IntroductionAfter writing about my safari to Africa, African Safari Chronicles, I decided to share the stories from my first trip ever off of the continent of North America. It will be a trip I never forget, one filled with visits to historical sites, a stay with a Spanish family, and a firsthand view of a country filled rich with tradition and history. It was an opportunity given to me and 15 other classmates. Arrival at Barajas Field-MadridAfter what seemed like an eternity in the airplane (actually only 6 hours), we finally landed in Madrid and got off of the plane. As we got off of the plane, our Spanish teacher, Sra. Poveda said “Now that we are in Spain, speak nothing but Spanish.” I got a funny feeling, as I wondered how much Spanish I really knew. Everyone else in the group must have been thinking the same thing, because no one spoke until after we cleared customs, and Sra. Poveda said in English, “Do you have everything?” Very fatigued, I nodded affirmatively and dragged my suitcase aside next to the rest of the group. I and the rest of the group were exhausted from the long journey and also because of the fact it was midnight back at home in Denver and all we wanted was to crawl into bed at our hotel and sleep. So we did. In the meantime, Sra. Poveda went to the bank and exchanged our money we had given her into Spanish Pesetas. Later that afternoon, we woke up and went to a restaurant near our hotel and I ordered a pollo (chicken). When the chicken came out it was twice as big as the others that were served, and I was thinking, “Oh my what have I done?” I did some pretty heavy damage to the bird, but didn’t come close to finishing it. After lunch, Sra. Poveda took us to some places around Madrid: the Bullet Train Station for the train from Madrid to Seville, the Puerta Del Sol, their equivalent of Times Square, and she let us do a little shopping as well.
Day 2 - Madrid
Our wake up call came way too early the next morning, as our biological
clocks were still pretty messed up from changing eight time zones.
I went downstairs to eat breakfast, where there were pastries, orange
juice and cereal for us. I had a pastry, as well as a Spanish roll,
a hard, crunchy outside, but a soft tasty inside. After the rest
of us finished we started out to walk to the Royal Palace. In Spain,
everybody walks everywhere, because cars are expensive and a nuisance
to find parking places for. As we passed the “discoteca” next to
our hotel, one of the girls mentioned to me that the cars were triple
parked, and I chuckled since this would never happen in the States.
We arrived at the Royal Palace and were inspired by the architecture
on the outside. We went inside and Sra. Poveda gave us the tour
in English, so we could understand everything. It was the palace
used by the king and queen of Spain during the 1700’s. According
to Poveda, it is only used for important dinners now, in which big
whigs from the government eat there, but rarely for that. During
its use, the palace also was a complete city in itself, which could
have sustained itself for weeks had Madrid ever fallen under attack.
I was impressed with the fancy tapestries and incredible chandeliers
inside. After we finished the tour, we had Sra Poveda take a group
photo of all of us, on everyone’s camera. Then, after we had finished
that, we went to the Prado Art Museum, probably as prestigious as
France’s Louvre. There were many paintings there including works
by El Greco, Murillo, and Velasquez. After visiting the Prado,
we went back to our hotel and had McDonald’s for lunch, which was
just on the corner by our hotel. After lunch, we were turned loose
by Sra. Poveda and were allowed to go around Madrid and do some
shopping on our own. Just before dinner Sra. Poveda took us through
the City Park of Madrid.
