Castles, snow, and Portugal adventures

It’s been another week, which means more journeys in Spain. Last week our class ventured to Segovia, which is north of Madrid in the mountains. The thing to see in Segovia is the castle on the hill: Let’s just say I fell in love. 

I grew up reading fantasy and adventure books and not turning towards history, mystery, or romance until around high school. Even now, I’m reading the Outlander series set in 1700s Scotland, which means castles. So of course, I love castles. But I had never actually seen one. 

In Segovia, the castle on the hill is a large tourist attraction, even for the people there last Friday when it was snowing. Seriously, it was snowing and I couldn’t believe it. At least it’s not negative twenty or something like it is in Minnesota (sorry). 

Our class toured the castle and we were even able to go up to the very top of the tower where the guards used to stand while they surveyed the city for approaching enemies. From there we could see the cathedral (the only other interesting thing in Segovia) and the rest of the town. I have to say, it was very beautiful despite being cold. 

Throughout the tour I was thrilled to actually be inside a castle. It reminded me of when I read that some places in Europe will pay people to live in a castle and maintain it, so they can preserve the history legacy of some of the old structures. It sounds kind of romantic, but I guess I’m not ready to go that far (if it even really happens).

Besides Segovia, my friends and I also took a Sunday trip to Salamanca. That was also fun, although again there wasn’t much to do there besides seeing the cathedral (they’re everywhere in Spain) and the museum. So we went to those in the morning and then when we thought we would maybe go shopping a bit in the main part of town in the afternoon. That’s when we discovered how seriously Salamanca takes siestas. As we walked down the main street in the middle of the afternoon with shops on all sides, we were the only ones moving. All of the stores were closed, leaving us with nowhere to go. Eventually we found a cool little park and sat there for a bit, waiting for things to open up. All we were able to find were a few restaurants or cafes, so we went to a restaurant known for its Spanish tapas, which I learned basically just means hors d'oeuvres. They were good, but we decided to visit a neat little Irish pub afterwards and there were two dogs there! They belonged to the bartender, and since we were the only customers there, we were able to give the dogs some love. It was great! 

We had lots of fun in Salamanca, but since we had class on Monday we couldn’t stay long. On Monday, we finally found a public library where we could access the internet instead of going to a cafe every time we needed to study or do homework. Funny enough, we didn’t end up doing any homework but instead booked ear piercing appointments and a trip to Portugal in three weeks. I guess that’s just what happens when you’re in Spain and you don’t feel like doing homework - you book trips to other countries. 

My Determination: “Now is our time. It's our time to chase rainbows and build castles in the sky. It's our time to create a life that we love. Because someday, it will no longer be our time.” - Shawn Anderson