Segovia, Uclés, y Cuenca - Oh my!

Well folks, it's that time again; the time following my excursion where I slave away explaining the historical value of what I have seen and experienced the past weekend without knowing whether or not my words will ever truly appreciated by my lovely array of Facebook friends, acquaintances, and family.  If anything, these posts will always serve as overly extravagant journal entries for my personal collection as well as a way to fine tune my writing habits in English while abroad so I still have a shot at becoming the writer I aspire to be.

This last weekend was not so much an excursion as it was a pair of very fulfilling and very productive day trips because we were home in time for dinner with our host families in Alcalá each night, which for Chloé and I usually occurs around 8:30.  Due to the existence of this dining deadline as well as the payment our bus driver had received in advance from BYU limiting our bus usage time, it was more important than ever that we stick to our itinerary as strictly as possible without "wasting" too much time at certain stops.  This led to a feeling of being a bit rushed once we got to our final sights of the day, but nevertheless everything was absolutely marvelous.

El Aqueducto de Segovia

Friday morning we boarded our bus at about 9:00 and began our drive to Segovia.  Unfortunately, I was rather carsick upon arriving at this beautiful city, but I got over it after eating a bit of my bocadillo de jamón and drinking some water.  Once I stopped feeling like my insides wanted to be on my outside, I was immediately struck by the grand presence of the Roman Aqueduct, which contains over 160 arches throughout the entire immense construction.  As I stood there listening to our tour guide (who resembled a distant relative of Professor Umbridge, might I add) staring up at this wondrous creation of architecture, I could not help but contemplate how small we all really are in this world.  Not only literally in comparison to such grandiose works of art, but also figuratively in the great span of time.  This may sound a bit cheesy and soul-searching, but I challenge anyone who has had the privilege to view any form of European architecture up close and personal to not have at least one epiphany in the realm of self discovery.  This aqueduct no longer possesses the capability to function as an aqueduct due to the erosion of time and water passage, but the fact that such a grand piece of architecture is still standing hundred of years later has inspired and will continue to inspire many people.

My favorite snippet of information that our tour guide shared with us was the most common legend relating to the construction of the aqueduct.  It went something like this; there was once a young woman who was forced to climb up and down the hills of Segovia day after day to fetch water for herself, and it came to a point where she said that she would give anything to not have to do this taxing chore any longer.  In her despair, she called to the devil and offered her soul in exchange for a way out of her chore before the dawn of the next day, and the devil gladly accepted.  The woman awoke in the middle of the night and saw the devil and his demons building the aqueduct and, realizing her mistake, she quickly prayed to be freed of this deadly contract.  Just before the keystone to the last arch was put into place, dawn touched upon the aqueduct, confirming the devil's failure to complete his promise.  After the woman confessed, her priest ordered that a keystone with the Virgin Mary and Saint Stephen be placed in the aqueduct to commemorate this miracle.

El Alcázar

After receiving this rich information about the aqueduct, we began to trek up the hilly streets of Segovia, passing the various Islamic-style architectural patterns that could be seen on the outside of the majority of the apartment and office buildings.  We saw another incredible cathedral, but only from the outside due to a lack of time.  The church where Isabella was crowned could be seen from the cathedral, and the only reason she was not crowned in the magnificent cathedral was due to the fact that it had not yet been constructed.  Around a corner and down a few side streets, we came to my favorite part of my adventure in Spain thus far: the Alcázar, one of the most famous European castles and also the castle that is rumored to have inspired the Sleeping Beauty castle that currently stands in the happiest place on earth, Disneyland.

The Throne of Isabella and Ferdinand

Real armor and ancient weapons

Not only did we get to take at least a dozen pictures outside of the Alcázar, but we also got to tour inside! We saw the preserved throne of Ferdinand and Isabella and countless symbols within that testified to their belief that the King and Queen shared power and were not only partners, but partners with an equal share of the power.  The various chambers, beds, preserved tapestries, and extravagant paintings were extremely fitting for a castle and even more incredible than I had anticipated.  Suits of armor, lances, swords, and a crossbow were all displayed stupendously in the armory, connected to the guarded vault where gold was once stored.

Just a small taste of the Palace Gardens

After leaving the castle and poking around the small shops and making a few purchases, we were off to La Granja to view the Royal Palace.  I had thought before that the preserved items in the Alcázar were difficult to take in, but the items within the walls of the Royal Palace were the epitome of luxury itself.  Every room, every ceiling, every door, every French-designed, still functioning clock was shined and primed to perfection.  I wish I had photos to share of some of the amazing things we beheld within those walls, but we were prohibited from taking photographs inside the building, much to our disappointment.  Once our tour had concluded, we were able to spend only about 15 minutes in the palace gardens due to the time crunch we were in, but we still were able to take some amazing pictures of the fountain and the flowers that made up this fantasy land of nature.  Poor Professor Cluff had to practically start yelling at us to get us to leave the palace gardens behind, but in my opinion it was worth any of his anger and frustration to procure a few more pictures.

Las Casas Colgadas

After a night full of rest and sleep in Alcalá, we departed at 9:00 am in the opposite direction toward Uclés and Cuenca.  In Uclés we saw an ancient Monastery where we took a brief audio tour, and although there were some marvelous things inside I was not nearly as taken with this particular stop.  Directly after Uclés we made our way to Cuenca, which is a town that is most well known for "Las Casas Colgadas," translated into English literally as "The Hanging Houses."  These houses were built on the edge of a very steep, very large hill that may as well be considered a cliff and appear to be suspended in mid air due to the fact that they hang over the edge of said cliff so precariously.  It was a little eerie to walk underneath these houses as we ascended the hill to the most bustling part of the city without feeling as if one of the houses might collapse at any moment.  It definitely reminded me of the third book in A Series of Unfortunate Events where the three orphans lived under the care of Aunt Josephine in a house that was more than 50% situated off the side of a coastal cliff.  Luckily, we did not witness any sort of disasters or old men disguised as pirates that day attempting to push people out of the windows of these "hanging houses."  We had also planned to tour the Cathedral of Cuenca in addition to El Museo Español de Arte Absracto, but we arrived just before siesta time so everything closed down before we had properly oriented ourselves.  However, what appeared as an unanticipated inconvenience quickly transformed into two hours of free time spent wandering this Spanish city and the mysteries it concealed.  We even got to witness the end of a Spanish wedding! How many American college students can say that have done that?

Until next week, mis amigos.  This weekend's adventure: BARCELONA! Get ready for a plethora of pictures and adventures that will surely be coming your way.  :)