The trip from Girona to San Sebastian is long and our first plans were to take the northern route through France and see the Airbus factory. But we liked Girona so much that we prolonged our stay and didn’t have enough time to do that. So we took the more direct route instead and stopped in Zaragoza for 2 nights.
The highlight of Zaragoza is certainly the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. It is one of the most important church in Spain. The huge interior is interesting on its own, but the most sacred part is the marble pilar. The legend says that Apostle Jacob was preaching the christian faith in the area, but nobody wanted to convert and he started getting desperate. In this moment, Virgin Mary appeared to him on a pilar, which cheered him up. He built a church on the site, with the pilar in its center, which over the years became the current basilica. It is also possible to go up one of the towers (by elevator!). I wanted to change my glasses there and they fell down several stories 🫣 Luckily the staff were able to get them for me from the restricted area, and unharmed 🙂
Next to the basilica, there is a roman wall, and a little bit further a great local mercado to buy a picnic. It is definitely nice to take a walk along the center’s streets, nice architecture, restaurants, bars…the city has a very inviting atmosphere. If you are into craft beer, grab some in Hoppy Craft Beer House along with a tasty burger.
