I hug you brother PH
Hahahaha... Thanks for the photo! 😃
It was weird that your tour didn't "cover" Valencia and Zaragoza as both cities are pretty big and important... It looks like they deliberately took you in the coldest parts of Spain... 😛 😂
Hopefully, we will meet again in the next years!
Man you like to travel about! Some lovely pictures here and what an interesting and beautiful place Zaragoza looks, thanks for showing us around the place.
I have to ask how is your son getting on at the University of Zaragoza? What's he studying?
Tip reward: 0.2 Hive
In the end, my son went to Valencia to study... He plays violin and goes to the Conservatory of Music in Valencia...
Thanks for the comment, and the tip, and glad to hear that you liked the photos!
I have never visited Spain, but it is on my list, first Barcelona or Madrid I would like to visit incoming years ;) Is Spain expensive for a tourist?
It really depends on the city where you want to go, and not just the city, but probably the area in the city... Barcelona and Madrid are the most famous, and because of that, probably the most expensive... The rest aren't that much...
Also, it depends on the time of the year... Spain is more expensive than Greece, for example, but it can offer much more content... There is no town or village, that doesn't have some centuries-long history, a small museum, and interesting church, etc.
What beautiful photos you took!! It was amazing to meet you and show you the best known in the city. It's funny to see it from other perspectives and it helps to see it differently! I loved it! 🤗
Thanks a lot! It's always different when someone else describes our place... It reminds us how cool is the place where we live and we can appreciate it even more! We value more the town or city where we live!
Thanks for being our tour guide! 🙏
Looking now at the pictures of your post and all the ones posted about Zaragoza by Paloma, I am entering that city as a place to visit in Spain.
The weather is very nice, and you wrote that the period is November, so it's perfect for a tour.
In this Flashback Friday of yours, when I saw the ducks, I remembered mine, which I had at my grandparents' in the village.
I bought three small yellow ducklings at the market in Varaždin (Croatia), and brought them to Serbia in a cardboard box.
When the ducklings grew up, it turned out that they were the so-called "muddy ducks" variety, which cannot be announced with a "quack-quack", but only hissing 🙂
They were very hostile to anyone in the yard and soon ended up in a stew.
Well, it is a bit colder and rainier than on the coastline, but last year we were lucky with the weather... Btw. they have an airport too, but a very low number of flights... On the other side, the train connection with Barcelona is good...
I suppose any of the two girls would have more exact information about traveling there...
I don't have pleasant memories from my childhood regarding geese and ducks... 😃 They can be a bit crazy in the head... 🤣
These are very nice photos. Your mom is very caring and a cool person too.
Thanks! 🙏
As with every mom, yes she is caring (sometimes too much)... ❤️
I think Spain is really beautiful. I have only seen this in u tube a d other social platform. And I am very excited to see it in real.
Well, I hope you will make it and visit Spain one day!
Sending you an Ecency curation vote
Thank you very much for your curation! 🙏
It looks quite peaceful and calming to walk through. I have never been to Spain but it does sound nice and the wildlife being around makes it look nicer.
I think it was a work day, so there were not too many people out there... It was a peaceful walk...
Nice photos! Loved the buildings in Europe! Always nice to "visit" new places on Worldmappin! :)
!LUV
It would be great to have pins all around the world! I still haven't done any of the "over-the-ocean" trips... Only Europe... for now... :)
Time to plan one! Hehe!
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Hope that you're far away from floods :)
I hope that we are over with floods for the next 100 years... It was awful what happened... 😞
Too much traveling for me I like being at home lol
Hehehe... I totally get you... Every time I go on a vacation, I get sick... lol... But, on the other side, it's nice to get some memories, to have something different to remember, especially when we meet some new people...
Pretty big park! I have only been in Barcelona and Spanish islands, never there
Yes, it is a pretty big park... As I said, what is shown in the photos is maybe 1/3 (or even less) of the park!
I love seeing places that are clean 😍
Hehehe... Most places in Spain are clean... Sometimes you can see rubbish around trash bins, but most of the time, it's clean...
If it's a holiday and we find a special place to visit like this, then this day becomes memorable. To be spent amidst natural sights.
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Another pin lands on the map! 😃
Step by step you are discovering your map @ph1102! Looking forward to the next one already 🐝👍
Wish I can travel with you i really need one right now
Start saving, work on your plan, and you will make it!
Of cause am already on it
Hiya, @ybanezkim26 here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2388.
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Thanks for adding my post to Honorable Mentions! Always nice to see it there!
You are very welcome @ph1102! it was well deserved. ☀️
Keep up the great work 💪