...to say goodbye. I can´t believe how fast time has gone by. Part of me feels like just yesterday I was standing at the counter of the Bilbao airport filling out a report for my lost luggage, and the other part of me feels like I´ve been here forever and that my blood is truly Spanish. What a great experience it has been.
Kate, my collaborating teacher, invited me to her home to relax and enjoy supper together. Yesterday was finally the day that this worked out... better late than never. It was so peaceful riding home in a car where there was civilized conversation instead of yelling! It was great to get to spend time with Kate outside of the academic setting. It was also wonderful to have a normal, homecooked meal... delicious! I have been blessed with a great mentor, support, teacher, and friend. I really learned a lot from her and am grateful for all that she has done.
I need to say goodbye to my students today, and as the day goes on I´m realizing that it will be more difficult than I anticipated. Currently, I think they are preparing something for me because Kate asked me to leave the room for awhile. They have been difficult, but at the same time they taught me a lot. They taught me a lot about themselves, children in general, and they taught me a lot about myself. We are having a picnic this afternoon, and on our schedule on the board it says, "Surprise for Miss Jessie!" I´m excited to see what it is!
I leave this afternoon to go to Picos de Europa, a mountainous national park in Asturias. From the pictures I´ve seen, it looks beautiful, and the cabin we´re going to stay in looks incredible. Stay tuned for pictures... Igor is picking me up this afternoon, and I asked him to come a little later than normal just so I couldhave some time gto finalize packing all of my bags and get everything ready. Well, I´m not so sure that that is necessary. This morning I was asked to be sure that everything was out of the room before I left for school so that the nanny could prepare the room for the daughter. So, I wasn´t kicked-out, kicked-out, but in a way I was kicked-out. Goodness! Good thing all of my bags were already basically prepared and ready to go. Looks like we´re going to get an earlier start today than I had anticipated! No pasa nada!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Granada!
I had been looking forward to this weekend all week. Actually, I think I’d been looking forward to it ever since I knew there was a possibility of going to Granada. I heard amazing things about Granada before coming to Spain, and then things just improved once I got there. Every weekend for the past two months Igor has been saying, “If you think this is incredible, just wait until Granada.” (It’s his favorite place!) All week I was so tempted to go online and look at tourist websites for Granada, but I was successful in restraining myself. I wanted to be completely surprised by everything I saw, especially the Alhambra. Before I go any further, let’s just say that Granada (and Igor’s excitement, explanations, and anticipations) didn’t let me down. Not one bit.
Igor picked me up directly from school so we could get a little earlier of a start. (It’s about a nine hour drive… going from the northern coast on the Cantabrian Sea straight south to practically the Mediterranean.) It was cloudy and rainy in Bilbao (what’s new?), but, just like usual, once we crossed the mountains sunshine and blue skies were waiting for us. I think it was at this point the Black Eyed Peas song came on the radio that says, “Tonight’s gonna be a good night, tonight’s gonna be a good good night!” Igor and I agreed! We were expecting a lot of traffic in Madrid, but we actually made it through pretty quickly. We did have a slight backup due to an accident, but we finally made it to Granada at about 11:30. We made good timing! We were fortunate to be able to stay with Igor’s brother-in-law. We dropped our stuff off at his piso and then headed out for tapas! (I couldn’t believe the size and quality of the free tapas here in Granada! Awesome!) After the typical hop, we went to a discoteca called Mae West. We went to one last week in Salamanca but we were there early and it was empty. We basically just went for me to be able to see the building that it was in. Well, this one was almost at its prime. We were still able to move around a little so it wasn’t completely full, but there were still A LOT of people. Apparently it was a fairly small one, but it had multiple HUGE rooms (for lack of a better word) that played different types of music, and it was at least two levels, maybe even three. Whatever it was, it was fun! … and crazy!! It was definitely like nothing I had every experienced before, but I guess that could be said about the whole night, and this whole trip. At this point, it was getting late (or early… however you want to look at it) so we decided to get a bite to eat (“midnight” snack or breakfast, again, depending on how you look at it). We got sandwiches at about 6am, and we weren’t the only ones out and awake. We grabbed a taxi back to the piso and went to sleep at 7. I still am in awe at the lifestyle here in Spain. Eating breakfast at 6am? Going to bed as the sun is coming up? Crazy.
