The Saving Grace

 We are heading back into downtown Zaragoza,  The current population is about 675,000 - making it the Coventry of Spain.  It is vying to be the 4th city of the country and the 26th of the EU.  Luckily it is February.  If we are lucky it will be the  average of 13.4 oC and not be the one in seven days it rains.  We went in July.  We had no air conditioning - cos of being in economy mode.  It was HOT!


Having ambled back over the Enro we are passing a Lidl.  It opens 9am to 9.30pm every day but sunday.  Five days ago Jeong was thoughtful in a four star sort of way.  ‘Even though they don't have a wide variety of products, there are many hotels where you can stay as part of a package, so I recommend a supermarket that's good to go to quickly in the evening!!  For reference, lidi and Carrefour are supermarkets similar to Europe's E-Mart and Homeplus.’




Even better than Lidl is a hardware shop and Baiz is just down the road.  People tend to like it without saying why.  David did ‘Great neighborhood hardware store, there is everything you need, great professionals and good people’



Extrem Gastro & Baker gets 4.8 stars from almost 1350 reviews.  Yesterday Alejandro said ‘Small but cute place for breakfast and brunch. It is necessary to reserve a table (high or low) if you want to have a place. The application for making reservations is very complete. We had a high table next to the bar. Friendly and kind staff. Quick commands. Very complete and varied menu: coffees, juices, toasts, muffins, cakes and heartier dishes such as, for example, cachopo. Comfortable and clean bathrooms. We loved the place, we will repeat’






We are ending up at the Cathedral of the Saviour of Zaragoza.  I tried clicking on the website but my safety software said is was ‘suspicious’.  Either Reformists or Humanists have taken control of cyber security.  A mosque once stood here.  In 1140 a Romanesque cathedral was began.  Aragonese kings were crowned her from the 13th to 15th century.  In 1318 Pope John XXII made the place an archbishopric and the incumbents went all Gothic-Mudejar on the extensions.  In 1403 the dome fell down and antipope Benedict XIII had it rebuilt in the shape of a papal tiara.  It was decorated by Mohammed Rami.



We end, end in one of those paved areas surrounded by walls which happen when cathedrals get build round and the authorities think they better tidying up the alleyways this creates.

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