Segovia & Flamenco

My last excursion! How has the past three months just flown by? I remember thinking that I would have all the time in the world to do everything that I wanted. No I feel like I'm grasping for straws. I have loved my study abroad! I'll make a post dedicated to expressing my feelings about that later, but let me first talk about Segovia. We didn't have a ton of time to explore as Dr. Martinsen's kids were all sick. His wife, Jamie, stayed home, and he came with us. We saw two main places within Segovia. The first was the aqueduct. It's hard to miss since the aqueducts are HUGE and they surround the city. The Romans built them , and used them to transport water into the city. You can still find them in Rome as well! It is amazing how long these structures have been standing. It amazes me how far advanced the Romans were. The other place we visited was the Alcazar of Segovia. It was one of the main homes for Isabel and Fernand (Reyes Catolicos), as well as their grandson, Carlos I. It is said that the throne room is where Christopher Columbus knelt and received approval to travel to America. The Alcazar is very lavish, as it was a castle for the kings and queens of Spain. From the rooms that we saw, the Royal Palace of Madrid was definitely designed after this castle. My favorite part was the throne room--that's an amazing part of history that happened there! I also loved the designs of the ceilings, as each one is difference and usually very beautiful. The alcazar wasn't super big, but the Reyes of Spain have castles scattered throughout Spain. While is Segovia, we had a traditional dinner, which included part of a roasted pig. Luckily mine didn't have a foot attached! But, the meat was super yummy, even though it was hard looking at the tail...!

We got to attend a traditional Flamenco show this week as well! It was about an hour long, and I was so impressed by what we saw! There was five different dancers, and each one was beautiful. I can't believe how fast that they can move their feet! It is a very beautiful and complex dance. I didn't realize that almost every dance includes singing, clapping, and stomping. It was incredible!

Tomorrow I pack up to head home! If it wasn't the evening after finals (and almost 2 am), I would write a huge long paragraph about how much I have loved my time here. You'll just have to wait until I get home! :)

Merida, Evora, Lisbon, & Sintra

This last week was incredible!! We were able to travel to four cities, and another country. I was able to help my professor help plan this trip (I'm his TA), and I was really happy with how it turned out! I knew that I was going to really like Portugal, but I ended up LOVING it! Here are some highlights from the trip.

Merida: This city is super cool because it is filled with Roman ruins. We were able to visit a amphitheater, theater, graveyard, and a temple. I have had the opportunity to visit Rome, and Merida was very comparable! Obviously, Italy is a whole different story in itself, but I really did enjoy the ruins in Merida. I loved seeing the ruins of old homes and the cemetery. The family/human life has been basically same throughout all time. It was interesting to think about how these families lived, what jobs they had, and the challenges that they faced. We were able to sing hymns together in the theater, and it made me think about what different productions were performed there!

Evora: The bone church was the main attraction in this city! Yes, you heard me right--a church made completely of bones. Basically, there was a graveyard where three monks wanted to build a church. Instead of getting rid of the graves, they decided to use the 500 bodies that were there to help create the church. I was able to find most all of the human bones, except hand, feet, and patellas. It was definitely an eery feeling walking into a church made completely of bones. But, I thought it was super interesting since I had never seen anything like it! Evora was beautiful in itself--the streets were colorful and winding, and the pastries we ate were delicious!

Lisbon: I LOVED THIS PLACE! We did so much here, its hard to sum up all that happened. Lisbon reminds me a ton of San Francisco. One of the main modes of transportation is the tram system, so we got to ride one! Its a city right on the beach, but is very close to the mountains (kinda like San Sebastian). The buidlings are bright hues of blue, yellow, pink, and red. It brings so much life to the city! We got to see two different towers while there--Tower of Belem and Descubrimientos. The first one was a jail, and then held the first rhino to come to the Iberian peninsula. The second tower has carvings of all the discovers of Portugal. I'm pretty sure it's one of the tallest buildings in Lisbon, so we got to see a beautiful view of the whole city. We also visited the Jerominos Monastery, which was very beautiful. It had incredible carvings throughout the whole building, and a huge cathedral was attached to it. We also visited the Carmo Convent, which is basically a skeleton of church. There was an earthquake and fire, so only a skeleton of the church remains. It was incredible at night--my jaw couldn't stay up! To end the night, we went to a Fado restaurant. Fado is traditional Portuguese music--there is a singer, guitar, and Portuguese guitar. It was very beautiful, and I really loved listening to it!

