Segovia y La Granja

This past weekend was our first excursion as a class. We went to Segovia and La Granja, about an hour north of Madrid. The areas there are so beautiful!

Side story: So as I was cleaning up my apartment in preparation for leaving to Spain, I came across my BYU sock monkey that my mother had given me for Christmas. In joking I told my roommate that I should take it with me to Spain instead of packing it up in a box. After thinking about it some more, I decided to not make it a joke but actually take my monito (little monkey) with me. At every famous location I am going to try to get a picture with the monkey and the landmark. Of course I will take pictured with me in it as well, but I think this will be fun.

As soon as we got off the bus in Segovia, there was this massive aqueduct that the Romans had built about 2,000 years ago. To think that something so big was made without cement or sealant of any kind and is still standing to me is incredible! Even more crazy was that the city was still using it to transport water until the 1930s. Segovia is this quaint little town/city with narrow streets that are lined with shops all along the bottom. Throughout the town you can see where it was segregated between the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities. Each has their own unique architectural features on their buildings. We were taken on a tour with a guide who would explain different sites along the way as we made our way up (literally) to the castle Alcazar. The castle was interesting inside with many medieval suits of armor and tapestries, though much of it was damaged during a fire in the 19^th century. The tour concluded with 152 stair assent in the tower of John II. I could not imagine having to go up in it while wearing armor. The view was outstanding from the top!

During our tour, we were given a break to find a panadería (bakery) to get a snack to eat and to take a picture. One of the girls in our group and I took off in search of some sweets and walked into heaven. It was a pastry shop filled with all sorts of goodies. Her and I each bought a pastry and shared it with the other. They were amazing! They were these croissants with cream or lemon fillings and powdered sugar.  

After Segovia, we took a tour of the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, or just La Granja for short. This palace served as a summer residence for the Kings of Spain. The place was huge!!! It is modeled after the palace in Versailles, which I am told his supposed to be even bigger. We went from one room to the next just looking a furniture and statutes and walls worth millions of dollars. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed inside the building so I cannot show my favorite statute. It was done in marble and is of a woman with a veil on her face. It is so intricate that it looks as if there really was fabric over her face. Outside the palace were gardens and fountains that were probably a lot bigger than those at Thanksgiving Point (in Lehi, UT) or anywhere else I have seen. We found a labyrinth and had fun getting lost in it. Due to time constraints we cheated our way out by using the gardener’s gates, or else we could have spent a long time lost. As we were leaving, we got poured on! So much for nice weather like there was earlier in the week. It was fun though laughing and getting caught in the rain…in Spain…stays mainly in the plains (sorry, I could not resist).

Also, last night I went and saw Los Vengadores (The Avengers) in the theaters. Not to brag or anything, but I happened to see it before it came out in the states. No big deal. Their theater was huge! Every seat has a good view and the seats are very comfortable. The only drawback was that the seats do not recline. The movie was dubbed in Spanish with no subtitles, so there were some parts that I missed but I was able to catch about 85% of what was being said and assume the rest. I noticed the dubbing was done for a Spanish audience and not those from Mexico or South America. There were phrases and words that were specific to the country. I consider watching this earlier than Americans my way of making up seeing Hunger Games two weeks after it came out and everyone saw it.

Overall I love Spain. It has taken some time to get used to but I am getting in the swing of things. The Spanish here is different and so I have to try to adjust, which might be the hardest part. Using and listening to the vosotros form (a way of conjugating "you" in third person)  can be challenging, as well as learning which words are appropriate to say here versus those used in Mexico and S. America (for example: conducir/manejar, coche/carro, calzados/zapatos, ordenador/computadora, etc.)

Well that is all for now. Next time I will write about Burgos and Leon where we are going to Monday and Tuesday. I will also try to put some more of my random observations in for fun.