Pig Knuckles and Sauerkraut...

Segovia is about a 2-hour train ride North of Madrid. The landscape as you move into Castile and Leon looks kind of like what I imagine a small German village to look like, with more and more snow with every 40 minutes or so North and little chalet-style houses. We (2 of my friends from residence, the ones from the last post) arrived and took a bus up a mountain to the Plaza Mayor where there was a gorgeous Cathedral with Moorish-influenced architecture. Also, there was a huge gazebo in the middle of the plaza that reminded me of the "16 going on 17" scene from Sound of Music.

From the cathedral we walked to Alcazar. These are the kind of narrow, cobbled streets you can picture knights in medieval armor walkind down. Alcazar's design allegedly helped inspire Walt Disney's design of the Snow White Castle, but personally I think that claim is erroneous. The view of Castile and Leon in the winter was breathtaking, even though you can't help but imagine how springtime bloom would really make everything pop.

I was watching a behind-the-scenes interview with Pedro Almodovar on the "Volver" dvd, and he had this theory that the Castillian landscape is so blank --few trees and rolling hills--that people from Castilla naturally evolve into storytellers in order to add layers to this barren landscape. I think what he was trying to say that the imagination is spurred to create when presented with such a blank canvas. Of course, Castilla is also Don Quixote/Cervantes territory; so, I thought that Almodovar's theory was interesting, and I looked at the landscape with all that in the back of my head, but I thought it was beautiful because it was so simple. I can see how in such a place, you would get to know the rocks and trees as landmarks because they are so few and far between that they almost have personalities..

Anyways, we went to the top of Snow White's tower where the view was just incredible, even though I am afraid of heights and the stairs up the tower were playing tricks with my mind.

Afterwards, we decided to stop and try the traditional Segovian food, sopa castellana (garlic broth with hard-boiled egg and soaked bread) and cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig hoof)... both were... an experience, and I honestly would not order either again (very strange textures, cutting through the cochinillo was like cutting through a sneaker)... Anyways, the whole Segovian culture is fascinating in terms of this food. The hoof had a tag on it that said how many siblings the pig had, who it's mother was, where it lived and the day it was killed (3 days ante-plate in my case)... Furthermore, after we ate it, the waitress came back and said, "oh, we just logged when it was eaten too. The only thing we don't know about this pig is the name of the person who ate it." Fascinating. After that, we went to catch our bus because the last train was leaving soon, and the bus pick-up was right underneath the Roman Aqueducts, which we obviously wanted to see because they are AWESOME. The most impressive part about it is that rocks that comprise the aqueduct are not bound together by concrete, and it has endured to this day. It appears that the only thing keeping it together is some solid physics and moss... Very cool.

Anyways, here are some pictures of Segovia:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=99405596103.666232539603.1234486059871&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0

Let me just brag a bit and say that I took a shower that morning and my hair DRIED like that!!! That is probably the best my hair has looked in LONG while... must be the Spanish air/water! Also, sidenote, the last picture of the album is Retiro park in Madrid on a Sunday afternoon. It is so fun; there are bongos and lots of people in mascot costumes. The people-watching is good, and I tried the most rich traditional Spanish fare: the hot chocolate (chocolate tradicional a la taza)... it is pretty much a cadbury bar melted into a tea cup. So good... must be awful for the insides. That's what they dip churros into for BREAKFAST, which makes even me a bit queasy. Anyways, it was good, and the people-watching from the terrace was very relaxed.

I had my first day of class today. It was good, VERY different from Toronto. I can talk about that later; for now, I don't want to think about it. I am going to Barcelona in like 6 hours and I haven't started packing. I am going to meet Dad's godbrother and his family. He has a daughter a couple years younger than me with whom I spoke on the phone, and they are the nicest. ever. They only speak to me in Spanish, and it's not a big deal to them; so, I just roll with the punches! This should be interesting, especially because I'm meeting Dad's godmother, who was really good friends with my Figueiredo grandmother. So, maybe I'll hear some cool stories and get the REAL scoop on whether or not I look like a lot like my Figueiredo grandma. More soon! I miss you all!