Sintra: Absolutely mind-blowing! We saw two places here. The first was Pena Palace. It was home to Portuguese royalty for a few years. To get up to the castle (its basically on the side of a mountain), we took tuk tuks. If you don't know what those are, they are small vehicles that are bigger than a motorcycle but smaller than a car. They are used a ton in India. It was so fun even though I felt like I was going to die! Ha ha! Anyways, the Pena palace was beautiful! It is super colorful (more than the Lisbon streets), and the inside reminded me of the Royal Palacio in Madrid. Every palace that I have been to has the same type of rooms (green room, Asian tea room, great hall, dressing room, study, etc). I really liked the palace because it was unusual and new! Most palaces don't look like something from a Disney movie. We then visited a millionaire's estate. It was built to basically impress the public, and it definitely fulfilled its purpose! The grounds of the estate are incredible--we visited the inverted tower. It is a tower that was build underground instead of above ground. After walking down the tower, we walked through underground tunnels beneath grottos and a waterfall. We also got lost in a labyrinth, and toured the millionaire's mansion. Definitely one of my favorite places!

I loved Portugal! I was sad when we had to change our trip to Barcelona. But, I am very grateful that I had the chance to visit another country on this trip. I ended up falling in love with a new place and culture!

Avila & Salamanca

One more excursion, sadly only two are left! This excursion was a short one, but it was nice that it wasn't too long. We traveled to the west of Madrid, to Avila and Salamanca. Both have been beautifully preserved in time. We were able to see some amazing things while there!

The main attractions we saw in Avila was the castle walls and the Convent and Cathedral of Saint Teresa. Avila is a relatively small city. What makes this location unique is the castle walls that surround the entire downtown area. The walls were built as fortification--the city endured some crazy battles! These were no small walls--it was incredible to think how they were built! We were able to walk about a kilometer on top of the walls. I love feeling like I'm in a different time period :). After climbing the walls, we went to the convent of Saint Teresa. She is a patron saint of Spain, and came from Avila. The cathedral included the her finger--that's right, we saw the mummified finger of Saint Teresa. It was not a pretty sight... haha. It is definitely interesting how Spaniards/Catholics glorify the saints of the church. There are so many sights through Spain that are dedicated to saints!

Salamanca is home to the third oldest university in all of the world! The "campus" there is huge--it basically spans the whole city. The university includes cathedrals as well as actual classrooms. For a long time, the university was only available to rich young men. Now, all can attend, but its a private institution. We were able to tour the old parts and new additions to the university. Fun fact: on one of the facades of the "new" cathedrals (you have to realize that new means it was built a few hundred years ago), an artist put an astronaut just a few years ago. There is also a devil eating gelato. Definitely interesting what they decided to add! On another façade of a different university building, a frog sculpture sits hidden. Students try to find the frog before taking tests; its supposed to give them good luck. I really enjoyed the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca. It was filled with students, and in the evening, it was beautifully lit. The next morning, we were able to go to an art-deco museum. In the 20s and the 30s, the poorer sectors started gaining more money. They wanted to have beautiful homes/furniture, but, everything they bought had to serve a purpose. Art decoration was born out of that idea! The museum had beautiful stained glass (it used to be a mansion) that reminded me of Barcelona. I really enjoy learning about that time period, so I loved the museum! Afterwards, we went to a cave, where the devil supposedly taught some students. I don't believe it, but they were kinda creepy caves. haha!

I had a great weekend, and I loved visiting these new cities. Also, as a side note, we got to see Lion King this week! It was incredible!!! I had never seen Lion King before, so it was super interesting to watch it in Spanish. There were some jokes I didn't understand...haha! But, I loved hearing people from South Africa speak in Spanish (it almost sounded like Portuguese), and hearing all the classics in Spanish. It was a great night!

Photos 1-2: Lion King
Photos 3-5: Avila
Photos 6: Salamanca University
Photo 7-8: Astronaut and Devil eating Gelato!
Photo 9: Plaza Mayor
Photo 10-11: Art Deco Museo
Photo 12: Lion King pals!

London, Cuenca, Teruel, & Albarracin

I have lots to talk about this week! First off, the time has just flown here. Looking back, it has been incredible to see all that I have done and accomplished in such a short time. I am super grateful that I am able to be here and to experience all that I have done! Here are some of the highlights of the four cities that I have visited in the past two weeks.

London: We had a free weekend, so a few of us decided to go to London. I knew that I was going to love it, but I didn't realize just how much! We tried to see as much as we could in 48 hours, and I'm honestly impressed by all that we did. What I loved about London was the mix between modern and history. The architecture of London is beautiful, and it seems around every corner you find something incredible. I really loved Tower of London Bridge and Westminister Abbey. Of course I had to visit Sherlock's house and Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter ;) We were also to see a performance of Les Miserables, which took my breath away. All I could think while I was in London was how incredible my life is! I can't believe how blessed I have been to be able to travel to all of these places. I can't wait to visit London again!

