¡Castillos y Fiestas!

It's been a bit crazy lately, so apologies for everyone who has been anxiously waiting an update! I'm probably gonna forget a lot, but maybe this way today's post won't be a whole novel :p

So, I left off on Wednesday night. At 11, Amie and I decided to go out for a bit. We spent a seriously crazy amount of time finding the perfect ATM, and then set off for El Oso Blanco. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was closed! :( So we headed to Zircus right by our school instead. I tasted the sangria there and most definitely did not like it, so I got another Eristoff Black and sprite. I seriously need to find a less expensive drink that I like, cuz 5E a pop gets expensive. So, Amie took my sangria and we sat and chatted for awhile before returning home. Nothing too exciting, but I really enjoyed it.

Thursday I was all sorts of tired...I don't think I'll be staying out on school nights anymore! Our UE class was once again quite interesting, as we only went through a small part of the UE's history before going on another mini-excursion! We went to the open-air market they have every Thursday, but passed through the Jewish barrio on the way. It was pretty cool. It was interesting how she compared Spain to the US, based on both countries being a mezcla of cultures--Spain is very much shaped by the Muslim, Jewish, and Catholic cultures. The market was really neat, and fun to look around in.

After siesta I went to school early to work on the homework I was so unmotivated to do earlier, and hung out with some of the other unmotivated girls in the library. I more or less got it done! We didn't end up turning it in anyway, so it worked out. In art class we finished up the various "dictionary" type aspects of the course and watched more videos about how the various techniques are done. After class, went home for dinner and got ready to go out!

The plan was to go with Chris to Hook, a dance club that has a nice drink special on Thursdays. However, it was like the start of San Juan, so Hook was closed. We got to see a neat aerobatics show though, with people twirling in the air hung from a crane. They brought people in from far away with the crane, and it was really neat to see! So very hard to describe though and the pictures aren't helpful, but it was awesome. They were all super flexible and super strong, holding each other in the air by just a foot or something at times. After the show, we went to Hook only to find it was closed. So then we went to this crappy bar named Up & Down at Chris's insistence and a few people had a drink. There were like 8 chairs in the whole place and over 20 of us though, so it didn't work so well. After that we went to the plaza mayor to see the fire, which we had been promised people would jump over. It wasn't that big given the bonfires I've seen in my time, and after a bit they put it out and we got bored and wandered off. There was also a concert, which we heard the first part of. Was pretty cool.

So then Chris took us to this other crappy bar that was all cramped and dark and totally unappealing. Sarah had to leave, so a group of us walked her to meet her hostparents at the aquaduct. While we were there, we stumbled upon a couple of Michiganipodes trying to call home with a phone card, and their hostmom trying to tell them how to do it. We helped translate everything properly and they got it working. We hung around a bit just chatting, then returned to the crappy bar. By then it was getting late and so our small group decided to leave. I had a lot of fun despite the crappy bars though!

Luckily, Friday morning I didn't have to leave until 10, so I got to sleep in a little. Was quite tired though. Our first castle was 30 minutes away though, so I got a mini-nap. Our first stop was Santa María la Real de Nieva, and the cloister there. Apparently there used to be a palace attached, but it disappeared a long time ago. It was built around the turn of the 15th century (14-15), and so is really old. The center patio area had really neat carvings on the pillars, because it was open to the villagers and they could come in to contemplate and learn (since they couldn't read). It was quite pretty. Attached to it was a church, that I think was built afterwards, and it was gorgeously old. It's crazy to think about something that old, though I think a lot of Segovia is even older. Anyway, I took a zillion pictures of the inside of the church, so be forewarned. After looking around a bit, we set off on another 30 minute bus ride to our next stop: Ville de Coca!

Next we went to el Castillo de Coca. It was built in the 15th century as well, and features more mudéjar arquitecture. Now it's a school, and the students live there. The first question asked of our tour guide was, "¿es como Hogwarts?" and we all cracked up. She said yes it was though! It was pretty cool, and there were a lot of interesting views. There was one room, the Room of Secrets, where if you stood at one spot and put your ear to the wall, the person standing directly opposite from you could whisper into the wall and you'd hear it! It was pretty nifty. The stairs were insane though, all spirally and quite tall, step-wise. It was quite fortress-y, though I think Napoleon managed to beat it up pretty bad. The top was really neat too, and the whole castle was surrounded by a dry moat. Apparently, all moats in Spain are like this, because water would help invaders get into the castle. After our tour and taking what Marian declared was the ideal picture location, we headed back to the bus for another 30 minute bus ride to Cuéllar.

