As well as visiting the castle, we also visited the town's plaza mayor (the oldest plaza; every city or town has a plaza mayor). The story went that centuries ago when the town was built, they used to hold bullfighting events in the plaza and people would pack the balconies surrounding the plaza to watch. It is said that those that stood upon the balconies were of higher status than those who had to watch through holes in the fences. After this, we headed to a Tahona (an old Spanish word for bakery). Our instructor knew the baker in town and made a deal with him so that we could experience an authentic Spanish almuerza (lunch). The baker was named Pedro Diaz-Garrido (Last names in Spain go by the form of Father's last name-Mother's last name. It is customary to do it in this manner). He has been baking bread for more than 30 years and is famous for his craft.
His bread was fantastic. It was so soft and tasted delicious alongside our other appetizers.
The baker threatened a local restaurant owner that if he didn't give our group a deal for the meal, he wouldn't provide his restaurant with bread for the weekend. It worked out and we were able to get our entire 4 course meal for half price. It was normally 40 euros, but we only had to pay 20.
A homemade chorrizo cooked in house wine. So delicious.
Croqueteas- A fried ball of jamon (Spanish Ham) and cheese
Sangria
Lamb, salad, and fried potatoes.
Our desert plate. Everything was delicious.
Sitting underneath a canopy of shade created by the grape vines, our group sat and enjoyed an authentic Spanish meal. The sun snuck through the vines plastering freckles of light upon the flowered, mint green table cloth. There was a light breeze and it added to the peacefulness of the meal. The whole meal seemed almost too picturesque to be true; it felt as if I was sitting at a vineyard in Napa Valley or something. The meal was fantastic and our entire group interacted and joked with each other as if we had known each other for much longer than just 4 days. This was the view that we had during our meal.
After an extremely long lunch in comparison to one that would be had in America (it took over 3 hours to complete), we got back into the bus and headed towards Segovia. This is a view from Segovia's plaza mayor.
That is a very old and famous Cathedral. The intricate designs and architectural structures make this Cathedral one of the coolest I have ever seen in my life. We also were able to tour the inside of a massive castle. It was filled with a number of cool items like armored suits and marble statues. We even got to climb up a tower of 152 stairs to the top of the castle where there was a view that over looked the city of Segovia. The views from up there were spectacular.
After touring the inside of the castle, I walked down into the river valley to take a picture of the castle from below. At the bottom of the stairs there was a wall with a view of the massive stone structure towering above me. I laid out on top of the wall with my feet outstretched and used my backpack as a pillow. I took a short nap because I felt exhausted from all of the walking. It was quite the feeling when I awoke to this view.
Last night was also the first time that I have been able to fully experience the night life in Spain. My friend Bruno and I started talking with some beautiful Spanish girls outside of one bar and they took us to another that they thought we would like. It was a Indie rock bar that typically didn't have any foreigners in it. There is a word that they have for foreigners and I believe it is called a Guiri. This bar was filled with Spaniards, but they treated us so well. I was pleasantly surprised. After a few drinks at that bar, Bruno and I said goodbye to our new friends with a kiss on both cheeks and headed out to regroup with the remainder of our classmates in one of Segovia's discotecas. We ended up staying out until nearly 4 AM, and by the end of the night, I was more than ready to fall asleep. Apparently in Madrid, it is typical to stay out past 6 AM. I'm not sure how I am going to be able to make this work this weekend, but you already know I am going to try it out.
Thanks for reading,
RCE
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