Outside of Mae West
We got up and got going at about 2pm the next afternoon. We walked from the “campo” where the piso was to the old part of the city. We had a coffee and then started seeing the sights. We were only able to see the outside of the cathedral, but it wasn’t as impressive as others we’ve seen. It was incomplete because the architect died and he didn’t leave plans. We then met up with Nou Nou and went to the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel), but it really isn’t a chapel or a church, it is more of a tomb. We saw the tombs that the very important Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, are lying inside. So last weekend in Segovia I saw where they gave Columbus the ships to search for a quicker route to India and this weekend in Granada I saw their tomb. Wow!
Granada has a lot of Arabian influence. The city has “changed hands” many times in its history between the Arabians and Spanish. We had a tea at a very Arabian place. I felt like we were in Morocco rather than in Spain. From there we started the trek up the mountain through the old neighborhood of Albayzín located on the side of a hill overlooking the Alhambra. Because I didn’t look anything up about Granada previous to coming, I had no idea what to expect with the Alhambra. Every time we would walk past a shop or anything, Igor told me to cover my eyes because everything was covered in Alhambra souvenirs. I wanted to be surprised. We finally made it to our destination and were lucky enough to get a spot at a restaurant overlooking the hillside and the Alhambra. I turned the corner, my eyes met the Alhambra, and my jaw hit the ground. Incredible! Huge! Beautiful! The view from our table was incredible. We could see all of Granada and the Alhambra. Apparently the sunset from there is supposed to be incredible. The Alhambra changes colors as the light hits it and the sun reflects off of the snow-capped mountains behind it. (Alhambra means red… for the color of the stone used to build it.) Unfortunately it was a cloudy day and evening so the sunset wasn’t anything amazing but the view was still spectacular.
Tea time!
The view of the Alhambra from our table... the picture doesn't do it justice. (I think someone needs to chop that pine tree down.)
After the sun set we headed down the hill back to the old part of Granada to the tapas zone. Once again… amazing! We went to the Minotauro- a great tapas bar where you write a message or draw a picture on the napkins and then put them on the wall. It was so fun to read those that have been on the wall for a long time! There is one rule: everything that you draw has to have horns on it like a bull would have. Of course, I had to write my own message and draw a picture! Part of me will always be in Granada.
Minotauro!
My napkin!
Or plan was to get a coffee and then go back and get some sleep because there was a lot on the agenda for Sunday. To make a long story short, Granada got the best of us and we went to bed at 6am. (Breakfast was at a Frankfurt place and I remember chatting with the people at the table across from us about how to correctly pronounce ketchup in Spanish and English… that was a sign that we needed to call it a night!)
Needless to say, we got a later start on Sunday than originally anticipated. We basically got up, went for some tapas, and headed to the Alhambra. We had tickets for entrance at 6pm. This thing was huge! We got there at about 4 and started making our way up to it. We walked through some gardens, saw the old portion of the palace, and took in all of the sights. At 6 we went inside inside, and wow! The detail, the painting, the “stamps” on the walls (the Arabian’s way of decorating instead of carving the stone)… una pasada. Something incredible about the Alhambra is the water rushing through it. There is water in all parts. It uses gravity for movement, but there are pools, baths, streams, and fountains everywhere. There is little water in the area so they came up with a way to move it around the palace. Incredibly difficult to explain but amazing to see.
Albayzín
Remnants/foundations of ancient homes… this was a neighborhood within the walls of the muralla at one point
Because it “changed hands” so many times, it has so many different styles and parts to it. When the Catholic Crown obtained power of it, they kept a lot of the Arabian style because it was so incredible, but there are places where you can see they changed it to leave their mark. The earliest part of the Alhambra was built in the 9th Century, and there were still portions added in the 1700s. There are beautiful gardens, amazing plazas, an immaculate palace, and just all around incredible things. I was in awe the whole time.
When the Arabians came, they called this place Eden; it was their paradise. I can definitely see why. We were there for about four hours and we still didn’t see everything. We even had to rush to see what we saw. We were on a time schedule because it was getting late and reality was waiting for Igor and I back in Bilbao early Monday morning. We went back to Albayzín to see if we could catch a prettier sunset. It was better and colors did change, but there were still quite a few clouds. Regardless, it was amazing.
We left Granada at about 11pm and arrived back in Bilbao at 7am. There is nothing like driving through the night, getting home and jumping right in the shower, and heading to school to teach 20 crazy 3rd grade students. Let’s just say I was quite tired… Let’s just say it was definitely worth it and I would do it again this weekend… Too bad I am returning to Chicago on Sunday….
