Because I got lucky that this was a quiet week, the working actually was a net positive. The weather in Zaragoza was brutal - roughly highs of 95-104 each day. Not too humid, but still, ridiculously hot. But when ti was that hot, I was of course inside, in a very well air conditioned apartment (central AC even) not realizing the world was baking outside. I would do sightseeing in the mornings when it was noticeably cooler, generally from 9:30am - 12:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday, grab a nice lunch and then start working. And because it was a light week, I woudl re-emerge around 11pm when it was cooler (still hot) and still lively and have fun in the Zaragoza-ian night.
So, about Zaragoza, today it is very much a working city. There weren't too many tourist (or at least how i judge that, not too many people clearly not speaking Spanish). But there are a lot of people. It is a center of commerce, of industry, of life. It also has a really interesting history, being the stie in Spain that Augustus Caesar gave his name - to which one of the ancient names of the city is Caeseragusta. There are still Roman ruins lying under the city, some partially excavated, including a large amphitheater (or at least the remnants of such). The city itself has no real old town, it is all somewaht European, except for a large pedestrian only area near its center that houses two churches - each better than the other in terms of beauty and importance. You can't escape Catholicism in Europe, man.
Thats where the sights really start - the dueling churches of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar and the Cathedral of Zaragoza. They are both equally brilliant in their own ways. The Basilica is in conventional terms, better - it is bigger, more hauntingly beautiful. The faux-alter area around wehre Mary appeared on a pillar (hence the name) is glorious. So is the actual altar. It is everything you want out of a large European church. Sadly, they didn't in theory let you take photos - though many people did, and that particular "rule" was similar to all of the main sights in Zaragoza weirdly. The Basilica was awesome.
So was the Cathedral, which despite being considerably smaller had some of the best of one type of feature I have ever seen. Namely, their side altars were audacious. They were also quite different - some had black marble work, some white marble, some wood. But no matter the material, they were all brilliant. The main altar itself was way overshadoweed by the brilliance along the sides. Not sure how it came to be this way - I really should look up the backstory of why we have varying materials and designs and what not but it all worked so well.
Lest you think the only sights are churches, Zaragoza has some other hidden beauties as well. Let's start with the other well known sight, the Aljafaria Palace a Moorish palace turned into the current Argaon Parliament (Aragon being the state that Zaragoza is the capital of). It's hard to describe why I was slightly disappointed by the Palace. Granted, it was beautiful, and the stone work on the columns and frescoes and tesserals were all phenomenal, but what did it is when I googled about it, I was told it was huge and would take two hrs. I went, and it took 45 minutes. No idea where the two hours came from, but what you realize when you go, is that a good 60% of it is closed off because it houses the current day state government offices. I blame my googling more than the actual place, because the place itself was still quite beautiful.
There are also some museums - two of which actually reside in the little stretch between the two cathedrals. First is a weird roving exhibit type museum housed in an old muslim arch building, that right now explored the legacy of a famous Spanish photographer. I love art museums to no end (as weird as that sounds to admit) but even I draw the line at photography. Not a fan. Thsi was fun, but it would've been better if they were highlighting anything else. La Lonja museum because it is roving exhibits. The other museum, the Alma Mater, was a lot better, as it focused on the histor yof the city, of the catholic influence of the artwork in the city overitme. It is fairly small (but not expensive) but does a great job of giving a lot of information about how Zaragoza came to be and why it is so important religiously.
The last museum, and last sight in all honesty, I went to, was a bit of a weird one, in that it is called th4e Centro de Historias, a beautiful modern building inside while the outside facade is of a church. Inside are random roving exhibits and despite the name, none were really mdoern. Hell., one of the three floors was an exhibit on Marilyn Monroe. Now, she is a timeless beauty, so it was still interesting, but not what I expected when venturing into a museum in Zaragoza. Less than that was origami, but hte top floor was dedicated to Origami, which weirdly is an export that Zaragoza took to quite a lot. The exhibit is amazing, easily worth the price of admission (5 euros) - as I saw origami at a level that was heretofore inconceivable, from all kinds of animals to hobbits (there was a bit LOTR section) to so much more. Didn't realize origami meant this...
In the end, the sights of Zaragoza as a whole can probably be seen in a day if you had all day. I didn't have all day. I had three to foiur hours in the morning of two days, and I saw it all. I went back and forth on where was the best place to spend the work week and I think I guessed right about Zaragoza, especially since I could escape its 100 degree weather right at the time it was at its peak.
