El Norte.

So we went to the North ohhhh about a month ago, and so much has happened since then that I need to share...so I’m going to try something new. In lieu of writing a novel of a blog post, this will be mostly pictures and fewer words. ¿Entendéis? Vale vale vale, here we go:
First stop: COCA
castle
disgusting creeper boys
SUN-unexpected, but very much appreciated.
playground

Next up: LEÓN
beautiful cathedral with amazing stained glass windows
me as the guía
Casa de Botínes-Gaudí
gorgeous blue sky and perfect clouds
adorable children at play
Pantheon of the Kings, with the oldest frescoed ceiling in the world.
sunset in the streets
crazy old man with a cane
yet another playground
frolicking en frente de the monastery
MUSAC-the contemporary art museum
Domino’s Pizza
girl’s night and mucho laughter
hot bath-HALLELUJAH
sleep

Camino de Santiago-Okay I have to explain a little on this one, because I think it is really cool: This is an ancient path that pilgrims have journeyed across for centuries, and it is still very popular today. The ending point is in Santiago de Compostela (very northern Spain), and to do the entire route takes about 5 weeks to complete, walking. As we drove along the main highway, this “camino” runs directly parallel, and we could see a few “pilgrims” walking every once in a while. The whole concept fascinates me.

Frómista:
a jewel of a Romanesque church
strongest wind you’ve ever encountered
watch ‘school of rock’ on the busride--love you, Jack Black!

Covarrubias:
adorable little village
walk along el Rio Arlanza
amazonian women

Santo Domingo de Silos:
population: 320 (take that, Winthrop!)
funky doors and streets that I loved
tour of the monastery
trek up the mountain
Vespers: monks doing Gregorian chant
back to hotel in Burgos
dance party in the hallway

 Hokay so this is suuuuper long already, so day 3 shall be continued at a later date. !Besos y abrazos!

Smashing Segovia

I am terribly far behind on this whole blogging business. And Spain will not wait for me to catch up, so maybe this will end up just being lots of pictures--which is probably how you like it anyway!

Hokay so, almost a month ago (yeah.....super far behind!) we traveled up north to a little city called Segovia. After some deep thought, I have decided that this city is in my top 5 favorite cities in Spain. It’s hard to explain exactly why I love it so much, but for me it seemed like such a magical place. That is not meant to be ironic, but I guess it is a little bit because the castle at Segovia was the sole inspiration for a similar castle at the world’s most magical place, Disneyland. Be that as it may, Segovia really is an enchanting city.

Blanca had been warning us about how cold the North is, so Katie and I layered up with countless shirts and coats, extra socks, and leggings under our jeans. As expected, we overheated a little on the hour and a half bus ride to Segovia, but it was well worth it because our dear madre, of course, was right: it was freeeeezing. Our first stop when we arrived was at a little park below the Alcázar (the castle), so that we could look up and see it from a different angle. As we were walking around and taking pictures, it began to snow! It was like a flash blizzard-it started suddenly and lasted for about 10 minutes, and then was gone! We still had retained some heat stored during the bus ride, so Katie and I enjoyed frolicking around in the snow while most of the others ran for cover. Soon we gave in as well, and sprinted back to shelter.

Katie and I frolicking in the blizzard, beneath the magnificence of the castle.

Our next stop was at this funky, small, 12-sided church--La Iglesia de La Vera Cruz. This was built by the Knights Templar in the 13th century, and was made to resemble the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It was really cool to hear a little of the legends and history of the church, and see all the symbols of the Knights Templar and everything. After exploring inside for a little bit we headed back to our trusty bus, which then dropped us off in the heart of the city, right next to the majestic Roman aqueduct.

We couldn't resist recreating a sacrificial offer upon the altar.

It was raining at this point, so we huddled under our colorful umbrellas as our dear guía Antonio gave the spiel about the aqueduct. This structure is absolutely mind-boggling to me. It is 894 meters long, and was built by the Romans in the first century. There are over 20,000 granite blocks that form 163 arches. We all know the Romans were brilliant, so why is this so aqueduct so special? Well, it may be because it was built without a single drop of mortar. Scuuu me-WHAT? Basically it is just a bunch of rocks, supporting and holding each other upright. It is phenomenal--especially given its size. Truly an engineering feat. You’ve really got to hand it to the Romans...they weren’t messing around!

 Nuestro guía, doing what he does best. 

One thing that I really loved about Segovia is the buildings-as we walked through the streets, most of the buildings and homes that we saw had really gorgeous designs carved on the walls. Our guide told us that it helps so that the snow doesn’t stick to the walls and make the buildings cold. So aside from being useful, they made the buildings really beautiful, and I loved it!

 Of course, none of our trips is complete without visiting the cathedral in that given city, so that is where we ended up next. This cathedral was one of the last major Gothic buildings in Spain, and took almost 200 years to complete. The exterior is absolutely marvelous, and though we found the interior to be fairly bare and unimpressive in comparison to others we have seen, it was still a beautiful cathedral.

After hours of standing in the cold, wet streets and the equally cold cathedral, we were more than happy to have a break. The girls headed to the nearest cafe for some much-needed hot chocolate. There was a heater in the back room so we ended up staying there for most of our free time, only leaving in search of some postres. :)

 We saved the best for last, and finally headed over the Alcázar. It is magnificent--it sits on a cliff, with a moat on one side and a huge drop-off on the other. There are all these cool towers and turrets and it just looks like something out of a fairy-tale. No wonder it was used as the model for the Disneyland castle! We were able to walk through a few of the rooms and get the historical scoop from our lovely guide, and then finally we did our favorite thing: climb the tower. Upon reaching the top, we happily saw that the rain and clouds had cleared away, and we were greeted by the sun and a beautiful sky--it was perfect. The city and countryside looked absolutely gorgeous from way up there, and I could have stayed there for hours just soaking it all in.

