Ciudad Rodrigo

On Saturday 18^th February, it was one of my good friends birthdays and it was also the Carnival del Torros en Ciudad Rodrigo. Even better than both of those things however, was that as a surprise for Rob’s birthday, our old (and amazing) friend Tom (who has been in Salamanca forever, but sadly just left) made a surprise visit over from Ireland. Although Holly and I knew about this big secret birthday present and we went to collect him from the coach station on Thursday night, everyone else was so surprised, especially Rob! It was a really lovely weekend, having him back with us.

The Carnaval del Toro (of bulls) is the most popular festival in the town of Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca Province, Castile and Leon, Spain) which is held every year in conjunction with Carnival time in Spain.

It is a tradition at Ciudad Rodrigo for everyone to wear ‘un disfraz’ (fancy dress), so around 20 of my friends from my ‘residencia’ and I all set off early in the morning through the streets of Salamanca in our outfits. As it was Rob’s birthday, one of my good friend’s from Germany, Pippa, had made him a cake and we gave it to him on the way along with some sangria for the coach journey!

On the coach, we were all required to sign a contract agreeing that if we were injured during the running of the bulls or through any participation at the fiesta, that we were all responsible for our own actions and that the company we were going with would not be liable in any way for our safety… so practically signing our lives away!

The coach journey was so much fun as there was such a large group of us. When we arrived, we all stopped at ‘El Arbol’ ('The tree') supermarket to pick up some food and then chose a sunny spot on some grass to all have lunch together.

After this, we walked past a big fun fair, a market and some lovely old buildings towards the makeshift bull ring in the center of the chaos! In the bull ring, there were lots of people and we even made a few new friends!

By this time, it was drawing closer and closer to the running of the bulls. All the boys were busily preparing their dutch courage and even my loca amiga Holly decided to run with them! I meanwhile sat on the high wall that was to separate the bulls and the runners from the thousands of other people at the event.

After this we went to the large tent that was set up with a bar and a buffet, where by coincidence we met up with some of our American friends from Salamanca. Inside the tent, two of our visiting friends from Japan found a group of Spaniards dressed up as the Japanese military! Qué coincidencia!

Later we all went and sat on the beautiful city wall to enjoy the sun and prepare for the second  running of the bulls.

During this time, I was proposed to by a thriller clad Michael Jackson,  I was sat in an ancient (and fortunately not working) catapult and my friends climbed up part of the city wall!

 

Later we all decided to go to the funfair while there was still some daylight, some of us were a little worse for wear than others, but it was still so much fun!

Later, was the second running of the bulls, which was far more frantic, as it was getting dark by this time. We all again made new friends and dodged bulls in this wild outlandish experience!

I didn’t go to the actual bullfight, which took place in the middle of the day; neither did most of my female friends, as it is very brutal and graphic scene. Sadly, during the run, one of the bulls charged into another, who went on to have a heart attack and not even make it to the bullfight.  Although I imagine that this ruthless blood sport will be banned in the future, it is still a very astute insight into Spanish culture and customs, and all in all, apart from pity for the bulls, it was an amazing and intense day for most!

Pozo de los Humos

 Pozo de los Humos

Pozo de los Humos is a waterfall on the river Uces. It is in the region of Arribes del Duero, in the northwestern Spanish province of Salamanca. The granite wall through which the waterfall flows has a free fall of fifty feet, reaching down to form a vapor cloud that rises all around. By the stream of Uces, the river forks, which results in another cascade on the right side called the Well of Cows. It is named according to legend because a chariot loaded with wheat, drawn by two cows was on its way to a nearby mill, but the chariot plunged into the river just where the waterfall falls, never being recovered!

Mr. Red and I decided to visit this place and were really lucky that it was sunny.  We drank smoothies in the car as Red drove, and after around an hour, we saw a lovely little ‘pueblo’ (village). We drove down from Masueco; the starting point in Church Square, heading north, a few hundred meters where you have to opt for one of two directions that are shown by two separate wooden signs.

