Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Don Quixote de La Mancha

Well nothing too exciting has happened recently which is why I have not posted in awhile. Generally my days consist of: breakfast, school, lunch, nap, homework, talk to Ry, more homework, shower, and bedtime. Of which I am sure everyone does not care to hear the same things over and over again. So my newest update I can share is about my school’s trip to Toledo. Well, we had to get up at 5am for starters… that didn’t go over so well with me haha. My senora was extra crabby that morning… which I don’t blame her… no one wants to be up THAT early! We got to the school and we all piled into a bus, which much to my dismay would be my new home for almost 7 hours…. Me and road trips don’t generally get along too well! However, it was well worth it. Our first stop was a little bit outside of Toledo, at the Windmills of Don Quixote. They were pretty cool to see. Here are some pictures.





We then continued into Toledo where we got to our hotels and ate some lunch. Then we all went to a church and monastery which were both really cool. The architecture in the monastery was amazing. Here are some pics.




Afterwards we had free time, so Britton and I went shopping. We were in this jewelry store, where I bought a bracelet for myself, and Britton bought some earrings for her mom. The owner of the store was helping us, and he was probably the sweetest man I have ever met. He was the artist of all of the jewelry also. He made some beautiful things. He was very impressed with Britton and I, and that we were speaking Spanish too each other, and he commented that our Spanish was very good… which that made me happy. We talked to him for probably 30 minutes, asking him questions about Toledo, about Spain in general, and about his jewelry. The people in Spain have a tendency as a whole to be very cold people. It is rare when you find someone who actually cares to talk to you, and particularly with Americans. He was incredibly helpful, and the nicest Spaniard I have met. Britton and I asked him for a good recommendation for dinner, of which he talked about one “La Bodera” for probably 10 minutes… Britton and I decided to check it out. Oh my gosh... The food was INCREDIBLE. Probably some of the best Spanish food I have eaten. Britton got lamb, and I got something that originally came with liver, but I told them I didn’t need that haha. Mine was this apple, cheese, salad thing type thing with a raspberry sauce… okay sounds weird, sounds bland, sounds not very exciting for being some of the best Spanish food I have ever eaten…. You guys will just have to take my word for it... it was so delicious! We then got the most amazing dessert… A chocolate brownie soufflé, with thick gooey chocolate in the center… It was like the consistency of chocolate sauce, but it tasted like the best raw chocolate brownie/cake batter ever. It was amazing. Here are some pictures. Everyone likes pictures of food!!!





The next day the school went to the Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous. There were beautiful paintings, and sculptures and it was basically a museum inside the Cathedral. We were in there for a couple hours, and it was crazy cool. Of course, I have pictures of it too...






Britton and I then went exploring on our own, and we found this church where you can go up in the tower and you can see the entire city. The trip to Toledo was well worth the almost 7 hour drive… It was a beautiful city, with beautiful buildings, and a completely different aspect of Spain than I had seen before.




Well I have tests coming up this week. My first set of tests went well, so I’m not too nervous about these ones… let’s just hope I say that after I take them! In a couple weeks Amy (my friend from Taylor) and I are going to Italy for the week…. The school has a week break at the end of October, and so we are packing our bags and flying to Rome, to spend a few days, taking a train to Florence, which we will be there for a few days as well, and we will spend our last day in Pisa, where we will then fly back to Seville. We have already bought our plane tickets, and made our reservations for hostels and hotels in Italy. I am looking forward to the trip, and I will definitely put pictures on here after the trip. I hope you all are doing well, and I look forward to seeing everyone in 2 months!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Ashley-
More great pictures and adventures for you- I love seeing all this. I want that chocolate thing!!! Thanks for sharing your road trips with "all of us" who are reading your blogs. I'm proud of you! Well, you are almost half-way through your semester; it's going fast. See you soon!!

LUL-Marms

Anonymous said...

Dear Ashley,
I was so glad to see your latest blog ... I've been "patiently" wating for it to be posted! I can hardly believe how beautiful all of your pictures are. You are making some wonderful memories. Miss you lots, but you'll be back in the good old USA 2 months from today. Just having you back here will be a Chrsitmas present in itself. I'm real proud of you little girl. Lots of Love ... Mrs. G

Mrs. Stockman said...

Ashley,

Your pics are so awesome! I'm jealous. The last time I was in Spain was pre-digital camera era, and my pictures didn't turn out so good. I'll probably be asking you to e-mail me a few of yours to blow up poster-size for my classroom. I love the windmill picture. Don Quixote is one of my favorites. Have you had to read it in Spanish yet? That's some fun stuff!!

-Mrs. Stockman

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