Saturday, June 5, 2010

Today we went to Segovia for our first excursion, riding a bus an hour out into the countryside. Segovia (I think from what I understood on our tour) used to be the capital but then became a military base when Madrid became the capital under the rule of Felipe II. There is a 17 km aqueduct that has been standing for who knows how long and know one knows who built it, so there is a legend that a young girl agreed to sell her soul to the Devil if he would make getting water into the city more easy. He agreed to do it in a day, and if he didn’t, then he couldn’t take the girl’s soul. God made it rain a terrible storm that night, and in the morning, he lost the deal by not having placed the last stone. The mountains nearby also have a legend, which is that a woman agreed to forfeit her life if God ended a battle between two cities. Now the mountain is her sleeping body, and every night there are two clouds above the mountain as the sun is setting, which is said to be the boys kissing her mother goodnight. Tragic but cute. Like their own version of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Then our guide explained why there are used to be more bars in Spain than all of the other European nations combined. Back in the day, when Muslims and Jews were being chased out of Spain, people made a show of eating pork and drinking wine to prove that they were not Muslim or Jewish. Thus, they had to display this in public, so daily they would eat lunch and stop in after work for pork and wine. Also explains why they eat so much pork!

There were a lot of other stories, but most consisted of learning about how buildings have Arab, Baroque, and Roman Romantic influences infused, even in churches, public buildings, and synagogues. Another interesting story is that the Black Plague didn’t affect the Jewish community as much as the Christians, which was because they were forced to live on the outskirts of the city, where there was more space and air, and they had to be clean as a part of their religion, so they bathed more than the Christians.

We toured both the castle of Seville and the church (again, one of a million beautiful churches throughout the city). The castle was amazing, with a mote, a throne Isabel and Ferdinando sat in, and ornate ceilings and beautiful views! Then we had lunch in the city center’s gazebo (the sack lunches our mother’s packed us ☺) and shopped around town. We also visited a fort/church outside of the city that was round and had 12 sides. The knights used to climb up the outside to get inside so that they would stay fit and that there would be no doors. It was really interesting!

Then we came back and went shopping (again!) but I didn’t buy anything. And tonight we’re going out to salsa dance or something. This week is going to be busy too because we have class, a Monday night activity, an exam Thursday, a Flamenco dance class Wednesday, and I’m sure I’ll plan something for Tuesday, haha. Maybe a move in Spanish? We’ll see!