Igor picked me up directly from school so we could get a little earlier of a start. (It’s about a nine hour drive… going from the northern coast on the Cantabrian Sea straight south to practically the Mediterranean.) It was cloudy and rainy in Bilbao (what’s new?), but, just like usual, once we crossed the mountains sunshine and blue skies were waiting for us. I think it was at this point the Black Eyed Peas song came on the radio that says, “Tonight’s gonna be a good night, tonight’s gonna be a good good night!” Igor and I agreed! We were expecting a lot of traffic in Madrid, but we actually made it through pretty quickly. We did have a slight backup due to an accident, but we finally made it to Granada at about 11:30. We made good timing! We were fortunate to be able to stay with Igor’s brother-in-law. We dropped our stuff off at his piso and then headed out for tapas! (I couldn’t believe the size and quality of the free tapas here in Granada! Awesome!) After the typical hop, we went to a discoteca called Mae West. We went to one last week in Salamanca but we were there early and it was empty. We basically just went for me to be able to see the building that it was in. Well, this one was almost at its prime. We were still able to move around a little so it wasn’t completely full, but there were still A LOT of people. Apparently it was a fairly small one, but it had multiple HUGE rooms (for lack of a better word) that played different types of music, and it was at least two levels, maybe even three. Whatever it was, it was fun! … and crazy!! It was definitely like nothing I had every experienced before, but I guess that could be said about the whole night, and this whole trip. At this point, it was getting late (or early… however you want to look at it) so we decided to get a bite to eat (“midnight” snack or breakfast, again, depending on how you look at it). We got sandwiches at about 6am, and we weren’t the only ones out and awake. We grabbed a taxi back to the piso and went to sleep at 7. I still am in awe at the lifestyle here in Spain. Eating breakfast at 6am? Going to bed as the sun is coming up? Crazy.
Outside of Mae West
We got up and got going at about 2pm the next afternoon. We walked from the “campo” where the piso was to the old part of the city. We had a coffee and then started seeing the sights. We were only able to see the outside of the cathedral, but it wasn’t as impressive as others we’ve seen. It was incomplete because the architect died and he didn’t leave plans. We then met up with Nou Nou and went to the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel), but it really isn’t a chapel or a church, it is more of a tomb. We saw the tombs that the very important Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, are lying inside. So last weekend in Segovia I saw where they gave Columbus the ships to search for a quicker route to India and this weekend in Granada I saw their tomb. Wow!
Granada has a lot of Arabian influence. The city has “changed hands” many times in its history between the Arabians and Spanish. We had a tea at a very Arabian place. I felt like we were in Morocco rather than in Spain. From there we started the trek up the mountain through the old neighborhood of Albayzín located on the side of a hill overlooking the Alhambra. Because I didn’t look anything up about Granada previous to coming, I had no idea what to expect with the Alhambra. Every time we would walk past a shop or anything, Igor told me to cover my eyes because everything was covered in Alhambra souvenirs. I wanted to be surprised. We finally made it to our destination and were lucky enough to get a spot at a restaurant overlooking the hillside and the Alhambra. I turned the corner, my eyes met the Alhambra, and my jaw hit the ground. Incredible! Huge! Beautiful! The view from our table was incredible. We could see all of Granada and the Alhambra. Apparently the sunset from there is supposed to be incredible. The Alhambra changes colors as the light hits it and the sun reflects off of the snow-capped mountains behind it. (Alhambra means red… for the color of the stone used to build it.) Unfortunately it was a cloudy day and evening so the sunset wasn’t anything amazing but the view was still spectacular.
Tea time!
The view of the Alhambra from our table... the picture doesn't do it justice. (I think someone needs to chop that pine tree down.)
After the sun set we headed down the hill back to the old part of Granada to the tapas zone. Once again… amazing! We went to the Minotauro- a great tapas bar where you write a message or draw a picture on the napkins and then put them on the wall. It was so fun to read those that have been on the wall for a long time! There is one rule: everything that you draw has to have horns on it like a bull would have. Of course, I had to write my own message and draw a picture! Part of me will always be in Granada.
Minotauro!
My napkin!
Or plan was to get a coffee and then go back and get some sleep because there was a lot on the agenda for Sunday. To make a long story short, Granada got the best of us and we went to bed at 6am. (Breakfast was at a Frankfurt place and I remember chatting with the people at the table across from us about how to correctly pronounce ketchup in Spanish and English… that was a sign that we needed to call it a night!)
