Un dia, fuimos a Segovia [one day, we went to Segovia].

Hello again!  Here's another great entry about my adventures!!  I'm really excited to show all of my pictures to you all!  If I could, I would include them ALL in here!  As it stands, I'll choose the best ones to include!

Last Saturday, the students at the university took a bus to Segovia, a city about an hour to an hour and a half away from Valladolid.  It's located in the center of the city, just north of one of the central mountain ranges in Spain.  The mountains in Spain are very short - they're not as grand as what you normally picture in your head when you think of mountains (Kilimanjaro, McKinley, the Matterhorn..), but that doesn't mean they're any less beautiful.  Here's a photo from a long time ago (not Segovia, but it pertains to what I'm talking about) when we first flew over Spain.  These are the Pyrenees: the tallest mountain chain that separates Spain from France.  There's a lot of ski areas in the north of Spain because of these mountains - they're a very important part to Spain's tourism.

Anyway, let's get back to Segovia! It's a city that used to be really important when the Romans inhabited the Iberian Peninsula, but now, it's a small city that thrives mostly on tourism.  The main site people come to see in this city is the Roman Aqueduct.  It was built during the first century AD.  It was built to bring water to the town, so the inhabitants didn't have to go to the mountains everyday and get water.  It's really impressive, because all of the stones were put there without the use of cement or any other fixative.

As with any good tourist attraction, there's also a story that goes along with the construction of the aqueduct.  It goes as follows:  There was a beautiful, smart, young girl who had to walk back and forth from the mountains every day to bring water to the village.  One day while she was walking, she wished to herself, "Oh I wish there was an easier way to bring this water, so I didn't have to make multiple trips to the mountains everyday!"  Lo and behold, the devil himself appears.  And he offered to build it for her, in exchange for her soul.  She thought about it, she agreed under one condition: he would have it done by the next morning's sunrise.  It stormed all night long, and the devil was putting the VERY last rock into the aqueduct when the sun rose from the horizon.  The girl arrived and saw he was not done with the aqueduct.  She was able to keep her soul, and use the aqueduct the devil made.  There are holes in some of the rocks now, and people say they came from the claws of the devil when he placed them.

This is a photo of the view from a top of the aqueduct! 

After seeing the aqueduct, we had a short tour of the city by our professors, which included the mountain referred to as the Mujer Muerta, (Dead Woman) as well as the Cathedral!

 She's called the Dead Woman, because the mountain appears to be a lady, laying as if she were in a casket, with her head on the left, and her arms folded on her chest.  Her legs are a long slope to the right and you can see where her feet would rest. 

 This is the cathedral in Segovia.  It was the last gothic style cathedral that was built in Spain.  It's considered to be the magnum opus (that one is Latin) of all gothic style cathedrals in Spain.  It was finished in 1768, and now contains three doors of entry.  They are called the doors of Perdón, San Frutos, y San Geroteo.  In keeping with a similar theme, the cathedral we saw in Toledo also had a door of Perdón, and the people in Toledo used to think a simple walk through that door would grant them forgiveness for which ever sins they may have committed.  Just a fun fact for you all, however, we know now that's not how it works!  

 This is my traveling friend, Sarah and I in the Plaza Mayor.  She is from UW-Eau Claire, and is in our classes with us as well.

This is one of my favorite photos from Segovia.  It's a photo of the country side from the castle, which is up on a hill.  You can see a circular church, with a small tower attached to it, among other villages and houses. 

We climbed the tower of the castle, and this is the view of the Cathedral that we got from the top!  152 stairs later...the view was very, very rewarding!  This city is so beautiful.  The architecture here really is incredible, and to think most of these buildings were built before we were even a country!  It's crazy!

 

 Here's me, after the wonderful climb to the top of the tower!  The view was worth every minute of i

And here is the photo of the castle itself, and the tower we climbed!  At one point, the Catholic Kings lived here (King Ferdinand and Isabella).  They were extremely important figures in Spain's history, and to be able to see the castle where they once lived was incredible!

The stairs to get to the top consisted of a very, very small spiral staircase - I was afraid I would hit my head!  However, I made it up and down without it!


Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed seeing my photos of Segovia, Spain! It really is a beautiful city, and we were so thankful to have our professors with us, who were able to related our history, art, and culture classes with all the wonderful sights we saw!

Being in this country, and learning about their history really makes history come alive.  It means so much more when we're able to learn, and see what we're learning about all at the same time!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

besos y abrazos! 
Erin