Segovia :D and Valladolid :-|

Well.... Itīs been a while since weīve had weekend trips.  Two weekends ago we had absolutely no scheduled trips, and I hadnīt made any plans to go with any of the groups who were going to Barcelona or London or Prague.  So what did I do???  Thatīs right, I spent two lovely days sleeping in and two nights having tons of fun with the few people from our group who were still here.  We went bowling and watched movies and stayed out relatively late, although it was still early for the Espaņoles.  And basically I just relaxed and had a good normal stress-and-trip-free weekend.  Itīs nice to have those days when you have nothing to do once in a while... but two in a row is about all I can handle... After that I start to feel useless.

So this past weekend we had a really fun trip to Segovia, to see some really old Roman churches and the Aqueduct.  It was bitterly cold there, but I was prepared with my super thick winter coat and gloves and scarf and many layers of clothes.  A friend warned me that it gets really cold there, so I went prepared.  We had a good time walking around in the cold... and the aqueduct is soooo cool.  There isnīt any mortar or anything between the stones, they just sit there perfectly placed, like they have sat for two thousand years (give or take a hundred).  Until 40 years ago the main road passed underneath the aqueduct itself, but the vibrations caused by all the cars and trucks worried the conservationists that it might fall over.... so they made the road on the north side turn back away from the aqueduct and chaged the road on other side into a "zona peatonal" (only for walking).  Itīs perfect because you can walk right up and touch the immense old stones and not have to worry about being run over.  To get a sense of itīs size just look at the person whose standing near the base.  I think I touched one of the blocks on the third level up from the ground without any trouble, but I couldnīt even hope to reach the top of the cross thatīs in front of the pillar.  The aqueduct starts out really small and then reaches heights of at least 8 stories as it spans the gap between two hills.  Itīs a very impressive sight, to be sure. 

Oh yeah, and we went to Valladolid on Saturday.  It was nice.  They have a castle there that a king once stayed in for 5 months... and lots of really old buildings.  Oh, and there was a really cool park that had an aviary and peacocks wandering around the paths and squirrels (a rare animal in Spain) that are so use to humans theyīll crawl up your leg to get a bit of nut.  Actually one did crawl up my leg, and yes I did have food for it, and no I didnīt scream.  It was really cool.... actually itīs about the coolest thing I did in Valladolid.  Oh, and later we went to a castle in Peņafiel.  It was really misty and the castle is this white beacon on top of a very high hill... it was rather like being on a movie set the way the fog and the scenery interacted and all... I got to run around all the turrets and act like a kid for 10 minutes.

All in all it was a really good weekend.  Tonight Iīm going bowling in Torrejon de Ardoz! (there is a US Air base there... for those of you who might be interested...).

Amor y Besos,                          Raquel