Needless to say, we got a later start on Sunday than originally anticipated. We basically got up, went for some tapas, and headed to the Alhambra. We had tickets for entrance at 6pm. This thing was huge! We got there at about 4 and started making our way up to it. We walked through some gardens, saw the old portion of the palace, and took in all of the sights. At 6 we went inside inside, and wow! The detail, the painting, the “stamps” on the walls (the Arabian’s way of decorating instead of carving the stone)… una pasada. Something incredible about the Alhambra is the water rushing through it. There is water in all parts. It uses gravity for movement, but there are pools, baths, streams, and fountains everywhere. There is little water in the area so they came up with a way to move it around the palace. Incredibly difficult to explain but amazing to see.
Albayzín
Remnants/foundations of ancient homes… this was a neighborhood within the walls of the muralla at one point
Because it “changed hands” so many times, it has so many different styles and parts to it. When the Catholic Crown obtained power of it, they kept a lot of the Arabian style because it was so incredible, but there are places where you can see they changed it to leave their mark. The earliest part of the Alhambra was built in the 9th Century, and there were still portions added in the 1700s. There are beautiful gardens, amazing plazas, an immaculate palace, and just all around incredible things. I was in awe the whole time.
When the Arabians came, they called this place Eden; it was their paradise. I can definitely see why. We were there for about four hours and we still didn’t see everything. We even had to rush to see what we saw. We were on a time schedule because it was getting late and reality was waiting for Igor and I back in Bilbao early Monday morning. We went back to Albayzín to see if we could catch a prettier sunset. It was better and colors did change, but there were still quite a few clouds. Regardless, it was amazing.
We left Granada at about 11pm and arrived back in Bilbao at 7am. There is nothing like driving through the night, getting home and jumping right in the shower, and heading to school to teach 20 crazy 3rd grade students. Let’s just say I was quite tired… Let’s just say it was definitely worth it and I would do it again this weekend… Too bad I am returning to Chicago on Sunday….
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Life in Third Grade...
Things started out rough for me in third grade. I am just about to complete my second full week of full-time teaching. The first two days were absolutely awful. If I didn't have such a great experience in Lapel, I probably would have started questioning my choice of professions. Things started to get better on Wendesday, and I implemented a new behavior system for an individual student who gave me a lot of trouble. By Friday, I was completely ready for the weekend. I was stressed out with the students, planning, completing job applications, and working on my Teacher Work Sample. Salamanca was the perfect remedy!
Some changes happened over the weekend for the student who had been giving me a lot of trouble. It is a hard situation, but I think he will be able to be a happy child now. Monday morning was still kind of rough, but Monday afternoon.... yay! I walked out of there after laughing and having fun with the students. That was my first time in the 7 weeks that I've been here that I left the school thinking, "Wow, that was fun! I want to do that again!" I had many, many days like that in Lapel but they had sure been lacking here. I finally got one! Ever since then things have been getting better.
The students still talk constantly and, sometimes, they are just flat out rude, but we are working on that. I implemented a new class-wide behavior system and that seems to have been working. It is still a struggle knowing what is Spanish culture, what is rich/private school culture, and what is disrespect. It is an interesting environment. The students are done testing/pushing me, though. At the beginning I think they wanted to see how much they could get away with. They quickly realized that amount was very small. At one point I heard a student mumble, "Man, she's tough." That made me happy!
The student who was quite difficult at the beginning is now quite chummy with me. He has such a great soul. The wonderful young man he has always been is now getting the opportunity to shine through. He keeps asking me, "Miss Jessie, when are you leaving? Is it this Friday or next Friday?" I told him that next Friday is my last day and he was like, "Ok, good, cause I have to get a picture of you before you go!" He has been such a source of joy in my days. His personality has been so fun to experience, but it gives me goosebumps to give him a "Miss Jessie caught me being good" card on his desk constantly throughout the day for his positive behavior. It makes me SO happy to see him setting positive examples for the other students. This guy is going to be hard to say good-bye to, that's for sure!
We went on a field trip today to the ayunamiento, the Town Hall of Berango.
My third graders with the mayoress of Berango
Some changes happened over the weekend for the student who had been giving me a lot of trouble. It is a hard situation, but I think he will be able to be a happy child now. Monday morning was still kind of rough, but Monday afternoon.... yay! I walked out of there after laughing and having fun with the students. That was my first time in the 7 weeks that I've been here that I left the school thinking, "Wow, that was fun! I want to do that again!" I had many, many days like that in Lapel but they had sure been lacking here. I finally got one! Ever since then things have been getting better.
