Avila - the coldest place of my life. You know how sometimes people jock that hell will freeze over. That sentence would describe Avila perfectly. It was a frozen hell. The bad part was really just that the wind was so strong it just tore you to pieces. ! And it was the worst day of my cold so I was miserable the whole time. Actually, Rachel Loven and I even made a video screaming into my camera to demonstrate how miserable we were.
We stopped at this weird cathedral where some Jew saw a snake about to eat him after he mocked the penance of pious Christians. He repented before the serpent and was converted to Christianity. And also we saw this really old medieval wall. The wall really wasn't that cool . It was not even that tall or long. And it was so freakin cold. I just talked to Garrett the whole time about nose covering invention. I need to start the drafts for that, tis going to be money. Plus I really want to have one. It will come very much in handy.
Salemanca
(Old Castille) : Ancient Roman city, a Roman bridge. UNESCO World Heritage City. Has a Plaza Mayor, very similar to the one in Spain but a little smaller. From here, everything in the city branches off.
The plaza was beautiful! It definitely is smaller than the Plaza in Madrid. And it did not have the same, vibe about it. I little less lively and exciting.
A fascade on Calles de Liberos and San Isidro that appears like 400 scallop shells. It is called the “Case de las Conchas”
I didn't think this building was that impressive. Why is it so famous? I guess it is different, ints not every day there is someone crazy enough to plaster giant shells to their house.
A medieval ston monastery that has been converted into a discoteca called Camelot.
Salemanca
We received a tour from a BYU professor, who used to direct study abroads here. I think his name is Rice champ? Anyway, he knew everything!
He took us around to all the sites. I liked how he did it. It was quick, fast, and organized. We didnt waste time idling and each minute was full of something useful to know.
The University was interesting There was a stair case that had red splotches on it. Emily said that was where people would bleed after the run of the bulls. I don't know if I believe that, she also said the pine tree in the center was the oldest one in the world. My favorite thing was searching for the skull and frog on the facade outside. There is this huge carved facade in the entrance with a bunch of different people, animals, everything. We stood outside searching for it for quite a while. I do confess, I only found it after Andrew hinted at its coordinates.
He also took us to the two cathderals there. There are two, both built at different times with a different architectural style. This was a unique opportunity to compare the two. The Romanesque cathedral is lower and a little blander than the gran flowery Gothic type. I think I am becoming a Gothic fan.
After the tour, we were free to walk around the town. A small group of us, Sarah, Brock, Danni, Emily, Callie, and I started on our adventure. We found a few museums and crossed the bridge. Stopped at Cafe y te, for dinner. Most everyone ordered pizzas. I still had my sandwich from home at the hotel so I just got some hot chocolate. At least that is what I thought I was ordering, but when it came to me the better name to call it would be hot pudding! I was so thick! lol I think it was more o something that Spaniards use to dip their churros in. But none the less, it warmed me up well so it more than did its job.
When I did finally eat my lunch to was a little weird. How long can meat and cheese stay out with out turning bad? I didn't even eat the other won until the next day on the bus,. It was off too but I wasn't about to throw it way! I have never been a food waster, so if I have the food i will eat it - sanitary or not! Afterwards I did feel a little funny. I think that in the future I will skip the mayonnaise and just leave it with the essentials so it doesn't get soggy.
O, and Brooke gave me her sandwich too - which was a gross dry tortilla egg bochidillo. - but like I said - if there is food I will it. (also on the bus today, I ate three pieces of toast with jam just because Amy was giving them away. Not to mention the pack and a half of cookies that I ate plus Garrett's Pringles and Danni's digestive cookies that they shared.)
That night we watched Scrubs in the hotel. Not my favorite.
Breakfast was served in a cafe in the Plaza. It was a mystery to find. I had to go around the whole Plaza peeking into the windows until I saw Laura V. sipping leche at a table. It was just leche and a cressant roll. I had to beg for a refill of milk. O, well at least the Plaza is cute.
Santiago de Compastela: One of the most important religious cites in the world. The third holiest in the Catholic world, ranked after Rome and Jerusalem. Special postre called Santiago, a tart shaped like a cross, sold everywhere there practically. My parents gave it high rankings so I'll have to try it to see what the rave is about.
This was one of the first postres we tried. On our way to the cathedral we passed a store with the famous tart on display in the window. It was only four euro for the whole thing. We didn't think we could beat that so we entered and quickly made our purchase. We decided to wait to eat it until after the service.
The service was freezing. It was similar to the ones I have seen in Toldeo and the Valle de Los Caidos. The one exception, there were more seats. I suppose that those become necessary when during the heavy pilgrim season.
It was hard to share the sentiments of the priests and pilgrims of Santiago because of what I have learned from Faustino in Institute class. Did James really come to Spain? Is that his body? There is nothing wrong with National or religious traditions. As Americans, we except a lot of skeptical storeis ourselves, often without realizing they are relatively fictional. Washington and the Cherry Tree for example. The First Thanksgiving is another, as well as Revere's midnight ride.
For that reason I support the pilgrimage to Santiago. I am glad that the tradition has continued. It strengthens faith and revitalizes unbelievers. This reminds me of a principle taught be C.S. Lewis in this final book of the Narnia Series, The Last Battle. Here, Aslan accepts followers of the impostor monkey into his kingdom because, although they followed the wrong church, they did so unknowingly and faithfully.