This weekend we got to visit three beautiful cities: Cuenca, Teruel, and Albarracin.
Cuenca: There were two major sites that we were able to visit while there. I really enjoyed each of them! The first was the Cathedral of Cuenca. Its a beautiful cathedral, and I felt that it has been kept as close to historically correct as possible. A while ago, the stained glass in the cathedral were lost to a fire. Instead of trying to recreate the originals, the city decided to let local artists create modern stained glass. They were beautiful, and I loved that each was unique. We were able to climb up the cathedral and see the view of the city--something I loved about Cuenca was all of the colors! No two buildings were the same. We were able to visit the Casas Colgadas, or hanging houses. They are modern art museums that hang over a cliff! Its pretty incredible seeing these houses that are literally hanging! No one knows exactly how long they have been there, or how many of these houses there were.
Teruel: In this city, we spent most of our time in the Mausoleo de los Amantes. The story goes that there were two lovers (Juan and Isabel) in Teruel. Like most medieval love stories, the two lovers were unable to be together in this life. They both died of broken hearts, and so the family buried them together. The lids of tombs have carvings of the couple's bodies, and the hands of the lovers are reaching to touch, but do not. It was a beautiful story, and I thought it was interesting being able to see the actual bodies of the couple. We went into the cathedral that had originally held the bodies, and then climbed a tower that had an incredible view of the city. We then got to walk through some secret passageways around the cathedral--those were really fun to walk around. I don't think they were ever really used, but it was fun to imagine people escaping through the tunnels. Teruel isn't a big tourist city, so it is interesting to see the influence of the amantes throughout the city. I really enjoyed being able to tour the Mausoleo and see the evidence of a story!
Albarracin: One of my favorite cities so far! Albarracin is located in the mountains, and has been almost untouched by tourism. All of the buildings are made with a pinkish rock, and are uneven. I loved the streets because they were crooked, and were unique. We got to do a hike all the way above the city. The view was incredible, and I can only imagine what it would look like at night! From the opposite side of the city, there was a view of the farmlands, which honestly looked like Yakima! haha! At the end of the hike, there was a castle! I love that about Spain--there is always something interesting to find. We walked up and down the castle walls for a few hours. I could have stayed there forever. I loved that the city wasn't overrun with people. I also felt like I had been transported back in time while I climbed the castle walls. I wonder why they built those walls, and what people might have experienced in those days.

I loved all of the cities that I visited! I especially enjoyed this last excursion because it was like a trip back in time. I enjoyed being able to visit historical sites that weren't cathedrals or museums (not that I don't enjoy those places). It was a fun and different trip for me!

Pictures: Cuenca, stained glass in Cuenca, colors in Cuenca, casas colgadas, Graves of Amantes, outside of Cathedral in Teruel, Cathedral in Teruel, the rest are Albarracin!

Valencia

Hello all!

Spain is wonderful! I am having such a fun time here, and I'm sad that I only have one month left! This two weekends ago, we were able to travel to Valencia. Here are some highlights for me from the trip.

Aquarium: We got to see the Valencia aquarium! I had never seen dolphins or sea turtles in real life before! We got to go to a dolphin show, and something that I really liked was how the workers stressed saving injured animals. I liked there was a huge focus on protecting nature and helping maintain its beauty. The aquarium was huge and had tons of animals! I loved the shark tunnel--there were huge fish and sharks swimming all around me. It was pretty incredible! I love aquariums because they help you to remember the importance each of God's creations.

Lladro factory: As a preface, LLadro is a famous sculptor. There are shops all around the world, but it originated in Valencia. We got to go inside the factory and see how each sculpture is made. First, they have artists that think and create the designs. Then, they have to make a mold for the new design. Because the designs are so intricate, they make the mold into separate parts. The mold can only be used so many times before a new one has to be made. After taking each part out of the molds, the pieces have to dry, and then the artists can begin the process of pasting each piece together. Then, the sculptures are painted--some can take months to just paint correctly. Also, there are artists that create the extra items that are attached to the piece (for example, flowers). We were able to talk with one of the flower designers at length about how she makes the each tiny flower. She has been working at the Lladro factory for over 40 years, just creating flowers! She had to train for awhile before she could start making the pieces. The Lladro factory created the Christus statue for the temple here in Spain. It was amazing to see all of the different sculptures as well as the creation process!

Beach: Need I say more? :) The water was beautiful and warm (but very salty), and we were able to enjoy a few hours there.

Holy Grail: There is a church in Valencia that claims that they own the holy grail, or the cup that Christ drank out of at the last supper. We got to see it, after a few priests were performing a ceremony in the room where its located. It is covered in jewels, and its a beautiful gold. I'm not sure if I believe that its the holy grail, but it was still cool to see it! As we were in the chapel, we got to participate in a knighting ceremony. You heard that right--the Catholic church still knights people! It was a huge ceremony; there were tons of priests, leaders, and people about to get knighted. It was a long ceremony, so we didn't stay for long. Its amazing to live in a country where practices that have existed for hundreds of years are still happening! It feels like you have been transported back in time at points. I love that aspect of Spain!