The students still talk constantly and, sometimes, they are just flat out rude, but we are working on that. I implemented a new class-wide behavior system and that seems to have been working. It is still a struggle knowing what is Spanish culture, what is rich/private school culture, and what is disrespect. It is an interesting environment. The students are done testing/pushing me, though. At the beginning I think they wanted to see how much they could get away with. They quickly realized that amount was very small. At one point I heard a student mumble, "Man, she's tough." That made me happy!
The student who was quite difficult at the beginning is now quite chummy with me. He has such a great soul. The wonderful young man he has always been is now getting the opportunity to shine through. He keeps asking me, "Miss Jessie, when are you leaving? Is it this Friday or next Friday?" I told him that next Friday is my last day and he was like, "Ok, good, cause I have to get a picture of you before you go!" He has been such a source of joy in my days. His personality has been so fun to experience, but it gives me goosebumps to give him a "Miss Jessie caught me being good" card on his desk constantly throughout the day for his positive behavior. It makes me SO happy to see him setting positive examples for the other students. This guy is going to be hard to say good-bye to, that's for sure!
We went on a field trip today to the ayunamiento, the Town Hall of Berango.
My third graders with the mayoress of Berango
Monday, April 19, 2010
Una Pasada.... Salamanca and Segovia
Aaahhhhh…. It’s SO good to be back in Spain. I missed “experiencing” it the two weeks I was away. I was only out of the country for one week, but being at home and going to school don’t really seem like ‘Spain’ to me. Whenever I meet someone new when I’m traveling and I tell them that I’m in Bilbao, the response is always, “Why Bilbao? Bilbao is the most un-Spanish place in Spain.” I, of course, didn’t know this going into the experience, and it has been just fine for me, but I love the weekends when I can travel and experience the real Spain.
This past weekend was, for me, the epitome of Spain. Before I got to Spain, I had ideas in my mind of what Spain would look like and be like, and this weekend that all came to life for me. I have seen and experienced other very Spanish things, for lack of a better word, but this weekend just seemed different to me. There was an incredible amount of history and culture, and I love learning about that more than I ever imagined I would.
Igor picked me up at 4:30 on Friday afternoon and we hit the road to go to Santander to pick up his friend Oscar, who joined us on our weekend expedition. After a few café con leche breaks, we arrived in Salamanca at about 10:30. One of Igor’s friends has two pisos (flats/apartments) in Salamanca, but one is just a secondary house that doesn’t get used very much. We were lucky to be able to stay there for free, and it was just on the edge of the historical zone of the town. Perfect! We parked the car there and then started walking to the tapas zone… where else? We finally got there, and there were SO many to chose from. Good thing in Spain the custom is to try them all and go from one to the next to the next to the next… The first place we went to was incredible. Just like in Madrid, you get a free tapa with every round you order. The first tapa we got was ribs. Yes, that was the free dish with the drinks we ordered. They were delicious! But that’s not all, the next tapa was grilled pork pieces on a skewer with some kind of sauce on it. Tasty! We decided that it was time to change, so we moved on to the next place, and then the next. Basically, we ate dinner for free and only paid for drinks. (This system of free tapas follows an imaginary line. In general, if you are in Madrid or anywhere in the southern half of the country, you can count on free tapas. Sometimes the free tapa will be peanuts, but more commonly it will be some kind of sandwich, meet, or potatoes with sauce over them.)
While we were walking around the city Friday night, I think my mouth was hanging open the whole time, and it wasn’t because of the amazing tapas. Everywhere I looked, there was another incredible building, cathedral, school, or plaza. I was compared to an owl many times this weekend because of my wide eyes trying to take everything it and my head turning in all directions quickly so I wouldn’t miss a thing. Igor told me to relax because we would see it all on Saturday tranquilly. The major plaza of Salamanca (Plaza Mayor, 1729, Felipe V) is so cool. If you’ve seen the movie Vantage Point, then you have seen the major plaza of Salamanca (although it is a reproduction in the movie). So cool! It was beautiful at night with all of the lights on. But again, Igor said to just relax because we would see it Saturday. I think he also wanted to go enjoy more fiesta, too. I didn’t object.
