Okay, so it's obvious that I have not kept up with the blog, and that there is a ton of information and pictures to update everyone on!
Excursion to the North
We left on Monday and traveled to Aquilar de Campóo where we had lunch and walked around the city. It's a village on the River Pisuerga and in the town a major part of the economy are cookie factories. We got to try some and they were sooo good :) We then continued North into the mountains and ended up at our amazing hotel in Cervera de Pisuerga, this by far was the best hotel we stayed at and it was so peaceful and beautiful. We walked down to the lake, and some people swam and then we walked back and had an amazing dinner.
Then on Tuesday we headed to Fuente De, and took a teleférico to the Parque Nacional de Picos de Europa. Although I didn't enjoy the trip up and down, the views were amazing, we had a great pic-nic, goats and all, and did some mountain climbing haha :D Then we headed towards Santander, which is on the coast of Spain. When we got to our hotel, Ben, Mark, Lauren and I decided to go swimming in the ocean. IT WAS FREEZING!!! but very refreshing after the bus ride. :D Another amazing dinner(we ate a ton of fabulous meals on this trip)
Wednesday, we went to the Altamira caves and museum. It was a very interesting museum full of life through the ages and how humans evolved with tools and art. They do not have the original cave open to the public but they had a neat recreation, with the paintings in the same areas and such as if you were in the original cave. We then headed to Burgos and had time to walk around the city. We then went to dinner and had tapas after with the whole group and some sangría. So we ate a huge dinner, then went and ate some more.. like I said tons and tons of food.
On Thursday we went to the Catedral de Burgos and saw an old monastery. The Catedral was of the gothic style and I love love old churches like that. If I remember correctly, Cervantes is buried there along with a painting of Mary Macdalene by Da Vinci. So some sweet history! The monastery was neat because there was a mixture of islamic art because of some of the artist converted to Christianity and helped design the ceilings. It was interesting to the mixture of geometric shapes and scenes from the bible. Then we headed to Peñafiel and swam in the pool and had an amazing dinner, with some fantastic wine from a local bodega.
On Friday we went to the Castillo de Peñafiel, which was obvi super guay because it was a castle. We then went to a bodega and learned how wine is made. We got to go out and try the grapes and then see the process. It was a very small bodega but it had been in this women's family for years, and she absolutely loved it. We got to have some of her wine and then we all went out for lunch at a little hole in the wall restaurant, then headed back to Salamanca!!!!!!!
The trip was amazing and it was soooo beautiful. Especially the Picos de Europa.
Once back in Salamanca, on Saturday Mark and I celebrated his birthday in the city and had a great dinner together!
The title is from a Tom Petty song, which I have been listening to a lot lately. So the days that were the diamonds, then on Monday we started classes, YESTERDAY, wow, that seems like ages ago to me. Anyways we started classes and let me say all the freedom of the day is gone! We already have been assigned 3 novels and short stories, so much reading!!! We didn't even have a syllabus day, we were literally thrown into it. SO.. yeah... I'm pretty tired. We have classes Monday-Thursday 9-2 then we go back 5-7. It's a long day, and we have breaks but they are all in the same classroom so it gets pretty stuffy when you're in there for long periods of time.
Tomorrow is the Huegla General de España, it's a general strike around all of Spain against the economy and jobs, so, we don't have some classes tomorrow, and we're not sure if the building we are in is even going to be open. It's a pretty neat thing though, to think a whole country is coming together against something they have an issue with. I'm interested to see what happens.
So, that's my update for the past week and a half. Mark and I go to Bilbao this weekend, so there will be an update after that trip!! And we booked our trip to Barcelona today! You would think it would be easy to travel in the country, but it requires a bus, taxi, and plane to get there!!!!!
I get to skype with Anita tonight woot woot, and hopefully with my family after Bilbao!!!
Missing everyone tons and tons!
Sending DeeGee love to OWU, missing you girls tons!!!!
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