Arrival in Zaragoza

After an uneventful late afternoon flight from London (Stanstead) a week or so ago (2August), Ryanair deposted me in the northern Spanish city of Zaragoza. The city, whose name is a corruption of Ceasar Augusta, lies in Spain's Aragon region. It was nearly dark on arrival, so I caught a taxi to my hotel and flopped into bed. After all it was an exhausting day, what with loading furniture to take to Elly's new House in Surbiton, driving there from Poole, and then heading off clockwise around the congested M25 to find the airport in question.

I had most of Sunday in Zaragoza to myself prior to catching a bus to Jaca late in the afternooon where I was to attend a week-long meeting of the IGU Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems. So, I set out early to avoid the later afternoon heat typical of northern inland Spain. The city centre was suprisingly interesting and historic, but compact despite the city's population of about 700,00 -the fifth largest in Spain. With a Roman name, it was not difficult to find Roman remains, inlcuding part of the wall and what appeared to be an amphitheatre under excavation. The banks of the broad Ebro river were green and pleasant to amble along, or even take a rest. But the Catholic Church provided many of the focal points of interest. The cathedral called Nuestra Señora del Pilar ("Our Lady of the Pillar") was monumental in every sense: size, decorations, and frescos - one reputedly by Goya.

While walking around, I encountered several markets, with one next to the bull-ring looking like multiple garage sales and attracting thousands in search of a bargain. Nearby, a large castle or palace called the Aljafería is one of several Moorish remains in the city. 'Remains' is probably not the right word, because the castle houses Aragon's parliament! It was also the site of Verdi's Il Trovatore. Something strange happened at about 2.30 pm and I recalled a similar event experienced in Lisbon several years ago. Slowly the streets emptied and by 3.00 I was one of very few people resembling mad dogs and Englishmen!! In short, it was Siesta time ... something I couldn't get used to all week.

As the evening came on, I met with about 20 colleagues from all over the world at Zaragoza's Delicias Station. First to greet me was someone familiar, my colleague Neil Argent all the way from the University of New England!! We were followed by many other nationalities: Brazilian, Portuguese, Spanish, Belgian, French, Slovenian, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Turkish, Czech, Moroccan and so on. The wonderful thing about these conferences is the mixing of nationalities in a friendly way. By the way, Delicias was a wonderful piece of modern architecture housing some very modern trains capable of 300 kph en route to Barcelona. Two hours later, we arrived safely in Jaca.

AS