Plaza Mayor at night
Saturday morning when we woke up (as in 11:30 because of going to bed so late), it was slightly rainy, and I was nervous that it would ruin the sights. We had a typical breakfast of coffee with churros and set out on our way. It is hard to describe everything that we saw, but I will do my best. The whole afternoon was spent walking and looking at all the different buildings. Our first stop was the cathedral, and all I have to say is… HOLY COW!
There is an old cathedral that was completed in the year 1110. Yes, 1110. Crazy. Usually when they built a new cathedral they would either destroy the old one or build the new one on top of the old one, but that is not the case in Salamanca. They kept the catedral viejo and built the cathedral nuevo right next to it. The construction of the new one was started in 1513 and was completed in 1713. The details on this monstrosity were absolutely incredible. There are so many things pay attention to that you can’t possible see everything. Even the secondary doors blow my mind. Absolutely amazing. We were able to walk through the old cathedral and go to the top of the new one. The view of the city was gorgeous!
From there, we walked to the university. The University of Salamanca was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It was acknowledged in 1254 by Pope Alexander IV as being one of the four great Universities in the world, along with the universities of Oxford, Paris, and Bologna. A frog is the symbol of the city, and there is an incredible entrance to the university that has un monton of details etched in the rock. There is a large medallion with the Catholic King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. They’re considered the protectors of the university. There is a frog hidden amongst the details, and it is said that if you can spot the frog you will have good luck. It was difficult for me to see, but we found it!
Can you find the frog?
There it is!
We then went to the Convento de San Esteban. Construction began in 1524-1610. Christopher Columbus did some important planning and thinking in this exact location, living here for a short time.
After that, we walked by the muralla, the part of the wall that used to surround the entire city, and we went to an old Roman bridge. It was built in the year 89. Yes, a year that is in the double digits. And I walked on it. It is still very much intact and incredible!
There is a novel very important in Spanish literature that is similar to Romeo and Juliet, but I can’t remember the name, but Salamanca is where it is set and written. We went to the park where the main characters shared their first kiss, fell in love, and so on. Apparently it is very important to the story, and I’m sad I can’t remember many details about it. I will have to look into this… and read the book!
We spent the afternoon/evening just relaxing in the Plaza Mayor. The people watching there was great. Igor and Oscar made fun of me for enjoying it so much. Once again- an owl. It is typical here, for a bachelor or bachelorette party, to get dressed up in some costume with all your friends and just do crazy things. That made for some great people watching! From there, we began our evening. We met up with some of Igor’s friends and started the hop- place to place to place. One of Igor’s friends has a lot of connections in Salamanca, so we were able to go into a discoteca (dance club) that used to be a monastery and was built hundreds of years ago. …Spaniards. From there, we were invited up to the piso of a friend, and we met up with a band of university students who play European folklore music typical of the area, and they dress in typical, old clothing. La tuna is the word for the band. It is a tradition more than five centuries old. Well, of course we didn’t only chat with them in the street and listen to their music, they were invited up to join the fiesta! … Spaniards. I love Spain! It was a fun and crazy night, and it ended at 6am. I think we all would have liked for it to continue, but we had places to be and things to see the next day.
In the Plaza Mayor at about 5am. Check out all the people, and it was considered empty.
After an awful, early greeting from the alarm clock, we packed up and got on the road to Segovia. We got there and headed towards the Alcázar of Segovia (the Castle of Segovia). It was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy. Construction started in 1120. Isabel and Ferdinand reigned here from 1474-1502, and it was during that time that Christopher Columbus went to them and asked for the ships to find India. He didn’t tell them of his theory about the world being round for fear of being though of as crazy and being able to realize his dream. I stood in front of the thrones in the receiving area. My feet were in the same exact position, SAME EXACT POSITION!, as those of Christopher Columbus. I stood in the exact spot where my life began, according to Igor, and it’s true in a way. If one little detail might have been different in those moments Columbus was there, things would have been different for the world. Wow! Incredible. Period. We also saw a cathedral there, which it was neat, but then we headed for something even more mind-boggling.
The same spot!!!
It is not knows exactly when construction of this monument began or ended, but experts believe that the Roman Aqueduct was built the second half of the first century. (People say that Spain is more Roman that Rome is.) It is still completely as it was when it was built. Water does not pass through it, but it could if it was necessary. The amazing thing is that the stones aren’t held together by cement or anything like that, it is just stone on top of stone on top of stone… and it’s still standing as it was 2,000 years ago. This thing is huge, and it stretches for about 6km, more than 3 miles. How could people build something like that 2,000 years ago!?! There aren’t even words.
