Can't Believe I've Been Here Over a Week...
Sundays, nothing is open but the churches and everyone rests. So I thought I'd use the siesta to update this.
Since moving in with my new host family, things have been going well. Mati, my host mom is very awesome, and a good cook. Today during lunch we watched the news, something about the Spanish equivalent of the Jonas brothers, it seemed. Am getting better at understanding what's being said on tv (they talk really fast). My host mom is a nurse, so her food is really healthy - breakfast is cereal and fruit, and today for lunch we had roast beef with carrots, salad, and chicken noodle soup. Everything nice and tasty, and we chatted as we ate. We talked about dogs - I've shown her pictures of Jack, and she has a Yorkie named Iru (not sure how to spell it, but that's the phonetic pronunciation at least). Iru's decided she likes sleeping on my lap when I'm on the couch, and also has figured out that I'll rub her belly for her, which she loves. She;s cute - she doesn't so much lie down as stop and then fall over, which is adorable.
Yesterday we went to Trujillo as a group - not sponsored or anything, we just all wanted to go and bus tickets were cheap (e3.50 each way). Another 4.70 got us guidebooks of Trujillo and admission to a bunch of places, including the castle, a cathedral, the Pizarro museum, the cheese museum, and the clothing museum. It was all very fun. We were joking as a group, and I made a completely corny joke that people liked:
Me *pointing across the square, and hamming it up*: Yonder lies the castle of my father!
Claire: Holland, that's the cathedral.
Me *turning around and pointing in another direction*: -Yonder- lies the castle of my father!
People got the reference, which was awesome, and they laughed. We toured the cathedral and castle during the morning, when the weather was really nice (I took off my coat and sweater - warmest day since I'd been here). The cathedral had a really steep staircase up to the belltower, and it was completely dark. I got some scrapes on my hands from clinging to the stone as I climbed, but the view was so worth it. I also wrote my name and the date in a guestbook they had up there (a 'prove you made the climb' sort of thing).
The castle itself was also amazing. The gardens are so beautiful, I'd love to picnic there someday. All these medicinal plants, and then there's a part which has flora brought back from the New World, including a patch of aloe that's over six feet tall! We walked along the castle battlements, and were able to see for miles around. The countryside is beautiful - reminds me a bit of southern California, actually. I kept expecting to see the ocean, it was so much like the scenery around San Diego. We also saw the Pizarro museum, which has a lot of treasures brought back from Chile and Peru.
Extremadura is known for its cheese, and the cheese museum didn't disappoint. Our entry got us samples of a bunch of different cheeses, and (miraculously) not one of them made me ill! I took a picture of this one goat cheese I really liked - I wish I could bring back some to the States with me, because it was so sharp and creamy and good.......
Speaking of food, we had lunch at La Troyas, a very nice restaurant on the square. For e15, we got appetizers, salad, first and second courses, dessert, and drinks. The food was so amazing, we all decided we had to return sometime to eat there again. Clint was in awe at the flan (which was amazing), and took several photos of it.
After lunch, we finished up the museums and got a bus home. Trujillo is very hilly, and the streets are very steep (as were the stairs everywhere we visited). We were all quite tired and sore when we got back, and I'm glad I had today to rest (there's also a sinus cold going around, and I seem to have caught it, as did several others).
Traveling around Spain really is fun, and I can't wait for the next journey! Miss you all!
Since moving in with my new host family, things have been going well. Mati, my host mom is very awesome, and a good cook. Today during lunch we watched the news, something about the Spanish equivalent of the Jonas brothers, it seemed. Am getting better at understanding what's being said on tv (they talk really fast). My host mom is a nurse, so her food is really healthy - breakfast is cereal and fruit, and today for lunch we had roast beef with carrots, salad, and chicken noodle soup. Everything nice and tasty, and we chatted as we ate. We talked about dogs - I've shown her pictures of Jack, and she has a Yorkie named Iru (not sure how to spell it, but that's the phonetic pronunciation at least). Iru's decided she likes sleeping on my lap when I'm on the couch, and also has figured out that I'll rub her belly for her, which she loves. She;s cute - she doesn't so much lie down as stop and then fall over, which is adorable.
Yesterday we went to Trujillo as a group - not sponsored or anything, we just all wanted to go and bus tickets were cheap (e3.50 each way). Another 4.70 got us guidebooks of Trujillo and admission to a bunch of places, including the castle, a cathedral, the Pizarro museum, the cheese museum, and the clothing museum. It was all very fun. We were joking as a group, and I made a completely corny joke that people liked:
Me *pointing across the square, and hamming it up*: Yonder lies the castle of my father!
Claire: Holland, that's the cathedral.
Me *turning around and pointing in another direction*: -Yonder- lies the castle of my father!
People got the reference, which was awesome, and they laughed. We toured the cathedral and castle during the morning, when the weather was really nice (I took off my coat and sweater - warmest day since I'd been here). The cathedral had a really steep staircase up to the belltower, and it was completely dark. I got some scrapes on my hands from clinging to the stone as I climbed, but the view was so worth it. I also wrote my name and the date in a guestbook they had up there (a 'prove you made the climb' sort of thing).
The castle itself was also amazing. The gardens are so beautiful, I'd love to picnic there someday. All these medicinal plants, and then there's a part which has flora brought back from the New World, including a patch of aloe that's over six feet tall! We walked along the castle battlements, and were able to see for miles around. The countryside is beautiful - reminds me a bit of southern California, actually. I kept expecting to see the ocean, it was so much like the scenery around San Diego. We also saw the Pizarro museum, which has a lot of treasures brought back from Chile and Peru.
Extremadura is known for its cheese, and the cheese museum didn't disappoint. Our entry got us samples of a bunch of different cheeses, and (miraculously) not one of them made me ill! I took a picture of this one goat cheese I really liked - I wish I could bring back some to the States with me, because it was so sharp and creamy and good.......
Speaking of food, we had lunch at La Troyas, a very nice restaurant on the square. For e15, we got appetizers, salad, first and second courses, dessert, and drinks. The food was so amazing, we all decided we had to return sometime to eat there again. Clint was in awe at the flan (which was amazing), and took several photos of it.
After lunch, we finished up the museums and got a bus home. Trujillo is very hilly, and the streets are very steep (as were the stairs everywhere we visited). We were all quite tired and sore when we got back, and I'm glad I had today to rest (there's also a sinus cold going around, and I seem to have caught it, as did several others).
Traveling around Spain really is fun, and I can't wait for the next journey! Miss you all!