Once in Cuéllar, we stopped in a park and were given about an hour and a half of free time/lunch time. We all ate, and then the boys declared we should play tag. So we went to this itty bitty kids park full of sand and they started to play. I sat out, because I didn't want to have shoes full of sand. It was quite hilarious, especially when one of the boys was it because they'd do all sorts of crazy things, like jump over bushes and run down awkward stairs and out of view. The last time Sarah was it, she found this injured bird, which she proceeded to coax onto a stick and show it to us. We teased that she was trying to play bird gynecologist, and she finally put it down. Then everyone got tired and we just kinda chilled for a bit until it was time to go.

After meeting back up with our professors, they took us up this giant steep hill through town that never seemed to end, at the very top which was our final castle. Unfortunately, it was also converted into a school and was closed when we got there, so we didn't even get to go in! The outside was sort of neat, all the tops of the towers had been chopped off because at some point a noble ticked off the king so he ordered the Duke's castle to have all its towers decapitated. So after a short visit, we went to meet the bus which was also at the top of the hill! That crazy long walk for nothing was a bit annoying.

After the final castle, we went to a winery close by. It was pretty neat, though the inside totally stank of alcohol. Our guide told us a little about how wine was made there, and about the different kinds. Then we had our own wine tasting! He told us how to properly taste wine and we all followed his example. I will admit, swishing the glass before smelling it makes it smell so much less gross. Unfortunately, it does nothing for the taste. I really dislike wine. Our first tasting was vino tinto, red wine, and then he brought out a second for us to try, rosada, a sweeter, dessert wine. Also disgusting. I'm not sure which one was better, cuz they both tasted blech to me. Apparently they had flavors such as banana, strawberry, and cherry to them somehow, but I couldn't tell. After the wine tasting we went back to the bus and took us home!

Once home, all the little kids had left and I stayed in to rest before going out that night. I ended up talking to most everyone back home, which was nice. Figured out how to make Skype more or less cooperate and got to see JP and his awesome hair cut for the first time since I've been here! Also talked to Mom and Nathan, a very nice evening. Then had a quick dinner and got ready and left!

We met again at the aquaduct, only this time there was some sort of ceremony type thing going on onstage. I think they were crowning the Queen of the festivals, since last night was the official start of the festivals in Segovia. It was kinda weird, and then I think some famous director took the stage and gave an inspiring speech about always having dreams and dreaming, and jumping over any obstacles along the way. Then, the acrobat show from the previous night started up again! We had only seen the last bit, so we stayed and watched it. Sooo very cool. Then, we thought there were going to be fireworks in the plaza mayor, so we headed that way once it got to the end. Two-thirds of the way there, we realized that the fireworks were actually at the aquaduct, so we started to head back. We only caught about the last 30 seconds of it, but it lasted maybe 2 minutes total so I don't feel too deprived.

After the fireworks, everyone reconvened and we decided to go to El Oso Blanco for sangria. Six of us pitched in for a pitcher, and we drank downstairs which is a really chill part of the bar. I tasted the sangria and even sipped maybe 1/5 of it, but it never tasted any better. *sigh* It was full of fruit though, which I ate cuz it was yummy. After that, the smaller group of us left because we were quite exhausted and went home. It was a good night.

Today, I may have slept in until almost 2...I've got to stop partying like this! :p Had lunch with my hostmom, as the kids were all gone to Madrid today! After lunch, I went through all my email for the first time in two days, then went to my room to relax and listen to my Spanish Harry Potter ebook. About 10 minutes in, I couldn't take it anymore--I really wanted to read it, not listen to it! Having not read anything in like 2 weeks, I finally gave in. I picked up one of the books I already had in my library (iBook library) and read for awhile. It was quite nice. When I finally got up and decided to get to work on blogging and updating my photo album, Julia was gone and I had the place to myself.

So, that's my day! Lazy Saturday, but you need a recuperative day every once in awhile! And the day's not over yet, who knows what's in store :)