After the death service (of coldness) we went outside to the warm sunshine. As has became tradition, we found a great spot on the floor and popped a squat to bask. Time for Tarta! We pulled out the great treat and divided it up among ourselves and others standing round. It was typical Spanish with lots of powdered sugar encima.
Wed – We drove to Santiago the whole day! The bus ride was forever!
but we made awesome stops so it didn't seem as long. My favorite was our stop in the port of Chambarro (?) The cutest little shore side city ever! The first thing I did, getting off the bus was run to this small little playground which was just right next door Wee! I swung on the swings. In the bus, Emily and Danni and Sarah and Erin had been talking about elementary schools and their different memories there. It was just amazing to look back to those long forgotten years and still see connections in to your life now. I think that who you war in elementary school and the teachers you have and what happens to you really does affect you who become. Kind of scary when you think about - hopefully you have a good experience, no?
Emily has this idea to write a memoriam of her elementary memories, I think I might join her , before I forget and they all go away.
The people in Chambarro were adorable. This was the first time we were able to sit and talk with the northern people. Everyone on the street greeted us, came up to as to talk, - it was so friendly! One old elder, working in his farm stroke up a conversation with us. After wards, we gave us lemons! we walked to the nearest cafe asked a young man behind the counter for three glasses and some sugar. He gave them to us without a hesitation,
We all sat around the table in the corner squeezing our lemons into the tall glasses. Laughing and smiling just like kids again . It was priceless and one of the best moments here in Spain.
We got back on the bus and rode to another great lookout on the coast. We got out and played on the shore. It was beautiful, and the cold water felt good against our naked feet. I wish at this point I would have separated from my 'group' a little bit more for a better grasp on the situation. It can be hard sometimes to really feel out a place for yourself when you are with other people the whole time. (I think that that is the one thing that I learned for this trip. I stayed with the same three people the whole time.. It was really fun and I loved it., because I love those girls, but I need to get away sometimes. I can not always go with the same people. I need to go out by myself more. Especially i n Leon - I hated going so slow! There are so much more to see and it takes other paces. Plus it is so hard for me because with them, I don't have a lot of influence so its hard to contribute to the group decision. For example we were walking back from our stop at the Panaderia, eating delicious dulces, and I said I wanted to walk back down the river, but when we got to the turn off point , I started to slow down and lead, but everyone, deep in tier own conversations, just kept walking the other way, until Danni, bless her heart, yells, "we're gonna walk by the river." at that point, all immediately turn around and follow. I feel sometimes that when I am with groups and have stuff to do that it keeps you from getting tose tings done.
Plaza reading in the sunshine. We stopped to bask. Entered three pilgrims. “Shalolm friends!” We greeted them as they came through the gate and slowly entered into the Plaza. They found themselves warmly welcomed with smiles and came over to talk. It was so fin to talk to them.
Before we left, we diced to try the Tarta de Santiago one last time (it was so good the first time.) We stopped into the same bakery as the day before. We just planned to get one slice today and split it among the the four of us. The couple there though wouldn't put up with it. The elderly woman, picked out three more pieces and gave us each one. “Enjoy your visit” she said.
Leon :
Not a lot had been said about Leon before we went. The sites were not even presented in class. For that, I was not expecting much, but man, was I surprised when we arrived. It is beautiful! The main calle through the city resembles the Gran Via in Madrid, yet on a smaller and quainter scale. I think Leon is more developed because it used to be the capitol of Spain before Phillip moved it to Madrid.
There are wonderful sites to see.
The Cathedral of Leon:
Windows! Who knew they could make such a difference! Every cathedral that we have visited in Toledo, Segovia, Seville have been beautiful, but this cathedral was the first to sport such huge colorful sources of light! Structurally, the cathedral is built differently to support windows in its frame. Every time a window is added, it takes away support for the roof. Architects had to use the Gothic flying buttresses to move weight of the roof outward to the outside walls.
The natural light added a celestial beauty and spiritualness to the vast emptiness. As the sun climbed in the sky, the pictures depicted in the stain glass grew brighter. I tried to pull out bible stories from the images. It was actually pretty difficult. I guess I don't understand the biblical symbolism that they used back then . Our tour guide in Salemanca, who I currently forget the name of, told us that since the average layperson in the Medieval Period, could not read or understand Latin, pictures and symbolism were used to teach the principles and characters of the scriptures. For example, Apostle Peter always hold keys. Apostle James always holds a cross and open book.
We returned later in the day when the sun was a little brighter. We had fun finding the circles of light on the floor, standing in the middle and taking pictures like it was a spotlight from the heavens. Ok, it sounds a little more sacrilegious now that I talk about it.
In the morning I woke up late. Yes, the sunrise would have been amazing. I am jealous of my roommate Erica. She got up every morning this trip to go running.
We went to a park, and Danni and I stopped a woman, Pilar, who was standing out side a small kiosk, to ask her about Leon. It has been a goal to try all of the typical tartas in every place we go. Pilar recommended the Tarta de San Marcos.
We walked down the street to the first bakery we found. There were five of us so we each got a different pastry to share. I got the best one in the world! It was huge and covered in fruit and flan! Mmmmmm.
Known for its handicrafts, old books and artifacts.
So I didn't find any old book shops, but I did walk into a small new bookstore of the calle mayor. I have decided that I love bookstores! Maybe its just here and the mysterious they offer in the foreign tongue, but I love to enter and bury myself in the pictures, words, recipes, places. You can reach out and contact any thing else in the world just by opening a book.
