domingo, 15 de mayo de 2011

The Astronaut and the Frog – A Night in Salamanca


After hitting the halfway mark in my abroad program (weird!), I decided to have another mellow weekend and head to the nearby town of Salamanca for an overnight stay.  Salamanca is famous for being Spain's main university town.  It's main university, the University of Salamanca, was founded in 1218, making it the oldest university in Spain and the third oldest western university in the world.  With that in mind, we figured it would be a perfect destination for a group of college students.


Salamanca!

Does this picture remind anyone else of Segovia?  The view and main cathedrals are VERY similar.

As expected, Salamanca was lovely and full of students, which was refreshing as most of our traveling companions seem to be large packs of international fanny pack-touting tour groups.  Our hostel was fantastic and located right in the middle of the city.  After giving us a map with tons of helpful  recommendations, the hostel owners told us our first stop had to be a restaurant called “Cervantes."  What a find!  Each drink was 1-3 euros and came with free tapas…each of which turned out to be more like a delicious mini meal.  Our hostel had also called ahead and ordered us a round of drinks – obviously securing themselves a 100% on their hostelbookers.com ratings.  Needless to say we went back a few times, to the fanfare of the waiters who came to know us well.  

Full and happy, we headed off to see the town.  My host mom had told me about two things in Salamanca that we absolutely had to see, or rather find, during our stay.  One was a mini astronaut that is built into one of the walls of the New Cathedral.  The New Cathedral was actually built between the 16th and 18th centuries and, along with the Old Cathedral, is one of Salamanca's two impressive cathedrals.  Apparently the astronaut it is famous for tricking tourists into thinking that the original architect had some prophetic-type vision into the future...or, in this case, space exploration.  Or we can turn to the wise wisdom of Wikipedia and assume that it was “added by an artist during restoration work in 1992 as a symbol of the 20th century.”  I think I may be cynical and go with the latter option.

Cathedrals:

Astronaut!

The second site to see is a frog ("una rana") that is built into the front of one of the university buildings.  Legend has it that if a student goes to the wall and finds the frog, they will have good luck on their exams.  I was also told more generally that it would bring me good luck and ensure that I get married within a year.  I had two midterms this week so I was determined to find it (it can’t hurt, right?).  But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure it would take a lot more than a little frog to make me even think about getting married this year!  After more time than I would like to admit, our search was successful.  I must say the frog is a bit anti-climactic – it is tiny, sitting on the top of a skull, and actually looks more like a creepy bird than a frog – but we decided to take it as a sign that our day was successful!

Wall of the frog

FROG (though admittedly not my picture - thanks google images!).  It's hard to see, but the frog is sitting on top of the skull.

Another university building (I think...)

Because it is a university town, we were determined to experience a bit of Salamanca’s nightlife.  (Note: my host mom told me that the nightlife was excellent, so this part of the trip was actually equally mandatory) : ).  Our night was hilarious.  I’m not sure if it is Salamanca or just coincidentally the night of our trip, but we ran into a ton of bachelor parties.  For some reason it seems to be a tradition that the groom-to-be dress in a seductive drag queen outfit.  I’m still a bit confused, but it did make our night much more entertaining. 

Our next day was straightforward – we ate some food and then caught the three hour bus ride back to Madrid.  My grand lesson for the day: save falafel and kebabs for the south of Spain...they may make bus rides very uncomfortable if you go for the sketchy version up north.  Regardless of said tummy ache, for those of you who are looking to travel through Spain, Salamanca is one of my top recommendations.  The Spanish people have been incredibly warm and friendly during my entire stay, but I’m not sure if anywhere I’ve gone can rival the people we met here.

Con un beso,
Annie

miércoles, 11 de mayo de 2011

Princesses in Segovia


Last weekend I needed a little traveling break, so I decided to stay in Madrid and take a day trip to Segovia.  Segovia is a little old town about a 45-minute bus ride to the northwest of Madrid.  I’ve included a map here so you can see where I was!


Segovia was absolutely beautiful.  We were lucky enough to arrive and see the sites before the torrential rain started – thank you weather gods!  I was also given a detailed map with lots of pencil marks and highlighted places to go by my tour-guide host mom.  She had basically designed a walking tour for us, which was so so cute.  Our first stop in Segovia was a tiny church with a foundation that was begun in the 8th century (again, facts courtesy of our host mom). 

Oldddd church: 


We then headed to the ancient aqueducts, which were absolutely enormous and really interesting to see.  I’m always amazing by early Europe’s sophisticated engineering.

Aqueducts: 


Next, we headed to the Segovia Cathedral.  It is an huge 16th century Gothic cathedral, with awesome stained glass and tons of beautiful art.  Mom, you would’ve loved the enormous organ and choir “room,” for lack of a better term.  Each choir member got their own individual wood seat, and I’m pretty sure the acuestics would have been AMAZING.

Cathedral:

Same cathedral, different view

View from the inside!


The next stop was my personal favorite: the Alcázar (Castle) of Segovia.  Built in the 12th century, this was apparently the castle on which Walt Disney based his designs.  So cool!  I have since decided that I could easily live in a castle.  The cellar was a little creepy and some of the rooms had a chilly draft, but I think this could be easily handled :)

Fairy princess castle!

We obviously have to jump in front of all important buildings.  (I’m in the middle if you can’t tell – for some reason my 12 years of ballet didn’t really pay off in the jumping here).

My new friend: 


We also climbed the tower.  Here’s the view from the top.



We ended our day huddled in a pasteleria (bakery) that was recommended, eating sweets while avoiding the rain.  One of my friend’s host mom’s told her that she had to try the traditional Ponche de Segovia…which we all did and then had a nice sugar coma for the ride home.  I’m still unsure of what it was exactly, but I do know that it was a cake-type dessert contained in a thin layer of marzipan.  If you know me – and my fondness of marzipan – I’m sure you can already tell I was a fan.  Inside, it basically consisted of layers of cake, cream, and some sort of caramelized sugar concoction.  And now I’m hungry again.  Yum.  

Ponche de Segovia:  

So that was my brief Segovian love affair.  It is fun to visit castles and eat cakes like a princess, by I do like my laptop, voting, and deodorant a lot, so it probably wouldn’t have worked out for me to live in the 12th century anyway. 

Oh, I almost forgot my most important non-Madrid update!  I found out my Stanford campus housing for next year: my seven girlfriends and I got the best housing on campus!!!  I will be living in Xanadu, a big house on the Row, and my roommate and I will most likely share 2 bedrooms.  (I am very excited to have my own bedroom for the first time since I've been at Stanford).  Our draw number was #13 – pretty sweet when you consider there are more than 6,000 undergraduates.    

Again, I'd love to hear from you too!  I'm a bit sick this week (my host mom has officially put me on a 3-day bed rest which she is taking VERY seriously), so I will have some extra time to read your comments from my bed.
Annie