Then for dinner we went to the Hard Rock Café and felt very American. After dinner we went back to our hotel and then some of us went out for coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I went along to chat. Then after a long day of hiking around Madrid, we were quite tired and hit the sack. Day 3-Arrival at Valladolid and Introduction to our FamiliesWell, the time had come that some of us were nervous about, and others excited. We were to start our one week stay with our Spanish families. Thoughts raced through our minds like “What would they think of me?” or “Do I know enough Spanish?” We took the train from Madrid to Valladolid and the stop at Valladolid was very short. I can vividly remember literally having to throw suitcases off of the train so everyone could get off in time. After we got off we were surrounded by strangers that would be our host families for the next week. Having a last name starting with “b” I was first on the list. “Jaime,” my Spanish name I heard called out and I was introduced to a middle aged woman Maria and her daughter Lara. They took me back to their apartment where I met their two other family members, Lara’s older sister Olivia and their pet husky Izmo, who was quite excited to see me (must have smelled the dog hair on my clothes). I had lunch with them, a slightly burned batch of spaghetti that they had fixed just for me, I guess they figured spaghetti was a pretty universal meal. I enjoyed the spaghetti and the really soft Spanish bread that also accompanied the meal. After the trip I concluded that nobody knows how to make bread like the Western Europeans. Once we had finished lunch I broke out the gifts I had brought to give to the family. They all enjoyed the scrapbook that I gave them including pictures of my house, Golden, Colorado, and even some major sites in the US such as Yellowstone. I was pretty tired after all of the excitement for the day, and it was only mid-afternoon. So, I decided to spend some time in my room, just relax and take a nap since Lara informed me we were going out with her friends later. After a much needed nap I headed out into Valladolid with Lara and a few of her friends whom she introduced me to. One of them as it turned out was having another of the students in my class stay with them, so it was a bit more comfortable having someone I knew in the group. We spent most of the afternoon bar hopping, since in Spain the legal drinking age is 16. I was offered a drink and could have had it, but I had been told by my teacher not to drink or I would have been sent home. So I quietly replied with a no and they next asked me if I wanted a cigarette. I told them I didn’t smoke, and with that they asked me “You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, what do you do??” I guess it was just a cultural difference between American teens and Spanish teens. I told them that in America we go to the movies, watch TV, and do other things besides drinking, although I told them that there are parties on the weekends. They were in disbelief and started asking all kinds of questions such as “who is your favorite singer? Have you been to Disneyland?” and many other questions that I tried to answer as best as I could. After a long day Lara and I got back at around 11 had a quick snack for dinner (very typical in Spain). She told me we had to get up at 7 the next morning to go to school. I was looking forward to going to school, because I knew it would be a cultural experience. Days 4-10 My Family StayI awoke the next day to the smell of bacon and eggs, which my Spanish mother had cooked just for me, I had told them it was my favorite breakfast meal, and they served it for me everyday while I was there. After breakfast, Lara and I headed off to school, which was a fair distance away. In Spain, they don’t have school buses, so kids are forced to take the public buses to get to school if they live outside of walking distance of their school. We got off of the bus to walk with one of Lara’s friends who one of my classmates was staying with. We arrived at school, and I met more of Lara’s friends many of whom I hadn’t seen before. I also saw a few more of my classmates. I don’t know whether Lara didn’t want me to go to class with her or what, but she told me to stay with one of her friends for the day, so I did. One of my classmates Evan, was also in the same class with his Spanish sister. We had a good time catching up on things so far for us, and we got to participate in English class, which was fun for us, since we understood everything. The teacher wanted the students to hear how Americans speak English, so he had me and Evan read half of a passage out of their book. The class was awed at how fast we were talking, but we told them later that we felt the same way about them speaking Spanish. School in Spain is different from America, because the teachers move from class to class, unlike here where the teachers are stationary and the students move from room to room. The only exceptions to this in Spain are gym and computer classes. So Evan and I were in the same room all day, which we thought was cool. For one of the classes the teacher had us put all of our desks in a circle and the entire time was spent asking us questions about America, and with the help of an interpreter we answered a lot more questions in English than we could have in Spanish. After school, I met up with Lara again and we walked home, where we had lunch and later went out again barhopping. I met Lara’s boyfriend David, who was a very nice guy and knew a fair amount of English and talked to me quite a bit to get practice. Every bar we went in, they pleaded with me to drink or smoke, but I told them no, and eventually they stopped trying, because they knew it was no use, I wasn’t going to give in. Every day following was pretty much the same story, although school returned to normal, treating us like ghosts. Eventually Sunday came, and I had to depart to meet my classmates at the bus station. I said my goodbyes to Lara and her family, and got her address, so we could write at least a couple of letters. After about six months though we stopped writing. Day 10 – the Bus Ride to Salamanca/ Salamanca I was very excited to see my classmates at the bus station, especially those that I hadn’t seen since the train ride a week before. On the train we shared stories with everyone about our families, most of which were funny, and we all had a good time laughing over some cultural differences that we weren’t used to. Then, after about an hour and a half, we arrived at the station in Salamanca, and Sra. Poveda was waiting for us outside. We immediately waived a few taxis to take us near our hotel, where we settled in and then Sra. Poveda took us on a brief tour of Salamanca, to show us some of what we were going to be looking at more the next day.
