Segovia

Today we took a trip to Segovia (about an hour and a half away from Valladolid) for one of our free excursions done through the school! It was awesome and I loved it the second I stepped out of the bus!

This is me...just standing in front of a 2000+ year old aqueduct! Those things were simply crazy. Not only are they huge, but they're constructed out of extremely heavy bricks, without any cement or adhesive like substance to hold together. The Romans just knew how to construct themselves some long-lasting structures!

Main entrance into the city

All these building with the geometric patterns on it are from the 1500's and each has it's own unique design. So cool, I wish buildings in the states could be this beautiful...

This is our professor/tour guide for the day, showing us one of the restaurants that makes some delicious cochinillo (baby pig) :/ My host mom was telling me about some of her first experiences of being in the Valladolid community (that's what they call the providence, I guess) and she said she went into the restaurant and there were cute baby pigs running around everywhere. When someone wanted some cuchinillo, the cooks would pick it up, kill it and cook it! I don't like the idea of eating a baby myself, but I will admit, I haven't walked by a restaurant that smelled that good, ever! Apparently the meat is so flavorful and tender, that to cook it, they only place water and salt underneath the pig and sometimes this herbal plant (i have no idea what it translates to in English) for extra flavor. When it's ready to be served, the chef takes the plate and smashes it into the pig and scoops up the pieces of meat to served to the guests. Meat so tender, it can be slice with the bang of a ceramic plate...

Casa de picos ("house of peaks")

Apparently doing repetitive designs like this was a custom during the 1500s in Segovia. I think my professor said something about resembling armor? People would stay in the house for months at a time during the wars and have a self sustaining community inside. The windows were both up so high and barred for protection for the people inside from the dangers of the streets

More designs on the original buildings

Iglesia de San Martín

Pathway into La Inglesia de San Martín. There was some sort of service going on...something involving a wedding. So we had to be quiet going in and no flash photography :/ 

This picture does it no justice, but the inside was breathtakingly beautiful. So much detail in everything!

 Belly dancers dancing it Plaza Mayor during our break

La Gran Catedral de Segovia 

Every city has it's own "gran (big)" cathedral. This one in Segovia is WAY bigger and more amazing than the one in Valladolid. It cost 3€ to get in and walk around, but it was definitely worth it! Technically, I don't think I was allowed to take pictures, but everyone else was (not like I love to jump on the bandwagon) but I figured I could get away with it easier that way. Because I MUST have pictures of this place. They're just not as good as I'd like them to be....

The Claustro in the middle of the church...kind of like a little courtyard

Some of the tools they used to build the buildings

Bishop clothing 

Giant organ with the original seat for nobles during services 

A cute little mini bus :) Haha, so ridiculous! 

Homes about the shops

This man was falling all day long... 

There was this legend about 2 brothers and their mother (who was the Roman of god of something, I believe) that I learned about last semester in one of my Spanish classes. I don't remember the details perfectly, especially not the names, but the idea is that the brothers fought until their mother's grave, and she lays on these mountains outside Segovia, and you can see her here in this picture. Her head is on the left side (to the right of the peak of that mountain) and her body moves to the left with her hands clasped on her chest. Pretty cool huh? :)

Castle!! It's called Alcázar...which means more of a fortress than a castle. It's prime purpose being for protection, not just living.

 Decorative armor that the nobles would wear for special occasions. No logical protection purposes what-so-ever

The original table from the 1400s at which the royal family would eat 

 Ceiling...crazy beautiful and so intricate!

I wish I got a closer shot of this mural on the wall, it's actually pretty creepy. It's a picture of the queen coming out and the people on the right (in the archway windows) were painted without eyes because supposedly, they were not allowed to look at the queen for some royal reason I don't remember.

A view of the fields behind the castle 

The king and queens bedroom. My professor was telling us about how on the night of the royal wedding, a scribe would come in and take note, in detail, of EVERYTHING that happens in this room. This is their way of regulating and making sure the royal family continues the way they want it to. If the king doesn't receive good notes from the scribe, then something would be done about it to ensure enough royal offspring are available. Sometimes, the king must chose another man to join his wife in the royal bedroom if the king can't make children with his wife. This way, no one except the king and queen will know about the bastard child ruling their kingdom.

This room was bordered with a statue of all the kings that had been in this castle and a short history if their lives below 

 On top of the tallest tower

 A view of the city from the top of the tower

 What the top of the rest of the castle looks like (I may or may not have compared it to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando......) :)

Everyone on top of the tower. And an accidental great view of the Gran Catedral in the background! 

Segovia was amazing and beautiful! I wish we got more than 6 hours to go through the city. There are SO many things that I want to do in Spain and I know I can't do them all in 3 more weeks. I can't wait for an opportunity to come back to Spain and site see the rest of Europe as well!