Our Weekend Excursions
¡Hola es Sarah y Alexis! ¿Qué tal? ¿Está Bien?
We have had an amazing weekend!Even though it was a little bit rainy, we had a fabulous time! On Saturday we woke up and all met at the bus stop at 8. We loaded the bus with the other T&E groups and headed to Segovia. There were no complaints about the two hour drive to Segovia, because all of us had a chance to catch up on our sleep! Segovia is amazing, and so beautiful. When we first got there we walked to the aqueduct. The aqueduct was built with NO cement. Nothing is holding the MASSIVE structure together, except the weight of the rocks! SO COOL! It was very interesting to learn about how and when it was built. This town is full of historic buildings. The view we saw overlooking the mountains in Segovia were unbelievable! Our tour guide took us all over the city to see old cathedrals and The Catholic Queen’s Castle. The most breathtaking thing about the castle was looking at the 100 meter drop from the ground near the entrance. The palace sits above a HUGE ditch. In total the palace and ditch are 300 meters. This castle is said to be the inspiration behind Cinderella’s castle. When we walked in the palace, the ceilings in all the rooms were so unique and beautiful. It was very interesting to see the meaning behind all of the artwork and sculptures. The Catholic Queen wanted every room in the castle to involve art and religion.
After we spent much time in the castle, our group had free time. Since it was a little chilly, we decided to sit inside at a cafe in the Plaza Mayor in Segovia. Every body in our group ordered something yummy! Lourdes opted for the chocolate cake! The pastas, sandwiches, and cake were so filling. At 3:30 we met back in the plaza, and we hopped right back on the bus for Avila. Avila is another historic city between Segovia and Salamanca. When the bus got close to the town, the first thing we saw was a gigantic wall. Someone yells,” IS THAT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA?” This stone wall surrounded the center part of Avila and was absolutely amazing. We took a tour around the city with our leader Lourdes and another T&E group. We went into the church dedicated to Saint Teresa. Amazing statues and relics made out of gold inside. The pope came to this church on the fourth anniversary of Saint Teresa’s Death. Everything we have seen has been breathtaking. We headed back to Salamanca after our quick tour of Avila. We all ate with our families and fell right asleep.
This morning we all got to sleep in because our group was meeting at 11. After some of us quickly got breakfast, we headed to the local bus stop to go to the Rostro. The Rostro is a Sunday morning/afternoon market, similar to the Germantown festival. However, the Rostro was definitely more of a cultural experience. It was so fun learning about the Spanish cultures by looking at different shops. We walked around all the cool booths for awhile. After we all bought a few things, we headed back to our houses. We rested up, once again, ate lunch, then met back up at 4:30. Of course, we all enjoyed another cone of amazing gelato. After we stuffed our faces, Lourdes took us bike riding. For us, this bike excursion around Salamanca was the highlight of the trip so far. We went through parks and all over the city. Even though it started raining and we had to hike up a few hills, it was a great day! Alexis fell off her bike and yelled “Oh my Lourddesss” (our tour guide’s name)! And to top off this amazing day, we enjoyed chocolate and churros at Valor (the best chocolate in Salamanca)! We are all looking forward to our second and last week of school starting tomorrow! We hope all is well back in the states. To all our families, friends, and faculty, we miss y’all!
Alexis y Sarah
