Day Tripper

Family and Friends,

Well, today was quite an exciting day.  I was up very early (7:30 AM – I know that’s not early for most of the world, but for me, it’s far too early) to head to school and catch the bus for my day trip to Segovia.  Segovia is a smaller town about an hour bus ride north of Madrid.  It’s also where Maria, my señora, is from, so she was happy that I was going to visit her home.  The bus ride was rather uneventful, with some interesting scenery (including mountains with a little snow on them and my first sighting of a gas station).  Upon arrival in Segovia, we were told to make it back to the bus by 4 o’clock or we would be taking the train back to Madrid—not an adventure I’m ready for at this point!  We first had a 3-hour tour of Segovia by a very knowledgeable and nice guide who spoke English.  I learned a lot about the city/town (it has about 55,000 people, so I suppose that’s more of a town).  We saw the famous aqueduct, which is 16 km long and was built by the Romans in the 1^st century after Christ (I think).  It used to bring water from the mountains to the town, but it is no longer used now that we’re in a more modern time.  Pretty amazing structure though, considering it is made completely of stone with no cement!

Roman aqueduct

Next we saw several other buildings: a church were the townspeople used to gather, a prison that has been converted into the local library, and lots of buildings with awesome designs on the sides (Moorish influence).  We also saw and took pictures of the beautiful cathedral.  Segovia is a lovely town with narrow streets and lots of cute shops and restaurants.  It is very peaceful and tranquil, and I absolutely love the views of the surrounding areas.  It’s definitely more my style than Madrid is; I prefer the quiet and serene over the hustle and bustle.  Regardless, we next had a tour of Alcázar, the castle in Segovia.  It was previously a residence for the king and queen, then a military school (kind of like our West Point), and now is a museum.  It was SUPER cold in there though, which wasn’t too enjoyable.  All that stone makes for a frigid castle.  But very beautiful, so I won’t complain too much.

Me in Segovia (Alcázar is to the right)

After the tour, we had three more hours in Segovia.  We first grabbed some lunch (I had tortilla de patatas, which is like a potato omelette, but I don’t think there were any eggs in it).  Then we browsed through some of the shops and took more pictures.  It was lovely to sit in the sun and just enjoy the town.  I also bought a scarf for 2  at the 2  store (sort of like our dollar stores).  Then we took the bus back to Madrid—I mostly rested, since we did a lot of walking through Segovia.

Que bonita, no!

Maria made a wonderful dinner tonight (just like every night!) of soup, chicken, salad, and a banana for dessert.  We also had good conversation, as it was just the two of us (Abbi was out with friends this evening).  Tomorrow is another day trip, but this time to Toledo—which is about an hour bus ride south of Madrid.  Should be another fun trip!

All my love,

Elizabeth