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Like I expected, I woke up this morning not feeling so well after our "system" at the clubs last night. Despite this I made it downstairs in time for breakfast and had packed up my backpack for our weekend trip to Segovia, Avila, and El Escorial. Emily was able to snag a wheel chair for this trip which probably saved her ankle more than she knows.
We left around nine this morning on our charter bus and made it to Segovia about an hour later. Upon arriving in this quaint town I wasn't that impressed at first. It looked nothing like the magnificent Madrid, or so I thought. Although the Roman Aqueducts were well intact and extraordinarily tall, I was expecting and wanting more architecture. After walking down the lovely cobblestone roads we stopped in the large main square and right there in front of me is the biggest most beautiful stucture I have ever seen. This Cathedral was huge and displayed perfect examples of Gothic architecture that I had learned about in my art history class. And the best part? I got to go inside! Again this was a place in which pictures were not allowed, however I did
snag one of the archways/ceiling (please don't be mad Cesar and Jen!). This time we had a new tour guide who showed us around the Cathedral and the many chapels inside of it. Although I do not consider myself religious in any way, this was one of the best things I had ever seen inside and out.
After this we kept walking down the hill until we stopped at the Alcazar, a castle that is now used as a museum. This was one of the first places that actually let me take pictures inside! There were many paintings and old armour and weapons on display which I was glad to take pictures of for my dad who loves history and war memorabilia. One of the features of the castle was being able to climb all the way to the top of the roof by taking a very narrow winding staircase that consisted of about 150 steps I believe. The only thing helping me climb up this staircase was a metal chain attached to the wall and the people in front and behind of me setting the pace. Finally after what seemed forever I stepped up into the sunshine, a
little dizzy, and was able to view what Segovia had to offer. Besides being able to see some of the city, I was also able to see the countryside with rolling hills and vast amounts of trees and other vegetation. Although it was a simple landscape it reflected the beauty of Spain and set a great backdrop for the more detailed structures and buildings such as this castle.
Once we made the climb down and met up with the rest of the group that didn't go up we decided to find somewhere to eat. Making it back to the main square we found a long table with some shade and had some lunch and relaxed. Phil, Erika, and I all decided to get Chorizo Bocadillos (Thick baguette bread with spicy sausage on it). Even though I'm not much of a meat person I felt like being adventurous and was surprised to find that there wasn't anything on the sandwich besides the bread and meat and that nothing came with the sandwich like salad or chips. This was something that I was slowly getting used to but still hoped for at some restaurants. However, the whole less is more approach
actually worked for some of our meals because they were so heavy by themselves that I'm glad I didn't have any side dishes to tempt me.
Moving on we decided to check out some of the shops but noticed that we were right in the middle of Siesta (everyday 2-4 p.m. most shops close up for a two hours lunch break). We ended up finding a few shops that were open and I bought myself a bracelet while other people made their purchases. Deanna, one of the girls on the trip, tried to get money out of an ATM and actually got her card stuck inside. Even though the machine had an English option we still couldn't figure out how to get her card out even after pressing the right buttons and going through the proper procedure. Thankfully Cesar helped call the company and found the phone number for Deanna to call her card company later that day. As we rounded the group up and headed back to the bus I wondered what Avila would be like.
About an hour later... I found out. For some reason the charter bus couldn't drop us off at our hotel. Turns
On Top of the Alcazar
The roof of the castle. out part of Avila is surrounded in a brick wall because it used to be an old fortress, therefore the bus couldn't go inside the wall because of city protocol. This meant that we were dropped off at the bottom of the hill and had to make the long steep walk up to the hotel, and of course this was on cobblestone. Not great for wheelchairs and rolling suitcases. Eventually we make it up to the hotel and are pleasantly surprised with nice rooms that have a lot more charm than the hotel in Madrid. We take our time showering and settling in before walking through the town and finding some dinner. We make our first stop at a wine bar and I decide to purchase some blanco vino (white wine) and am amazed at how great it actually tastes. I had started to notice throughout the trip that the wine here is much better than ours in America but I'm probably biased because I've never had expensive wine back home. After leaving the bar and getting a brief tour of the town from Cesar we decide to sit down outside for dinner since the weather is nice and it's
The Staircase
This was the narrow staircase of 150 or so steps that it took to get to the roof of the castle. still fairly light outside even though it is around ten at night. (I loved that it stayed light out for so long!)
After dinner we all called it a night and made plans about how to spend the next morning before departing to El Escorial for the rest of the weekend. Several of the girls wanted to visit the Monastery and go to mass early in the morning while the rest of us decided to check out the tour of the wall. I was excited to climb the wall and get a better view of the city and decided to get as much rest as I could.
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