When we reached the end of the road for the car we began to make our way down a slope leading down to the river, called the ‘Roblea Masueco’. On this path, there is the cutest little stone house with 2 windows and a door that locks from the outside. I think it must have maybe been used for animals in the past.

Continuing down this walkway, we were able to overlook the massive canyon, called the Glen of Zarzalino. A few hundred yards down the Douro Uces you can see pretty flowers, oak, juniper, chestnut, olive trees, brambles, blackthorn, broom blonde, and lavender. There were some olive stones in the water on one side of the lake, which I thought was just so Spanish!

Animals such as wild boar, fox, partridge, griffon vulture, eagle and many small birds and rodents inhabit this area, according to the signs, but we just saw two birds flying together.

On the edge of Masueco a hundred yards downstream from the well, plunges a thousand feet brook called Cribera and another little stream known as the Blonde Palla. After 600 meters of this amazing landscape, you reach a fork in the road, which leads to an incredible bridge. Whilst this is a bit scary to walk to the end of, as there is a 500 meter drop, the view is definitely worth it!

After exploring the area for a little bit, Red found a little cove with a drink in it! I’m so grateful he found this, because as it was so hot I was thinking it might have been a good idea to get in the water! I am happy I didn’t now!

After relaxing in the sun for a while, we decided to make our way back to Salamanca.  This was a really nice relaxing day trip.

Segovia

My day trip to Segovia started rather early for my liking as there was only one bus to Segovia from Salamanca and one bus back on Saturdays. Due to this, I had to get up at 7am, whilst hearing many of my ‘compañeros de piso’ return from their night out, and then catch my coach at 8.30am.  The only benefit of this early start was that I managed to see Salamanca Cathedral at sunrise, which was really nice.

 

Upon my arrival in Segovia, I realized that after all of my preparation, making sure that both my English and Spanish phones were charged, that I was wrapped up warm; I realized that I had forgotten the most important thing…to charge my camera. Luckily, the camera on my phone would suffice. After this, on my walk to the aqueduct, I saw lots of Spanish women dressed in traditional outfits, accompanied by men in cloaks and hats playing music and banging drums.

Following this, I passed the ‘Iglesia de San Millán’, this is a typical example of the Romanesque style in Segovia. I also passed ‘Iglesia de San Clemente’, which had a square bell tower and finally the ‘Iglesia de San Justo’.

 

 

After a walk down a long shopping street, known by the locals as Calle Real, I approached the impressive aqueduct!  The Romans first raised this in the 1^st century AD. It is a 728m granite block bridge that is made up of 163 arches and at its highest point is 28m high.  AMAZINGLY not a drop of mortar was used to hold the whole thing together. The aqueduct brings water from the mountains and has a very interesting local folktale to accompany it. It is legend that a young girl who was tired of carrying water from the well stated that she would sell her soul to the devil if an easier solution could be found, upon hearing this, the devil worked throughout the night, whilst the girl repented and prayed to God.  Upon hearing her prayers, God tricked the devil by making the sun come up earlier than usual, catching the devil unaware, so with only one stone to complete the structure, the girl’s soul was saved!

There was an interesting walk up to the top of the aqueduct, with great views of the city. It also led to another shopping street, which had the museum of contemporary art (Esteban Vinciente). This is a 15^th Century palace of Enrique IV, just north of the Plaza de San Martin, and has a Renaissance chapel with Mudéjar ceiling, as well as lots of abstract expressionist art. Unfortunately it was closed when I visited. :( 

As I moped away from this art gallery, and towards the Iglesia de San Martin, it started to snow! Although I was really really cold, it was very beautiful and enhanced the prettiness of the city a lot.

This was especially true of Segovia’s enormous Cathedral. Taking cover under the pretty pavilion in the middle of the adjacent ‘plaza major’ to take pictures, the cathedral seemed truly enchanting. This impressive building took over 200 years to build and is one of the final examples of Gothic architecture in Spain.

