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Published: September 22nd 2008
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Kelsie and Mark
On the way to Segovia! Monday, September 8, we went to Segovia. We could go on a Monday because it was a holiday in Salamanca. It’s the feast day of their patron virgin, La Virgen de la Vega, so everything is closed. The celebrations actually started the 5th, there were casetas here and there along the streets. Casetas are little stands where you can buy a pincho (a little bar snack, like tapas) and a drink (beer, wine, water, sangria, the restaurant decides what to serve) for 1.80€. It kind of reminded me of the Taste of Alpharetta in that restaurants serve their signature Spanish dish, and it’s pretty inexpensive. But the food is much better. And the sangria is really good. So the casetas are open until the 15th, but that’s not the only way they celebrate their Virgin. The night before the feast day they had fireworks over the river that lasted at least half an hour. They were pretty comparable to 4th of July ones that I’ve seen in the US. There is a concert every night, I think until the 21st, in the Plaza Mayor (I thought it was strange that Jethro Tull was the first act…not Spanish enough for me). Everyday
Liz and Claire
Claire is the one I met on the plane
Sorry about cutting off Liz's face...it's hard to take pictures on a bus there are all sorts of performers on the streets. I pass one lady everyday on the way home from class that is painted completely in silver, has silver clothes and everything, and she pretends to be a statue. But every 5 minutes or so, she changes position. The first time I saw her move, it surprised me a bit because I didn’t expect a statue to move. And last but not least, they have Corridas de Toros (NOT running of the bulls, but bullfights with a matador and everything). I did end up going to one, but that we’ll save for another post.
So, back to Segovia. It was a 2 hour bus ride there, and everyone slept. We saw the Roman aqueduct that Segovia is famous for. It is amazing. They didn’t use mortar or any kind of cement to hold the rocks together, just the pressure of each rock on top of each other is apparently sufficient. And in some places it’s over 30 meters high. Then we had a tour of the city. It is so beautiful. It has had Jewish, Muslim, and Christian influences. Many of the buildings have Moorish designs on them, which makes them
look even more beautiful. At the end of our tour of the city was the Alcázar, an amazing castle where the kings and queens of Spain used to live. I would say it’s most famous for housing King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. Christopher Columbus went to them (I was in the same room Christopher Columbus once stood in!) to ask for financial support for his journey West to find India. The castle was magnificent. Every ceiling of every room was decorated, most with gold…completely breathtaking. Tapestries were hung around all the walls in the king’s and queen’s bedroom (together in the same bed!) to keep out the cold. That was most of the sight seeing part.
For lunch we went to a restaurant (seemed to be super expensive) that had incredible food. And it just kept coming. There were 5 items for our appetizers, 2 for our main course, and 2 for dessert. I think the dessert was my favorite part, but it was interesting to see the difference in super expensive Spanish food, and everyday Spanish food that my señora cooks. The biggest difference, I would say, was the amount of flavor. I had noticed
(as had many of my companions) that flavor was lacking in the food we were served at our homestays compared to what we were used to eating in the US. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good food, it’s just that they seem to not use spices or herbs to flavor their dishes. Other than that (and of course, the presentation, which was all fancy), the food was basically the same. Many of the things we ate my señora would cook at home. For dessert we had ice cream and some sort of flan-reminiscent thing. The unknown dessert reminded me of crème brulee, in that it had caramelized sugar (though in this dessert, the sugar was caramelized between each layer), but other that that, I have no idea what was in it. I guess the texture reminded me of flan, but I don’t think that’s what it was. Whatever it was, it was amazing.
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dan
non-member comment
youre makin me hungry for some creme brulee