We stopped on our way home at the incredible Catedral de Burgos (a Gothic-style cathedral). Construction began in 1221. It is starting to crumble and the rocks are “sick” and there wasn’t money to pay to conserve it. The US offered to buy it and preserve it, but they planned on taking it piece by piece back to the States. What a stupid idea!?! It was around that time that Spain became part of the European Union and they said that they would pay to conserve it. I’m glad! It is way cooler in Burgos that it would be anywhere back in the States!
We finally made it back to Bilbao at about 11pm on Sunday night. What an incredible weekend. I absolutely loved everything about it. The whole time I was there, I was thinking, “This is Spain!” The culture. The architecture. The customs. The people. The fiesta. The history. It’s in Salamanca. I kept thinking, “If I come live here next year to teach, I will come to Salamanca.” The funny thing is that I have said that in every new place I’ve been to. I love Spain!
This past weekend was, for me, the epitome of Spain. Before I got to Spain, I had ideas in my mind of what Spain would look like and be like, and this weekend that all came to life for me. I have seen and experienced other very Spanish things, for lack of a better word, but this weekend just seemed different to me. There was an incredible amount of history and culture, and I love learning about that more than I ever imagined I would.
Igor picked me up at 4:30 on Friday afternoon and we hit the road to go to Santander to pick up his friend Oscar, who joined us on our weekend expedition. After a few café con leche breaks, we arrived in Salamanca at about 10:30. One of Igor’s friends has two pisos (flats/apartments) in Salamanca, but one is just a secondary house that doesn’t get used very much. We were lucky to be able to stay there for free, and it was just on the edge of the historical zone of the town. Perfect! We parked the car there and then started walking to the tapas zone… where else? We finally got there, and there were SO many to chose from. Good thing in Spain the custom is to try them all and go from one to the next to the next to the next… The first place we went to was incredible. Just like in Madrid, you get a free tapa with every round you order. The first tapa we got was ribs. Yes, that was the free dish with the drinks we ordered. They were delicious! But that’s not all, the next tapa was grilled pork pieces on a skewer with some kind of sauce on it. Tasty! We decided that it was time to change, so we moved on to the next place, and then the next. Basically, we ate dinner for free and only paid for drinks. (This system of free tapas follows an imaginary line. In general, if you are in Madrid or anywhere in the southern half of the country, you can count on free tapas. Sometimes the free tapa will be peanuts, but more commonly it will be some kind of sandwich, meet, or potatoes with sauce over them.)
While we were walking around the city Friday night, I think my mouth was hanging open the whole time, and it wasn’t because of the amazing tapas. Everywhere I looked, there was another incredible building, cathedral, school, or plaza. I was compared to an owl many times this weekend because of my wide eyes trying to take everything it and my head turning in all directions quickly so I wouldn’t miss a thing. Igor told me to relax because we would see it all on Saturday tranquilly. The major plaza of Salamanca (Plaza Mayor, 1729, Felipe V) is so cool. If you’ve seen the movie Vantage Point, then you have seen the major plaza of Salamanca (although it is a reproduction in the movie). So cool! It was beautiful at night with all of the lights on. But again, Igor said to just relax because we would see it Saturday. I think he also wanted to go enjoy more fiesta, too. I didn’t object.
Plaza Mayor at night
Saturday morning when we woke up (as in 11:30 because of going to bed so late), it was slightly rainy, and I was nervous that it would ruin the sights. We had a typical breakfast of coffee with churros and set out on our way. It is hard to describe everything that we saw, but I will do my best. The whole afternoon was spent walking and looking at all the different buildings. Our first stop was the cathedral, and all I have to say is… HOLY COW!
There is an old cathedral that was completed in the year 1110. Yes, 1110. Crazy. Usually when they built a new cathedral they would either destroy the old one or build the new one on top of the old one, but that is not the case in Salamanca. They kept the catedral viejo and built the cathedral nuevo right next to it. The construction of the new one was started in 1513 and was completed in 1713. The details on this monstrosity were absolutely incredible. There are so many things pay attention to that you can’t possible see everything. Even the secondary doors blow my mind. Absolutely amazing. We were able to walk through the old cathedral and go to the top of the new one. The view of the city was gorgeous!