 

The inside of the Cathedral is equally impressive. With its gigantic size, imposing choir stand and over 20 chapels, I really doubt that anyone could fail to be impressed by this cathedral. There is also a collection of mainly religious art, in many forms, including stained glass, oil paintings, sculpture and marble carvings. One of my favourites was the ‘Tree of Life” ‘Alegoría del árbol de la vida’ (Ignacio de Ries) and as always the big gold baroque mantles.

 

After leaving the cathedral, I passed the ‘Convento de San José’ and the ‘Iglesia de San Andrés’. They were both very pretty, however by this time, I was literally freezing, so I decided to look for the Alcázar Castle. Along the way, I passed the city wall, with its impressive view of the ‘Valle del Eresma’.

 

After this I passed a Spanish vintage shop, selling antiques, old clothes and jewellery. This would have been rather excellent at the best of times, but when you cannot feel your face because it is full of snow, it’s somewhat of a godsend. Since I have been in Spain, I have always wanted a Spanish ‘mantilla y peina’. This is a special Catholic comb and veil worn by women on special occasions, such as Easter (Semana Santa) and at weddings/funerals or bullfights. I think they are so beautiful and have always wanted one. However, hand in hand with the prestige of wearing this beautiful attire, they are rather expensive. On my way to the aqueduct, I spotted a ‘peina’ comb in a shop window which was beautiful and I really wanted it, but it was € 90 (just for the comb). For a hair accessory that can only be worn on rare occasions, I decided this was pretty steep and prayed that I could miraculously gain one from somewhere. It appears that my prayers were answered in Segovia, as it was in this tiny vintage shop that I spotted a translucent tortoiseshell comb – FOR €3!!!!! I was literally over the moon! After a chat with the shop owner (in Spanish I might add) about where to buy an accompanying veil, I whipped up my bargain and returned to the snow with vigor!

Youtube Video about a Mantilla y Peina

Upon reaching the Alcázar, I could see why it was this particular castle that inspired Walt Disney’s vision of Sleeping Beauties Castle in Disneyland (or so the guide told us).  The castle takes its name from the Arabic word for a royal residence, (القصر (al-qasr) highlighting Spain’s interesting international past.

When you first walk into the castle, there are big shields up on the walls and after passing these you enter a small courtyard with many passages. You can completely see what this would have been like many years ago. 
 

The first room I entered contained suits of armor for adults, children and horses. It’s crazy to think that people actually wore these big heavy outfits for battle. The second room had the most beautiful ceiling and was called the  ‘Sala de las Piñas ‘ (Hall of Pineapples) with stained glass round windows. In the next room, which appeared to be a big hall called the Kings Room, there was a mural of Queen Isabella in a golden crown/’peina’. This room also contains a three-dimentional frieze of 52 sculptures of kings who fought during the Reconquista.  Before the next room, there was a balcony overlooking the surrounding hills; this really makes the hill top position of the castle worthwhile. 

The next room is a bedroom with a big gothic style four-poster bed and lots of impressive art on the walls. One can only imagine what it must have been like to sleep here. I unfortunately didn’t go up onto the turrets of this castle because I was too cold in the snow, but a friend told me it was amazing. (She is called Jenny and is going to let me steal some of her lovely photos! Gracias!)

Further along in the castle, there was a museum about the history. It was really interesting to see the old artillery and uniforms. It was even more interesting when I left the castle and saw the amazing moat. Somehow I hadn’t noticed it on the way in, but on the way out I tripped over a step and flew into the barrier, which overlooked this immense drop. I can’t imagine what this must have been like in the 12^th century.

On my way back to the town center, I passed the ‘casa de los picos’, a Renaissance mansion with diamonds on its façade, and other lovely buildings.

I also visited the Casa-Museo de Antonio Machado; a famous Spanish poet, however it was closed.

 

Due to their only only being one coach back to Salamanca, my trip to Segovia ended here. ‘Mi amiga nueva’ Jenny and I discussed our trip on the way back, and here are some of the photos she was generous enough to bequeath to my blog!