sábado, 29 junio | Segovia

Today was the first excursion put on by ESTO, the program I belong to. We were supposed to meet the Nebraskans at 8:00a to get to this plaza by 8:15a. We didn't realize that the escalators don't start working until 8:00a and there was three or four bus loads of people also lining up to get up the escalators. Luckily we realized the plaza and the bus was at the bottom of the stairs and we were a few hundred feet away from our bus and there were no hills involved. We piled into the bus and alternated between talking and napping for the 2 hour bus ride.

The first thing we did after getting off of the bus was going to see the aqueducts. The aqueduct of Segovia is very, very impressive and it has been around for about 2000 to 1600 years- the beginning of construction isn't determinable. Regardless, the fact that it's been around for more than a millennia isn't something my American cultured mind can comprehend. After taking a lot of pictures from the ground we climbed up some stairs for a view from the top.

One side of the aqueducts, with some cyclists (for scale and for Daddy)

Mariah and I halfway up the stairs overlooking the aqueducts.

Next we went to the Segovia Cathedral. It was very pretty from the outside and the inside was even better, but there were no pictures allowed inside. When we were inside the church a lot of my classmates didn't quite get the whole concept of a Catholic church and kept asking about traditions of the Church. I tried to explain the best I could with my 13 years of Catholic education, but I was way to distracted by the million different things to see inside to be able to give more than just a 30 second explanation. If I got special permission return there and take three photos, there are three things I'm going to make a beeline for: the books from the 13th century hand-written (obviously) by monks and illustrated using gold ink; one of the chapels dedicated to Mary or the chapel that had this gorgeous precious medal artwork (but that might have been in the exterior wings); and the priests' vestments (from I think the 13th century) that were hand weaved (again obviously) with spots of gold thread. When we went to the exterior wings there was a room full of vestments, chalices, coins, crosses, and my personal favorite: a relatively simple Monstrance unless you saw the ornate carvings and the precious gem inlaid in it.

In front of Segovia Cathedral. 

We then had a small amount of free time before lunch so we hung out in la Playa Mayor and saw this float and band come down a side street decorated for San Andrés and when they stopped the tractor, served some sausage and bread. It was ridiculously crazy and loud, but so much fun! We then went to the the restaurant for lunch. I had a salad (because I knew it'd have the amazing tomatoes...) and stuffed red peppers with sangria (I am my parents' daughter...). Then for dessert we had a tarta, which is basically cake, and helado and for post dessert we had café con leche and it was decided that I'm a little too used to coffee because I was able to drink the whole cup without needing to add a million packets of sugar and still think it was too bitter.

San Andrés float without a million people crowding around yet.
On the front there is the phrase "San Andrés" with the crown you can see in the bottom right corner. 

After eating we went to Alcázar de Segovia, which was this massive castle that inspired Walt Disney. The outside was massive and had a moat that could easily fit several cars across bumper to bumper and maybe a 50 foot drop; and the inside was impressive, especially were a succession of royals renovated a section of the castle. I have a slight obsession with stained glass so I was easily fascinated. And even when there wasn't stained glass, the view was magnificent! There was one room with lifesized statues  There were also quite a few sections that pertained to the military, such as armor, but by then there were way too many people informally added to our tour group that I could no longer see or hear. I did wander off to see a scale model of a cannon tester and it made me wonder what the phrase "technological advances" is based on if that was invented a couple hundred years ago. At the very end of the tour we were given the option to climb up a seemingly never ending stair case to go to the top of the castle. The view was ten times better than from any window, and you could see completely around the castle without having to move to a different room.

Posing in front of Alcázar

Stained glass with more detail than this picture can show. 

A model of a cannon tester. 

The view of the Cathedral from the very top of Alcázar.

By then it was 7 or so in the evening and I was worn out. We trekked back to the bus and headed back to Toledo. When I finally got back to the casa I was so ready to just sit and eat some potatoes, chicken, boiled eggs, and peppers salad and just research Madrid in preparation for tomorrow.

(I might end up coming back to this post (which I did) and adding things as I remember, but as I am finishing this at 1am I think I am doing alright at remembering things)

Love y'all!