That was my week basically! I just got back from London, so I'll make sure to share my stories from there as well soon! :)
Photos: Dolphins, Fishes, Shark tunnel, Aquarium, turtles, holy grail, beach, local market, Christus, Aquarium

El Escorial, Valle de Los Caidos, La Granja

It has been a great two weeks! Life gets incredibly busy here, so I forgot about writing a post for last week. I can't believe that we have reached the halfway point of the study abroad! Time is moving way too fast--it will be over before I know it :(.
Week 5 was different because we didn't have an excursion. I decided to stay here and explore Madrid more. It was nice to just relax and take in the beauty that is around me. Traveling can be stressful or draining at points, so it was a great to be able to recharge my battery. Hannah Boyce and I had a great time together exploring the Medieval Festival that was here in Alcala. The city was changed into a huge market--there was food, games for kids, and plenty of souvenirs!
This last week, we only had school on Tuesday and Wednesday! It was Cervantes day on Monday, so the whole city of Alcala had school off to celebrate. On Thursday, all of Spain celebrated the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas! We celebrated by attending a bullfight in Madrid. Though it wasn't my favorite thing to watch, it was definitely a cultural experience. It is a very controversial activity in Spain, so there aren't many people that still attend. Usually, the older generation and tourists come to the bullfights. I wouldn't go again, but it was definitely an interesting experience to watch the matadors try to outsmart the bulls. We almost saw a matador be seriously injured by one of the bulls, but he was able to escape before getting mauled!  After the bullfight, we found an amazing street taco place. REAL Mexican food. It was amazing!
On Friday and Saturday, we were able to explore El Escorial, Valle de Los Caidos, and La Granja. I'm going to explain each in length for my homework, so feel free to
skim :).

El Escorial: There are three rooms that really stuck out to me. First, the library as we first entered the Palace. It reminded me of the library of Beauty and the Beast! I just wanted to be able to read every book that was housed there. It was a beautiful room, and it definitely shows the idea of importance of all types of education. I loved the ceiling which had been painted to depict the many fields of education. For example, music, math, science, and religion were some of the subjects portrayed. Most religious buildings don't focus on other subjects, so I loved that many different areas were included.
Second, I really loved the Hall of Battles. It is so interesting to me to see how history is bent or skewed to help show the country in the best view possible. For example, not everything that each Spanish king did was honorable. But, in palaces, cathedrals, etc., you won't ever see the full truth about terrible events. The Hall of Battles was interesting because it showed war in a very honorable and masculine light, even though people were being murdered within the paintings. I could not believe the size of the room or how well the paintings had been preserved (they were painted in 1590). Lastly, one of my favorite rooms was the Panteon Real. This room is built under El Escorial, and holds the corpses of 26 kings and queens. Because we come from a country not ruled by a monarchy, it always amazing to me to see the amount of respect and care for royalty. We do respect our President, but I can't imagine preserving his body and building a special crypt for him and other past presidents. The first king that was placed here was Charles V and his wife, Isabel. The most recent body that placed there was Queen Victoria, the current king's grandmother. It was weird to be floors below El Escorial with the bodies of the past Spanish Royalty. But, I felt a great amount of respect from those that were visiting.

Valle de Los Caidos: What an interesting place! It was not what I expected at all. Valle de Los Caidos was a memorial built for the Spanish Civil War. But, it is very controversial because it was built by prisoners of the war, and contains the tomb of Francisco Franco. His tomb is clearly visible within the cathedral, but the graves of the fallen from the war are buried outside, and are visible. The cathedral is built within the mountain, giving it a different spirit than that of other cathedrals. For me, I didn't feel peaceful or happy as I entered this cathedral. There is no natural light, and the Savior is not a central part of the decorations. I definitely think that this cathedral is not a monument for those fallen, but was built to recognize Franco's power. In most cathedrals, light, bible stories, and Christ's life are prominent elements. I felt that fear and submission were the elements focused on. It was an incredible monument because of the size of the cross on top of the mountain.

La Granja: I've had the privilege to visit Versailles in France. This palace and gardens in La Granja took design elements directly from Versailles. I loved the long hallway at the end that was decorated with Greek statues and chandeliers. It reminded me of the ballroom in Versailles where King Louis would have lavish dances. The gardens in the La Granja were incredible! I felt that I could wander for hours and find new things at every turn. I thought that they would never end (in a wonderful way!). I loved all of the old tapestries, paintings, and sculptures that decorated each room. I especially liked the Asian influences that decorated some of the last rooms. It reminded me of the Royal Palace in Madrid--you can find some of the same influences there.

Here are some pictures!
El Escorial, Some of the Kings/Queens caskets, TACOS!, Bullfight, Medieval Festival, Valle de los Caidos, Remaining pics are of La Granja.