"Where I lived for many years..." a Zaragoza Travel Page by Belsaita

I was supposed to spend one year in Zaragoza, but I one year followed another... and finally were near 18 years! Wonderful memories, life-long good friends. Now, I do return from time to time, a part of my heart is still there.

IMO, Zaragoza itself is a "hidden gem". Unknown for many tourists, the old city is lovely, but most visitors only do a short visit to "El Pilar" (a famous basilica, you can see some frescos from Goya and his disciple Bayeu here) and run away. However, next to El Pilar you have a less known church: the cathedral know as "La Seo", one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings in Spain, recently restored. La Seo was build using part of the old Mosque after the Re-conquest, now a beautiful wall can be admired from the street. Zaragoza has as well one of the best preserved Muslim palaces in Spain (Palacio de la Aljaferia, now the regional parliament), some nice museums (Gargallo, Serrano...) In addition, Zaragoza has a vibrant nightlife, and great food: you can try some of the best tapas in Spain there!

As per daytrips, Zaragoza is a bit in the middle of nowhere, even there are many interesting places not so far away: if you have a few days you can go to the Pyrenees (you can set Jaca as base for many interesting daytrips), or do the "Mudejar route" (Teruel - world heritage site, Albarracin...). Closer to Zaragoza you can visit the "Monasterio de Piedra" (not only a monastery, it's a beautiful natural park), visit the town of Fuendetodos (birthplace of Goya), you can go to Barbastro (Somontano area) doing a wineries tour...

Well... you may google these names, I can speak for hours!

You may have a look at this website:

turismodearagon.com

I did not find the time to write tips about Zaragoza yet...