La Ruta de los Castillos

Yesterday, our Civilizacion y Cultura class went to see two Spanish castles. We left at 9:00 am on a bus and set off for Manzanares el Real, a tiny town in the mountains with a large medieval castle. The countryside reminded me of Scotland; it even had heather on the hills!


As we pulled up to the castle, a huge arco iris (rainbow) appeared in the sky and didn't go away until after we left over an hour later. It was magical!

After spending a little time wandering around the outside of the castle, we went inside, where we saw old tapestries, suits of armor, and a giant "king sized" bed. However, it was never a royal castle; only lesser nobility lived there. After a tour of the inside, we climbed up to the roof, where we had a great close-up view of the towers. It was also cool to see the slits used to shoot arrows and the holes that allowed boiling oil to be poured on intruders.

Bidding the rainbow goodbye, we climbed back on the bus and set off for Segovia. When we arrived, we saw the giant Roman Aqueduct, which was built 2000 years ago. The aqueduct was absolutely mind-blowing. This structure is immense, and it is held together entirely by the force of gravity - not an ounce of mortar was used. The stones were leveled and balanced perfectly in an amazing feat of engineering.

After the aqueduct, we split up for lunch. Mark and I went into a pastry shop to grab something to eat, but when we came out everyone else had left. That turned out to be okay, though, as we had a good time wandering around the small city's narrow streets, pretty parks, and old churches. We also saw the Cathedral, which is a bit busy but still very beautiful.

When we met up with everyone in the Plaza Mayor, it was time to head over to the Alcazar (fortified palace). This palace dates from the Reconquista and was home to Ferdinand and Isabel, los Reyes Catolicos. It also served as inspiration for the castle in Disney's Sleeping Beauty! It was cool to wander around the inside and see the thrones, weapons, armor, and tapestries from the Middle Ages. In the Sala de los Reyes, there were about 50 statues of all the Catholic Kings during the Reconquista up to Juana la Loca, the mother of Carlos V.

However, the best treat was still to come. We climbed the 156 winding steps to the top of the main tower for a fantastic view of Segovia and the surrounding countryside. Up there, we noticed graffiti from 1936, the year of the Spanish Civil War. I kept moving from one side to the other, as all the views were equally beautiful. No one really wanted to go down, but eventually we had to get back on the bus to Alcala. All in all, it was another great trip.