inside Rhodes

Hola kids,

What did I do this week? Welllllllll, there’s been so much going on that I’ll actually have to consult my moleskine to remember. This past Tuesday, I went to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) on a visita coordinated by Nebrija (the universidad I’m attending). Since we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, here are a couple of the royal court.

After a grueling paseo through the palace, my friends and I were craving some carbs, so we went to go eat at this wonderful place that serves huuuuge tapas gratis when you order a 3 euro cerveza.

Delicious, it was.

On Thursday, I was lucky enough to participate in an intercambio between native Spanish speakers and Spanish learners who were more than willing to share whatever mother tongue they could (namely extranjeros like me). Conversation was lively, and I can’t wait to go back this Thursday.

Saturday was the Salamanca excursion. Oh, I forgot to mention this, but when I went to Segovia last weekend, magic happened. I faintly heard someone query, “CHRISTINE LU?”  turned around, and guess who it was? Kathryn Vernon, Rhodes student, good friend, and awesome hallmate (last year). She’s studying in Salamanca but was in Segovia on an excursion just like me.

That’s not all, folks. More Disney-like was another, “No way. Christine?” I then rotated 90 degrees to find Amy, one of my high school friends, also there on the Segovian plaza, also studying in Salamanca, and also visiting for a day trip. The extremely low probability of the chance meeting of two classmates (from TWO DIFFERENT SCHOOLS) in a foreign country ellicted high pitched, barely understandable squeals from me. My two friends responded in such a manner that would have made Animal Planet proud–that is, our combined decibel levels drew many a disapproving glance from passersby.

Okay, sorry. The mention of Salamanca prompted this extremely long stream of tangential goodness. Anywayyyyy, back to the visit. Salamanca’s freaking awesome with it’s old universidad (it’s the most ancient university town in Spain). Here’s the fachada:

And here’s one of the group admonishing me for making the very loud, redundant mistake of “mas mejor.”

Oh, and there’s la Catedral de Salamanca, tambien. It’s (if I remember correctly) the only cathedral that has the entire structure of the old cathedral with the new built on top of it. I’m just so amazed at the complexities of the carving at such high altitudes.

One of my favorite places was the Casa de  las Muertes, which could have been thusly named for the skulls on it’s facade

OR it might have something to do with a cheating wife whose furious, cuckolded husband killed her lover, got wounded himself, and managed to kill his disloyal wife before he died from severe loss of blood. I’d like to think it’s the latter. Makes for a better story. Here’s a quick reenactment if my pithy synopsis was too confusing.

Finally, I’ll end with a foto of a little porcelain doll. Fooled ya, right? She’s a real girl! We saw her while walking through an old Salamancan university quad, traditional Spanish costume and all. Isn’t she precious?

Hasta next week, chicos y chicas!