We saw the Salamanca Cathedral, which was built about 700 years
ago, and then the “new” cathedral that was built on top of it, 500
years ago.
In addition to that we saw the famous Roman Bridge, over 2000 years
in age built during the time of the Roman Empire.
We also saw a memorial to Lazarillo de Tormes, a famous Spanish book written that was very similar to the Canterbury Tales. It was significant to Salamanca because the book begins there. That afternoon we were given to shop. Everywhere we went we saw these skulls with frogs on them, and we kept wondering what their significance was. We asked Sra. Poveda, and she told us to wait until the next day. So we waited patiently and just bought a few other items in the meantime. Day 11 – Salamanca We started off the day with a tour of the Salamanca Cathedral, which had very intricate Gothic Architecture, which was very beautiful. Inside we saw many private chambers, and a massive organ that the cathedral still uses. In the center was the choir area, which held about a hundred people.
After touring the Cathedral, we went over to look at the University
of Salamanca, which is the third oldest University in the world,
founded in 1254!! We saw some old lecture halls, one of which Christopher
Columbus spoke at several times about his travels.
Then around one side of a building, we came across an intricate façade, and this is where the Legend of the Frog on the Skull comes from: The Legend of the Frog Skull is one that goes way back. It is rumored that if you can find the Skull with the frog on it in the façade, than you are destined to have good luck, and that you will return someday to Salamanca . So
we all tried to find it and all of us eventually did.
After looking at the University, we were turned loose again for the afternoon to get lunch on our own and then do some shopping. I went with a few other guys and we ate at a Spanish fast food restaurant, that served sandwiches, very similar to Subway in the states. I had a sandwich with bacon and cheese, and also some French fries, along with flan, a really good Spanish dessert. Day 12 – Back to Madrid
Well, it was time for us to leave Salamanca and head back to Madrid
for the remaining three and a half days of our trip, where we would
take day trips to Segovia and Toledo. We boarded the train back
to Madrid, and had a nice scenic trip back. During the ride, we got to see some of the Spanish countryside and also some very unique towns. The stop in Madrid was much longer than our last ride to Valladolid, so we didn’t have to hurry getting off. We got in the taxis that were waiting for us outside of the train station, and then we returned to the Hotel Mercator, where we had stayed before. By this time, it had hit us that we only had three days left on our trip, and we all started to become quite depressed. Since the day had been planned for travel only, Sra. Poveda gave us the remainder of the day to shop in Madrid, since many of us still were looking for some souvenirs. After we had finished shopping, we went to a restaurant that served very good Paellas (a rice dish mixed with various meats and/or vegetables, depending on your locality). We enjoyed the dinner and discussed our plan the following day to Segovia. After dinner, most of us again went back to that coffee shop across the street, were we talked about what we were missing back in Colorado. Day 13- Segovia
The next morning, we had our breakfast in the hotel and then were
picked up by a bus to make a day trip to Segovia. The morning started
off with a visit to El Escorial, one of the ten manmade wonders
of the world, a huge summer palace built by Philip II just outside
of the city of Segovia.
This was my favorite place of the trip, I was awed by the sheer size of this palace. One room in the palace had coffins with the remains of all of the past kings and queens of Spain, which I thought was very impressive. The room was getting full though, and it was brought to our attention that there were only two coffins left, reserved for Juan Carlos and Sophia, the current royalty, when they pass on. Of course in this day, the King and Queen of Spain are nothing more than figureheads, much like the Queen of England, they have no real power.
After an hour in this palace, we left it and visited the Valley
of the Fallen (Valle de los Caidos), which was a memorial built
very recently by Francisco Franco during his dictatorship to commemorate
all of the soldiers who gave their life during the bloody Spanish
Civil War (1936-38), where over a million Spaniards gave their lives
(1/3 of the total population of Spain). Franco and the founder
of the Nationalist party he came to head, are also both buried here,
so it was quite cool seeing that. The memorial itself is a long
hallway that has two wings, forming a cross. Directly in the middle
is a statue of the Crucifixion of Christ and then behind that an
altar, and to the sides are the two memorials for each side that
fought in the war. This is all built into the side of a mountain,
and on top is a huge cross that you can see from miles away.
