Before the horror of Midterms!!

Alright, so I promised that I would write about my past weekend's experience sooner or later and since midterms begin next week on Thursday (wish me luck please!!!) I figure now is a good time so that I don't forget and never actually do it.


Where to begin....Saturday morning sounds about right! November 7th, 7:45am. Entirely too early to get on a chartered bus and drive for 4 hours to the region of Extremadura if you ask me! It's approximately 4 hours to the west of Madrid. It's actually very pretty, but, thanks to historic narrative of one of the teachers within our program, I can tell you that at one point Spain was cutting down all the trees and using them for various projects, in Spain and elsewhere also, so apparently it's not quite as scenic as it used to be. So on these long bus rides, we stop every 2 hours for about 20 minutes for bathroom breaks and whatever else you might need to accomplish during that time. The first 2 hours was nice and quiet; most people slept, I however, crocheted. Typical me, right? After the break however, our teacher proceeded to lecture us on the country side and give us an entire 2 hour long history lesson on what we were going to see the NEXT day! Now, that's all well and good if you're a history teacher and you warn us that you're going to lecture, but we weren't prepared for it, and we were prepared to nap for another 2 hours since we had been told we had 4 hours for sleeping!! Additionally, while history can be interesting, learning about different kinds of trees and the lifestyle of these people in the country is not something that college students are prepared to hear at 10am from an ART teacher! Either way, it was a long long bus ride, regardless of the history lesson from the art teacher. 


First place we arrived at was a city called Mérida where we got to tour ruins of an amphitheater and also a gladiator ring from when Spain was part of the ancient Roman Empire. Parts of the ruins had been reconstructed so that visitors could see, more or less, what the structures had been like at a past point in time. Even so, it was very interesting to see structures from such an ancient time. In America, we don't have the same type of historical monuments since our nation's history only goes back so far. Spain has so much more history to share and, for me, I really enjoyed seeing those ruins. I also learned more than I could have even dreamed about the building process, the people that came and destroyed the structures, the purpose of the particular building structure used and whatnot from the art teacher. Somehow, he managed to talk for about 2 hours straight without taking a breath, needing to cough, or taking a drink of water just so that he could over educate us. While yes, I know that it was a tremendous advantage to have that wealth of knowledge with us on the trip, it wasn't expected and since we didn't have the same experience in Toledo, it was a big change. But yes, it was, ultimately, very informative.


From the ruins, we proceeded to walk around the rest of the city and see what was left of a Roman temple, which in reality wasn't much and they were in the process of trying to restore the temple so there wasn't very much to see of it. We also saw their "Plaza Mayor" and were given time to eat lunch and explore. Almost every city or town in Spain, thus far at least, has a Plaza Mayor. The Plaza is basically the main meeting point for the city or town where people would, and still do to a certain degree, come to do business and commerce. Typically they're gorgeous areas in a square or rectangular shape. In Mérida, there was a fountain in the middle of the plaza with restaurants around the edges. 


After lunch, along with our trusty tour guide/art teacher who went with us everywhere, we went and toured what at one time was a Roman aqueduct and reservoir. It was along the edge of a beautiful river and was made of stones that had been brought from whatever stone structures were to be found at the time, including tombstones, all of which could be deciphered as you walked along the wall. (Yes, I saw several tombstones in the wall, complete with inscriptions) We also got to go down into where the water was stored after it was naturally filtered through the stones, sand, and the entire process. 


From there, we went to the Roman Museum and got to see some of the original pieces of the various ruins. Lots of human sculptures and there was also an entire section for mosaics. Most of them had faded, but you could still see how intricate they had been at one time or another and some of them were HUGE, taking up three stories of wall space. These beautiful mosaics were intricate tile compositions that were used on the floor and walked on daily! Something so beautiful was created just to be walked on! Can you imagine?? I guess it's kind of like the rugs that are bought nowadays, but they aren't nearly as intricate!


After all this touring around, we were ready to get back on the bus and rest our feet during the hour or so drive to Cáceres. Upon arrival, we were grouped into rooms and released for the rest of the night. I went with a group of friends to find a bar and watch the Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid game. It's a big game, especially for Madrileños. Real Madrid is the big, financially backed Madrid team, featuring Cristiano Ronaldo for you soccer/futbol fans. Atletico Madrid is the club team, also well know, but not nearly as financially backed and therefore without the well known and good soccer players. Regardless, they played Saturday night and we stumbled, not literally, upon an amazing bar in which to watch the game. By some stroke of luck, we found a bar that had a beer tap of house beer at EVERY table! It was 5 euro for a liter of beer, which included a free tapas/small sized portion of food. An amazing deal that made for a very memorable night. In the end, Real beat Atletico 3-2 with Atletico coming back to score both of their goals in the last 10 minutes of play. 


In the morning, we got a free buffet style breakfast with plenty of options of healthy food and beverage, including fresh squeezed orange juice!! By 9:15am we were back on the bus, only to be dropped off 5 minutes later at the Plaza Mayor of Cáceres. Although there was no fountain, it was right next to what had been a palace from the 16th century so it was a fair trade as far as I'm concerned. For the next two hours, we walked, with the tour guide of course, through the palace. There was a cathedral, palace walls, a church, a building that is now being used as city hall, or the equivalent, along with a building that had been converted into a museum of a cistern. The cistern was down a set of stairs and, though musty, was gorgeous and had had gothic arches included in its structural design. Very pretty! (Of course, there are pictures! Not to worry!)


From Cáceres, we got on the bus and traveled approximately 2 hours or so, in which direction, I couldn't tell you to save my life, to the town of Trujillo. Guess where we started from...? That's right, the Plaza Mayor! Good job! You're such a fast learner! :-) One of the buildings along the Plaza was that of Pizarro who had it built with his riches acquired after his exploration in the Americas. From the Plaza Mayor, we walked up a large hill to the top of the city to the site of a castle. A rather large castle at that too! Go figure, right? Haha However, since it's on the top of a hill on an already windy day, it wasn't the smartest idea to forget a hair tie since my hair proceeded to whip me in the face, especially my eyes, for the entire afternoon. Nonetheless, it was gorgeous and there was a view of the entire country side! (As always, there are plenty of pictures!) After the climb, we were given free time to descend the hill and find food and explore. A very cute town overall, although rather small. After Trujillo, we got back on the bus and were granted silence for the entire 4 hour bus ride home. Again, I crocheted, but also managed to be social with those who were awake in the back of the bus.


Never had a shower and sweatpants felt so comforting after a windy, dirt-blown weekend. Even though Monday was a holiday for the providence of Madrid, I didn't go out Sunday night but rather relaxed and got a good night's sleep!! Especially since the beds in the hotel in Cáceres were like rocks, as were the pillows, sleep felt amazing. Even though my bed in my piso isn't as soft as I would prefer, it was nice to get back to "my" bed and have some level of padding supporting my body.


So, for the most part, you are all up-to-date on the happenings of the last two weeks! I hope that I didn't consume you're entire day with my adventures! From now on, hopefully there will be shorter adventures.  I should have some excited adventures the beginning of December however since I will be in Roma visiting a family friend, Alessandra, from the Sat the 5th through the Wednesday the 9th. Until then, no fun adventures, just day to day stories since midterms will be occupying my life for the next week and a half! Eeekkk!! Please keep me in your prayers and think happy thoughts for me! Spanish professors grade very differently from in the United States so hopefully all will go well!


I miss you all!!
Ciao!