Buenos tardes amigos! What a weekend! On Saturday, the entire program took a day trip to Segovia, an enchanting city about an hour north of Madrid. It was without a doubt the most beautiful place I had ever been. The minute we stepped off the bus, i felt like I had been transported back to the days of the Roman Empire. The city was full of narrow, winding cobble stone streets, the architecture was like something out of a disney movie, and the outskirts of the village consisted of rolling hills, lush pastures and the outline of far away mountains. Incredible.
Our first stop was an old aqueduct that the Romans constructed at the end of the 1st century. It's made of 25,000 blocks of granite and stands 29 meters high, quite an engineering feat and a modern day marvel. I remember learning about aqueducts in 6th grade, never thought I would actually be standing in front of one!
Next, our tour guide, Rafa, took us through the entire city of Segovia, we saw cafes, churches, statues, bakeries, shops, and many many zapaterias (shoe stores!). Segovia is definitely the city of shoes. He explained the history of the city; how it has Jewish, Christian and Muslim ties and how these three cultures have influenced it's art and architecture. I'm kind of a nerd so I loved hearing all about the religious wars and historical information.

Rafa took us to the Castilla de Segovia, an enormous castle on top of a hill. WOW. It was breathtaking. (Oh! and it's rumored to be the castle that Walt Disney got his inspiration for Magic Kingdom!!) Generations of kings and queens have lived in the palace, and it is now used as a museum for tourists and an archive for the Segovian Military. Inside was so beautiful; the ceilings were made of gold and the art and weaponry rooms were buenisimo!
After we toured the palace, we went to the famous Catedral de Segovia, the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain and known as the "Lady of Cathedrals". Annnd what a lady she was! It's hard to believe that monuments like these were constructed hundreds of years ago without machinery or today's technology... Really makes you feel inadequate. Here are some pictures of the cathedral!



After lunch, the group had free time to shop and explore. A few hours later, we went to a small but very famous church that held secret military meetings during the Crusades. Outside the church, soldiers are burried but hundreds of years of rain has begun to expose the bodies and you can sometimes find bones in the courtyard... I found a tooth! and yes I kept it. People thought it was gross but I think it's awesome. The end!