Curiosa Alyssa viaja a Segovia y Ávila

One of the great things about my language school was that they provided trips to different places surrounding Salamanca with a tour of the destination. The weekend of August 20th, I was able to visit Segovia and Ávila with many other language schools in the area. I went by myself, but quickly got to know Jan, another German student from my school. As we drove about 2 hours by bus, we passed the beautiful landscape of Castilla y León. Views of more corn, sunflowers, cuestas, and trees filled the bus windows. Our first stop in Segovia was Álcazar, a very impressive castle thought to be constructed as far back as the time the Celts were in Spain. Álcazar was the palace of many Castilian monarchs and an artillery academy. I remember Nick´s review of the castle and made sure to marvel at the stained glass. I did not remember reading about the Modejár ceilings. (here) The castle was such a typical castle, which made it awesome!! As tourists walk over the moat to enter, they soon see the suits of armor in the first room they enter, then the dining room, and next the royal throne! The tour was in spanish, so much of what our guide said I did not understand, but it was still impressive to think that Ferdinand and Isabella lived in these rooms..sort of... Unfortunately, the castle suffered severe damage from a fire. Another miraculous thing about the place is that I don´t recall any lights, and it was so bright inside. The flowers were lovely along our path to Segovia´s Plaza Mayor and Catedral. Our group had a break to wander Segovia and enjoy lunch, so Jan and I broke away to find food and see what we saw. By simply wandering the streets we went inside Convento de Corpus Christi and then continued down a calle called Juan Bravo to come across Il Fiesta Del Pulpo- a Galician fiesta held in Segovia for most of the month of August. Not knowing what Pulpo was, I walked past assuming it was just another excuse for the Spaniards to eat ham in a different way (The picture is not appetizing). Luckily, Jan happened to love Pulpo and explained to me that it was octopus. Wow!! Nick told me to try octopus if I had the chance, and boy did I do it! A whole fiesta dedicated to pulpo, how lucky could I be. Han and I shared a plate of Pulpo a feria, the signature dish of the fair. It was delicious and exciting! We enjoyed a lovely view because Segovia sits on a top of a limestone elevation. After eating, we wandered through the small streets to see many of the monuments on the map. Segovia seems to be stuck in, I don´t know, the 1500´s. With the way the streets curve around and the presence of dozens of churches in Romanesque style and many homes that appear to date back to around then. After our wandering, we went to the Cathedral and spent the rest of our free time marveling at this amazing structure. With 23 decorated chapels, a choir, and an organ- I think I could have spent all day looking at the details of each. Jan and I met up with the group and recieved a tour of the acqueduct. Segovia, as I understand, is known for its acqueduct- as it appears in nearly every city symbol and postcard. Thought to be erected in the 1st century, the structure provided water for the high lying part of town from its source 14 km away. Over 20,000 granite rocks stand unsupported by concrete. I will let the picture impress you. 

166 arches supported by 120 pillars

     At this point in the day it was so hot- ´hace mucho calor´. As we walked to the bus, Jan and I were taking bets as to who would fall asleep first. Before an hour passed, we were in Ávila. If you could picture the most perfect Spanish town to time travel to, you wouldn´t need to- just visit Ávila. This walled city is filled with churches and convents from the Romanessque period., We spent most of our time wandering the small streets past church after monastery after convent after mansion. I think we made an apropriate lap around the city, in and out of the walls from the 12th centure. In true German fashion, Jan bought some sausage and we caught the bus for home, counting the lightening on the horizon.

The walls of Ávila