Central Spain

Since I missed two classes today because I have a bit of a cold and wanted to get some rest, I figured I should fill you all in on my overall wonderful experience touring central Spain.

Wednesday night we decided we should take this "puente" to our advantage and see some more of Spain. There are many cool towns really close to Madrid, so, since Lauren has friends in Madrid and that was the only city with any rooms available over the weekend, we decided we would reserve our room for Thursday night and head to Madrid first thing Thursday morning.

Luckily, Kim was able to put some money into my backup bank account so I had the means to do this traveling. Thank you!

So we were off to Madrid. We got in pretty late, but we managed to walk around and see the main sights, the Puerta del Sol, the Plaza Mayor, the Palácio Real... no museums or anything, but the main historic sights in Madrid and eat some delicious, cheap paella. If you want to see Madrid proper-like, you'd need a few days, and we only had a few hours. We also met up with Lauren's friend and we all had a nice conversation before heading to bed because we had an early morning the next day. He also said he'd let us crash in his living room, since half of his roommates were going to be gone anyway and we couldn't find an open hostel for that night.

Next, we went to Toledo, the main Jewish area in Spain (although there aren't many Jews there, but there is a synagogue, and it may be reopening soon for practice). Toledo also felt really... medieval. I mean of course everything was old, but there it had a different kind of old feel than Granada, or even Madrid. Much smaller, more of a town. We also saw their main cathedral, historic bridges and arches, and ate mazapán (marzipan), a typical dessert of Toledo. We bought little mazapán roll things for Lauren's friend as a thank you. We went into a little place with a sign that said "Se vende mazapán" and were delighted to see two nuns and a younger girl (who we later found out was the niece to one of the nuns) selling their hand-crafted marzipan goodies. I mean, a thank-you dessert bought from nuns? How could anyone resist?

They were very sweet nuns.

And let me tell you, it RAINED in Toledo. I actually bought an umbrella and am very glad I did. I would have been soaked to the bone without it.

Then we went back to Lauren's friend's house in Madrid. We got Thai food, which was actually really good. Then, Lauren and him and a few more of his friends went dancing. Jim and I decided to hang out in his house with his Italian roommate and his 3 friends. I'm really glad I stayed. I'm not too into the dancing thing, and we learned an Italian card game that's kind of like war and hearts put together. It's called "Bríscola". I can't wait to teach Kevin how to play. I know he'd really like it. We went to sleep before Lauren and her friend and his friends got home.

I woke up in the middle of the night with horrible, horrible stomach pains and nausea. It felt like food poisoning, but whatever it was was already out of my stomach by the time I tried to throw it up (sorry for that...). After a couple of hours, I managed to go back to the living room and fall asleep, worried that I would have to hang out there and meet Lauren and Jim in Salamanca or find a way back to Granada or go to a doctor or something in the morning.

...but I woke up and felt much, much better, I'd say about 95%. So I decided to chance it, but watch what I eat the next day. I started with a croissant and tried to stick to bland food all day. I ended up being fine.

Anyway, then we were on a train bound for Segovia.

Segovia was quaint, to say the least. It was very small and VERY green. The palace there was big and beautiful, and the rooms inside were positively regal (it was a palace after all). The most striking thing, though, was easily the Roman aqueduct running through the middle of the town.

This aqueduct needs two tiers of arches because it's so tall, about 5 stories at least I would say. It's made out of dense gray stone that I think is a kind of granite. There is also no mortar in between the stones. Imagine, this thing has been up for thousands of years and has never fallen even without something as simple as mortar? I can't even fathom the technology they already had back in those times to make something last so perfectly for so long...

It was really fun there. We just looked at the aqueduct for at least an hour total. But alas, it had to end.

We also bought a box of Yemas, which they have all over central Spain, but are particularly famous in Segovia.