 Cool stained glass windows and funky ceilings are normal activity in this castle.

Obviously, I am a bit obsessed with this castle. 

As you can tell (more from the pictures and less from my poor descriptions), Segovia is a really beautiful place. Even though I’m a wimp in the cold, I loved walking around the city and admiring all the lovely buildings and people. And now I'll end all this blabbing and just let the pictures speak for themselves!

Pretty buildings everywhere.

 We had a few bizarre weather moments--one being in the first picture, the sun was out but you can also see that it's snowing in half of the picture! As we left the city, the clouds disappeared and the sun came out in full force.
Te amo, Segovia.

La gente en mi vida

I thought I would give you all a break from reading about our endless travels and adventures, and focus instead on something a little closer to home. I am surrounded by the most wonderful people here, and I feel like paying a little tribute to them.
First on the list...my dear amiga, confidante, roommate, and partner-in-crime, the lovely Katie. Though we only met last year, the other girls in our group assumed that we were childhood friends. And boy, do we play the part well. It is not an uncommon occurrence for us to finish each others sentences, say the exact same thing simultaneously, give each other a knowing look and instantly collapse into a fit of giggles, etc. We complement each other really well, and balance out each others eccentricities. Example: dearest Katie abhors seafood for the most part (however, Blanca is just too darn good in the kitchen, and I believe Katie is slowly developing a liking for it), and whenever Blanca makes paella (a traditional dish with rice, vegetables, meat and seafood) Katie stealthily slides her shrimp onto my plate when Blanca isn’t looking. And I do the same with my chorizo. We share our snacks at school like good little playmates, and the girls are constantly amazed at how we look out for each other.

 

You would think after living in such close quarters week after week, and spending the majority of our time together that we would be completely sick of each other by now, but miraculously we have not reached that point. I am so grateful to have Katie here with me-she is a perfect mix of fun-loving and responsible, which enables us to both be on time for school and go out and party it up on the weekends. It was definitely a blessing that we were in the same apartment complex freshman year, discovered that we both had the dream of studying abroad in Spain, and have embarked on this journey together.

  This is how we feel about our homework.

Katie is beeeeeautiful--inside, outside, and all over--and has been the most wonderful companion throughout our Spain mishaps and adventures. She has taught me so much already--from fashion to the definitions of obscure words like “pilly” (when little fuzzies accumulate on your clothes--who knew?), to introducing me to the magical singing-and-dancing world of “Glee”. We have so many inside jokes and marvelous memories so far, with many more to come. Thank you for being so wonderful, my dear! I love you!

  

Mi querida madre, Blanca.
Oh how I love this woman. I will not even be able to come close to giving an adequate description of just how fabulous she is...but I will try. She is an older woman, 62 years old to be exact. This works outs very nicely for her because it is the same age as her one true love: Richard Gere. (citation needed: gracias katí).  Blanca is very popular and social, and is constantly on the phone with her friends (all older single ladies). She goes out and parties with her friends on the weekends, oftentimes getting home later than we do! I’m sure until recently she thought we were pretty lame, because we always have homework to do and only go out on the weekends--but she thinks more highly of us now that we’ve gone to a discoteca and danced until the sun came up. :)

 

Blanca is the most amazing cook--practically everything that she puts in front of us is gobbled up within minutes. To say that I love her cooking would be an understatement. She keeps us very well fed and packs little lunches for us whenever we go out traveling with our group. We try to offer to help cook or clean up after the meals, but she insists that we are only here to study and party and it is her job to cook and clean. She faithfully does our laundry every Monday, and we always come home to our socks and other unmentionables blowing in the wind on the clotheslines outside. Good thing we live on the top floor and have a balcony for such things.

 

She always has the table set very prettily. And here is the weekly Monday view out the window.  

She really is the perfect madre for Katie and I--we love her to death! She gives us all this motherly advice about not going outside with wet hair to avoid infirmities, wearing something “un poco sexí” to the discoteca, how to be safe on the trains, etc. She also loves to point out all the attractive men to us in hopes of setting us up with some Spanish boyfriends--nudging us and saying, “ooh muy guapo eh?” We come to school everyday with new stories about her, and even though the girls in our group haven’t met her yet, everyone loves her. She makes us laugh constantly, and we have many many “Blanca-isms” that make for wonderful stories. She is so fabulous. Te amo mi madre.

Our dear director, Landes.
Landes and his wife and four of his younger children have all come along for the journey and are living in a nice little chalet near the train station (a nice, short walk for Katie and I). They have been so kind and generous and have opened their home to us countless times. Their children, especially the two youngest, keep us entertained and often accompany us on our excursions to different parts of Spain. Landes and Deb are the perfect director-parents for us. They are adorable together, and balance each other out well (especially with punctuality :)). I am so grateful to have such loving parents here.

.....Landas...?

:)

The gang.
These girls are the best. We have so much fun together--whether that be spending Valentine’s Day eating ice cream and watching Jane Austen flicks, attending classes, stopping at every pastry shop and eating delectable desserts, or adventuring throughout our beloved España. Everywhere we go, we manage to have a great time and always find the humor in our situations. Everyone brings something special and different to the group, and we get along spectacularly, which is definitely a blessing. You are all fabulous my darlings!