Well I haven't been very good about blogging lately... I'll consider trying to improve though :)
Leon and Burgos both have cathedrals and they both want the reputation of having the better one. They're quite impressive, but have different feels; the Burgos Cathedral is probably more impressive from the outside, and much lighter (although also more museum-touristy and less like a functioning church) on the inside.
We had a little bit of time to walk around before we headed to the next destination, so I found what I assume to be the Main Plaza. The picture doesn't quite capture the freezing wind (luckily I was all bundled up! Can't say the same for everyone else...)
Our next stop was a monastery in a different town. It would be a really cool site regardless, but it also happens to be the site of the first written Spanish, ever. A lot of people in the group were kind of over visiting religious sites, but I really enjoyed it. It was a very well-preserved set of buildings and we had a tour guide who was quite easy to understand. I will, however, reiterate my dislike for going on tours in Spanish... It's hard enough for me to learn and remember things when I just hear them in English, and when I have to spend all my brainpower translating from a different language, not much stays in my head... At least I have a lot of photos! A few of my favorites:
Our last stop of the day was a winery in a region called La Rioja. This tour guide talked way too fast, but I could understand a decent amount of what he explained because he would periodically realize we were confused and then repeat things. We tried a couple kinds of wine (all red, unfortunately, although they were good as far as red wine goes) and learned about antiquated and modern methods of making wine.
I liked the vineyard best because the plants had beautiful fall colors, unlike the part of the tour where we walked through what I would probably call a dungeon, where they used to make the wine because the temperature/humidity was constant. It was kind of weird walking outside in a field with a glass of wine though... (They gave us the glass to keep, along with that sweet red pouch I have around my neck, and some crackers to cleanse the palate. Also, note all my warm layers! They are all new... I was explaining to my host brother (who's in town for the weekend) what I have bought since coming here, and I realized I got that coat, a fleece, those boots, that sweater and two others, and three scarves. Bring it on, winter.
This weekend we went on another excursion, which unfortunately started at 7:15 in the morning... I had a nice nap on the bus (I really need to buy one of those neck pillows for all these trips!) and we visited Burgos, a little town which which was extremely pleasant despite the rather unfortunate (cold, wet, and windy) weather.
Leon and Burgos both have cathedrals and they both want the reputation of having the better one. They're quite impressive, but have different feels; the Burgos Cathedral is probably more impressive from the outside, and much lighter (although also more museum-touristy and less like a functioning church) on the inside.
The ceilings in old buildings here are always incredible.
We had a little bit of time to walk around before we headed to the next destination, so I found what I assume to be the Main Plaza. The picture doesn't quite capture the freezing wind (luckily I was all bundled up! Can't say the same for everyone else...)
Here's a perfect example of the fashionable children here... These girls (there was a third one, but she didn't make the picture) are wearing boots that cost $100 and have adorable matching outfits!
Our next stop was a monastery in a different town. It would be a really cool site regardless, but it also happens to be the site of the first written Spanish, ever. A lot of people in the group were kind of over visiting religious sites, but I really enjoyed it. It was a very well-preserved set of buildings and we had a tour guide who was quite easy to understand. I will, however, reiterate my dislike for going on tours in Spanish... It's hard enough for me to learn and remember things when I just hear them in English, and when I have to spend all my brainpower translating from a different language, not much stays in my head... At least I have a lot of photos! A few of my favorites:
An organ with faces!
A room where monks would store their normal clothes when they were wearing special clothes, I think. It was robbed by someone and they took most of the furniture and items inside, but not the tables because they literally weigh a ton each!
The books which contained the music/words of the hymns which the monks sang during mass. They're each about 3 feet tall, so they could be seen by the whole choir. The have I believe about 80 pages, which aren't paper; they're lamb-skins... At a different church, we learned that the most valuable kind was from unborn lambs, since they had the least hair... And those are the ancestors of some of the leading critics of abortion today! The books are stored in this cabinet that has a special kind of stone underneath to limit humidity and there's a hole in the end of the wall so that cats could get in and eat the rats, which were the biggest threat to the books.
Our last stop of the day was a winery in a region called La Rioja. This tour guide talked way too fast, but I could understand a decent amount of what he explained because he would periodically realize we were confused and then repeat things. We tried a couple kinds of wine (all red, unfortunately, although they were good as far as red wine goes) and learned about antiquated and modern methods of making wine.
I liked the vineyard best because the plants had beautiful fall colors, unlike the part of the tour where we walked through what I would probably call a dungeon, where they used to make the wine because the temperature/humidity was constant. It was kind of weird walking outside in a field with a glass of wine though... (They gave us the glass to keep, along with that sweet red pouch I have around my neck, and some crackers to cleanse the palate. Also, note all my warm layers! They are all new... I was explaining to my host brother (who's in town for the weekend) what I have bought since coming here, and I realized I got that coat, a fleece, those boots, that sweater and two others, and three scarves. Bring it on, winter.
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