We went to go buy our bus tickets for Salamanca, where we had already booked two nights. However, the bus we wanted to take was already sold out from Ávila to Salamanca, so we would have to take the bus to Ávila and then buy tickets to Salamanca from there. We were annoyed, but didn't see much of an option, so we bought our tickets and then got a consolation café con leche (Fanta limón for me... didn't want to try coffee and milk for fear of upsetting my stomach again). Jim has a really handy Spain guide book, so we figured we'd look into what there was to do in Ávila. Aparently the oldest, best-preserved medieval city wall was there. We then figured the layover could be worse, and were off.

We all managed to sleep a good portion of that bus ride. We got to Ávila around 7 and our bus for Salamanca didn't leave until about 10, so we went off to see this old wall. It was a really cool town with the city center still completely enclosed by the wall. The Cathedral was beautiful, too. It seemed like a really ritzy kind of town, not as many tourists there we figured. There weren't too many fast food (or inexpensive food) joints except for one Doner Kebab place (schwarmas rule) that after wandering around for about two hours, we decided to go to to eat.

However, while in Ávila, we realized we didn't know the address or name of the hostel we had booked in Salamanca. So we searched for an internet café with, of course, no success. Without hostels and a college, why would you have internet cafés? We went into a hotel and asked if we could stand in the lobby to use the wifi on Lauren's computer. The receptionist looked confused, but didn't mind, so I took the liberty of explaining our situation to her. She was amused and let us actually use her computer. She was very happy to help us, and we made sure she knew "nos salvaste" (you saved us), and Lauren nearly shouted an appreciative "I LOVE NICE PEOPLE!" as we walked out.

Anyway after all that and after eating our Kebabs, we were on our bus to Salamanca.

The hostel there was easily the nicest we have stayed in. Ever. We got a 5-bed room to ourselves, a private bathroom, and the downstairs had a wide selection of muffins. The only thing I could complain about is their one, lonely, crappy computer, but we didn't spend much time on it.

Salamanca has a big, beautiful cathedral, a university, a Roman bridge, a perfectly square Plaza Mayor, and good tapas. But they also have a sense of humor. On the new part of the cathedral, in the artwork around the door, there is a hidden astronaut. He's my new favorite thing. On the artwork over the old University, there is a hidden frog sitting on a skull. He's not as cool in my opinion, but very culturally important I guess. This frog/skull combination is on almost all of the Salamanca souvenirs.

In Salamanca, their typical pastry is actually a meat pastry. It has pork loin, serrano ham, and bacon inside it. We got a small piece to try and it was surprisingly really, really good. We also went to a chocolatería and got some churros con "fancy" chocolate. I got Colómbia, which was coffee and chocolate. Lauren and Jim both got Maya, which was cinnamon and chocolate. It was really, really good... but not worth the price more than once. Next time, I'll keep it to simple chocolate.

The next day, we took a cab to the train station. It was actually about 15€ cheaper to go to Madrid THEN Granada than straight to Granada. So we opted for that route. It also meant we could train to Madrid, and trains are fun.

We allotted an hour and a half to get from the train station to the bus station, and managed to do so in about 50 minutes. We got a quick sandwich to eat on the bus, then ran to make sure we got on in time. By the time our sandwiches were made and we got downstairs and found our bus (the Madrid bus station is HUGE), we had about 5 minutes before we left. Perfect timing!

And now here I am, back in Granada, nursing a cold that I woke up with yesterday. It's a sore throat/cough combo that has been going around... it was only a matter of time before I got it really. But I'm drinking plenty of tea and had soup for lunch, and skipped my morning classes, opting for rest. I should be rarin' to go tomorrow. I hope.

I was also pleasantly greeted with my BofA debit card upon my return. I'm no longer without access to my money! I will pay back the UC Study Center today, and Lauren, since without her, I never would have gotten home from Lisbon.

Jim took plenty of pictures that I hope I get access to soon to share with you guys. I am still patiently waiting for my new camera to arrive here. Thank you so much, Adriana, you're the best sister a girl could ever hope her brother would marry!!!

I believe the storm has passed and there won't be too much more rain, if any at all, but I hope it warms up a bit... it's not even supposed to hit 70 today. And the rain is supposed to return tomorrow. How will I ever get better!?!?