After a visit to Valley of the Fallen, we headed into Segovia, where
we saw the famous Roman Aqueduct that was built during the Roman
occupation of Spain, 2000 years ago, without a single ounce of cement.
It is certainly an architectural masterpiece.
To preserve this masterpiece, cars and trucks are not allowed to go underneath, only pedestrians. So, the bus dropped us off and we walked into the old part of Segovia, where we had lunch at a restaurant that served various entrees. The restaurant set up a table outside since it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it very much. We all tried pig lips as an appetizer, which I thought were very good, and so did about half of our group, until they found out what they really were. I wasn’t grossed out, so I continued to eat them, and I think I was the only one that ended up liking them. I thought they tasted much like tough bacon.
After an entertaining lunch, we hiked up to where the Segovia Cathedral
was, which looked a lot like the Salamanca Cathedral, because they
were built around the same time. We toured the inside, and then
afterwards went to the Alcazar, a famous Moor stronghold that was
overtaken by the Spanish during the reconquest of Spain and used
as the royal palace shortly after. It is also said to have influenced
Walt Disney in his design of the Disney Castle. It was a very unique
building historically, because the wedding of Isabella and Ferdinand
took place there. This was a significant time in history, because
it was the first time the Queen of Spain had more power than the
King. Another very significant event took place here, the signing
of the agreement to fund the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
I thought that this was very cool, because I had never been in a
building as significant as this.
Left:
View of the Entrance to the Alcazar. Right: Tower of the Alcazar We spent awhile at the Alcazar, and climbed to the top of the castle, where we got a beautiful view of Segovia and the surrounding area. Afterwards, we all did a bit of shopping, and most of us looked for ice cream, because it was a hot day. Then, we walked back to the bus and headed back to Madrid. When we arrived back in Madrid, we decided to go to the nearby Pizza Hut and get a couple of pizzas for dinner and bring them back to the hotel. Afterwards, we did our usual evening coffee run and then hit the sack and get some rest for our last full day in Spain. Day 14 – Toledo For our final day in Spain, we went on a tour of the famous city of Toledo, “the City on a Hill”. As we approached Toledo, we were given a brief history of Toledo from our tour guide, who spoke English. Toledo is an island that was once entirely surrounded by the Tagas river, but has since grown onto the banks. It was a very strategic place for defense, since there are only two bridges onto the island. Anyway, we stopped at an overlook viewing the island as a whole, where we saw the famous view of the “City on a Hill”. We finally crossed the highway bridge onto the island and we were dropped off shortly after, since many of the streets in Toledo are too narrow for buses and cars. We walked up to the Toledo Cathedral which was very different from any of the other Cathedrals we had seen. It had a magnificent main entrance, but we were told it was only used by very significant people, i.e. the Pope, probably because the altar was directly behind it. So, we had to go in a side entrance, which was still pretty neat, although not as much as the main entrance. Inside it was very similar to the other cathedrals, although we noted one area where a painting was made such that light only shone on it a certain time of the day, from a skylight built into the building. There were all kinds of works of art inside though. We also saw some very impressive ornaments that are still carried every year through the streets of Toledo during Holy Week (Easter). After touring the Cathedral of Toledo, we headed to the Cathedral of St. John that was also quite old.
After lunch, we went to an artisan shop, since Toledo is famous
for its world-class steel. There we saw how many jewelry items
were made, and even swords, which are still to this day made.
After the tour we went into their gift shop where they had steel worked into everything imaginable, from swords to necklaces to pocket watches. I bought a sword that was very nice, and commemorated Columbus. Needless to say, it was my most expensive souvenir, costing $120. Nearly every guy on the trip bought a sword, but I think everyone got something from this very unique shop. By this time it was late afternoon, so it was time again to leave the “City on a Hill” and head back to Madrid. For our final dinner in Spain, we decided to go to the sandwich shop we had gone to the first night, and we all came back to the hotel, where we lamented having to go back the United States the next day, since we had had such a wonderful trip. Spain is a country filled with lots of history and tradition, and while I have seen a lot of great sites, there is still much I haven’t seen and I would like to return someday. |
