Hey guys.
Since I’m feeling incredibly lazy right now, I’m just going to do a quick photo update of my recent travels in Madrid and Segovia. Here’s Plaza Mayor, the sort of downtown area in Madrid. There’s a statue of some alcalde on a horse (I think it was a mayor, at least) who did a lot for the city. It’s a great meeting point for us international students. 
Here’s the Catedral de Madrid. It’s Romanesque, I believe, making it a lot older than the one you’ll see in Segovia, but (in my opinion) substantially less pretty. Who am I to judge, though, right? 
Here’ s Carlos III sitting up near Sol, a touristy hotspot that is only a km (mas o menos) from Plaza Mayor. It’s a shame there’s so much construction in the area right now, but if you visit, this is the other man on the horse that by the statue of the bear and the tree (un Madrono), symbols of Madrid.
Just this past Saturday, I got up in time to catch a 8:30 bus to Segovia. Trust me, the Spaniards are nightowls, so an early Saturday morning is nigh impossible for most everyone. We woke up to cafes and churros con chocolate at a little cafe near los acueductos.
There are soooo many legends in Segovia concerning just about everything, and our prof who was tour guiding told us this one about how the story is that Romans apparently didn’t build the aqueducts, but rather el Diablo. Some village girl made a pact with the devil to build some sort of water transport system so that she didn’t have to haul buckets of water the 17km (I’m making that up entirely; it’s some super long distancia for sure, though) back home from the stream.
Another leyenda involved a mother whose two twin sons were forced to fight in order to see who would rise to become the chieftan of their valley village. She offered her life so that neither of her sons would die, so God sent a huge snowstorm in the middle of the summer, preventing the deathmatch that would have determined the next leader. When the snow melted, the tribe realized the mother’s sacrifice and dubbed the mountains “La Mujer Muerta.” If you squint real hard, you can kind of make out her head, her clasped hands, and her knees. 
Here’s Juan Bravo, a Segovian (or legit Spanish) hero from la Guerra de las Comunidades de Castilla.
Below is a typical Spanish street (only NOT because you catch a glimpse of the Catedral de Segovia). The two lovely ladies next to me are Jessine and Stephanie, from Holland and Germany, respectively. Our lingua franca was incidentally not Frankish in nature, but the English that drew many an odd glare from older Segovians around. What can ya do when you’re a tourist, though, right?
The Alcazar of Segovia (a mix between a fortified castle and palace) was said to have inspired Walt Disney’s magic kingdom creation. I was more impressed by the fact that Isabel and Ferdinand lived there.
Close by is the Iglesia de la Vera Cruz. Knights Templar founded it. There are bones (foto incluido!) just around the front door. Steph found a tooth. Jess found a joint bone.
See?
I’ll leave y’all with a snapshot of the Catedral de Segovia, one of the prettiest cathedrals I’ve been in. It’s said to be the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain. I always feel either really sleepy or really spiritually lifted in religious buildings. I got a hit of my “opiate of the masses” Saturday.
Wow, that took a long time. I’m exhausted. Hasta luego, guys.
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