Day Seventeen

I wore two jackets to Segovia and Ávila today.

At 7:30 when we left the house to catch the bus, I knew it was not going to be the 70 degree weather we've been hoping for the last 2 weeks. As we got ready this morning, Roberto and Pili made sure to warn us about the coldness that we were going to experience... and yeah, they were right.
When we first got off the bus in Segovia, we all thought our extremities might fall off. And I am sad to say it didn't get any better all day long. The wind was merciless, the sun wouldn't come out, and it rained a little every half an hour or so. Thank youuuuu, Segovia. However, maybe I'm just a little bitter because I forgot to charge my camera, so I didn't even get to hardly take any pictures :( Yeah, I think that has a lot to do with it. Despite my complaining though, Segovia was a pretty cool city. Some of the highlights were:

This castle in Segovia.

It is said that the Disney Castle was modeled after it, and while I don't really see it, the place was still pretty spectacular, both inside and out. I've never seen such intricate gold plated ceilings or such a deep moat in my life! Again, sorry about the lack of pictures... guess I will learn to charge the batteries.

The best part about Segovia? I finally got to see THE AQUEDUCT.
This aqueduct (don't let the blue sky fool you.. it was FREEZING) was built by the Romans thousands of years ago as a means to transport water from one side of the valley to another. I was pretty much giddy to see this place, and right as 10 minutes of free time started, I made Jav go climb up to the top with me. II find it fascinating to think that somehow the Romans managed to put this thing together with no mortar or modern machinery, and it still stands today.

Lets just say Iberian Civilizations is much more interesting when you can actually go visit what you're learning.

After the aqueduct we went to a cathedral and did more walking around Segovia. Freezing. It was even worse when we went into the cathedrals or other buildings, because they were about 10 degrees colder inside than outside!

Ávila was next. This city is known for it's walls that surround it, and the fact that it is one of the coldest cities in Spain. Oh, let me tell you how excited we were to wake up from our naps and jump out of the warm bus and into the biting winds of Ávila! Again, in this city we did a lot of looking at cathedrals, and then we had the chance to walk on top of the city walls. This was a cool place, but in the words of my fellow group member, Cade, "I think the weather might have to do with the fact that I really don't care about any of this stuff right now". Well said, my friend. We resorted to huddling around like penguins to keep warm many a time. What bonding experience.

It's pretty sad, but I don't think we'd ever been so happy to get back on a tour bus as we were today upon returning to Álcala. The most exciting things that happened on the bus were that we tried Ávilan yemas, and upon tasting one bite of the bright yellow balls covered in sugar, I remembered reading a little bit about this egg yolk delicacy, and upon realizing what it was, I couldn't eat any more of it, and when I told the rest of the bus.... well, they couldn't finish it either.

Seriously, Spain. Just give me some chocolate.

On the bus ride I finished The Land Song, too. Okay obviously I either have no feelings or something because I didn't like it at all, and everyone I know who has read it loves the dang book. I am an enigma. Anyways, time to make a stop at Amazon.com for a new book. That's all for now. Tomorrow= El Festival De San Isidro. Don't know what that is? Stay tuned.