From there, we walked to the university. The University of Salamanca was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It was acknowledged in 1254 by Pope Alexander IV as being one of the four great Universities in the world, along with the universities of Oxford, Paris, and Bologna. A frog is the symbol of the city, and there is an incredible entrance to the university that has un monton of details etched in the rock. There is a large medallion with the Catholic King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. They’re considered the protectors of the university. There is a frog hidden amongst the details, and it is said that if you can spot the frog you will have good luck. It was difficult for me to see, but we found it!
Can you find the frog?
There it is!
We then went to the Convento de San Esteban. Construction began in 1524-1610. Christopher Columbus did some important planning and thinking in this exact location, living here for a short time.
After that, we walked by the muralla, the part of the wall that used to surround the entire city, and we went to an old Roman bridge. It was built in the year 89. Yes, a year that is in the double digits. And I walked on it. It is still very much intact and incredible!
There is a novel very important in Spanish literature that is similar to Romeo and Juliet, but I can’t remember the name, but Salamanca is where it is set and written. We went to the park where the main characters shared their first kiss, fell in love, and so on. Apparently it is very important to the story, and I’m sad I can’t remember many details about it. I will have to look into this… and read the book!
We spent the afternoon/evening just relaxing in the Plaza Mayor. The people watching there was great. Igor and Oscar made fun of me for enjoying it so much. Once again- an owl. It is typical here, for a bachelor or bachelorette party, to get dressed up in some costume with all your friends and just do crazy things. That made for some great people watching! From there, we began our evening. We met up with some of Igor’s friends and started the hop- place to place to place. One of Igor’s friends has a lot of connections in Salamanca, so we were able to go into a discoteca (dance club) that used to be a monastery and was built hundreds of years ago. …Spaniards. From there, we were invited up to the piso of a friend, and we met up with a band of university students who play European folklore music typical of the area, and they dress in typical, old clothing. La tuna is the word for the band. It is a tradition more than five centuries old. Well, of course we didn’t only chat with them in the street and listen to their music, they were invited up to join the fiesta! … Spaniards. I love Spain! It was a fun and crazy night, and it ended at 6am. I think we all would have liked for it to continue, but we had places to be and things to see the next day.
In the Plaza Mayor at about 5am. Check out all the people, and it was considered empty.
After an awful, early greeting from the alarm clock, we packed up and got on the road to Segovia. We got there and headed towards the Alcázar of Segovia (the Castle of Segovia). It was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy. Construction started in 1120. Isabel and Ferdinand reigned here from 1474-1502, and it was during that time that Christopher Columbus went to them and asked for the ships to find India. He didn’t tell them of his theory about the world being round for fear of being though of as crazy and being able to realize his dream. I stood in front of the thrones in the receiving area. My feet were in the same exact position, SAME EXACT POSITION!, as those of Christopher Columbus. I stood in the exact spot where my life began, according to Igor, and it’s true in a way. If one little detail might have been different in those moments Columbus was there, things would have been different for the world. Wow! Incredible. Period. We also saw a cathedral there, which it was neat, but then we headed for something even more mind-boggling.
The same spot!!!
It is not knows exactly when construction of this monument began or ended, but experts believe that the Roman Aqueduct was built the second half of the first century. (People say that Spain is more Roman that Rome is.) It is still completely as it was when it was built. Water does not pass through it, but it could if it was necessary. The amazing thing is that the stones aren’t held together by cement or anything like that, it is just stone on top of stone on top of stone… and it’s still standing as it was 2,000 years ago. This thing is huge, and it stretches for about 6km, more than 3 miles. How could people build something like that 2,000 years ago!?! There aren’t even words.
We stopped on our way home at the incredible Catedral de Burgos (a Gothic-style cathedral). Construction began in 1221. It is starting to crumble and the rocks are “sick” and there wasn’t money to pay to conserve it. The US offered to buy it and preserve it, but they planned on taking it piece by piece back to the States. What a stupid idea!?! It was around that time that Spain became part of the European Union and they said that they would pay to conserve it. I’m glad! It is way cooler in Burgos that it would be anywhere back in the States!
We finally made it back to Bilbao at about 11pm on Sunday night. What an incredible weekend. I absolutely loved everything about it. The whole time I was there, I was thinking, “This is Spain!” The culture. The architecture. The customs. The people. The fiesta. The history. It’s in Salamanca. I kept thinking, “If I come live here next year to teach, I will come to Salamanca.” The funny thing is that I have said that in every new place I’ve been to. I love Spain!
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