Castles and a Big Wall: Excursion to Segovia and Avila

Today was our first group excursion. We went to Segovia first (about a 2 hour bus ride) and then to Avila (an hour bus ride back towards Salamanca). Castilla-Leon is the area of Spain that Salamanca, Segovia, and Avila are in and it is an area known for it's castles. Segovia some of the best preserved castles (including the castle of Ferdinand and Isabella, which we got to tour today). It also has a huge aqueduct that is over 2,000 years old and still in perfect condition. Avila has a gigantic wall intended to protect the city and it is the most well preserved fortess wall in Europe.Cathedral in Segovia

First stop: Segovia. When we first arrived in Segovia there was some kind of military holiday going on that we were unaware of so we passed both the medieval reenactment band and the correct military band doing their parade routes. AKA there were lots of men in very tight white pants or funny feathery hats.

Next we got to see the aqueduct which was really amazing. It's been there for 2,000 years and is still just as strong as it was when it was built. Oh yeah, and the rocks aren't even held together by anything, they're just so perfectly positioned that it won't fall. Wow, those Romans were cool.


Stairs near aqueduct/Aqueduct One pillar of the aqueduct, look at the rocks!

Next was a tour of Fernando and Isabella's castle. If you can recall from your history classes Fernando was the king of Leon and Isabella was the queen on Castilla and when they got married the area of Spain that I'm living in became Castilla-Leon. Anyway, we got to tour the entire castle and it was really really cool. A lot of furniture from that time period was in the castle (not the castle originals because there was a fire in part of the castle) and it was really interesting to see it all. We also got to climb up to the top of the tower to see the view.

Ferdinand and Isabella's Thrones

Then back on the bus to Avila. There isn't all that much to see in Avila except the gigantic fortress wall that's built around the entire city. It was constructed quickly to protect the city and the only material they had to build it was the headstones from a Roman graveyard. You can still see the writting on some of the blocks in the wall.

The Wall
View from the top of the wall

And after a whirlwind trip we headed back to Salamana. Overall it was a really cool trip, but it was short and we were all exhausted afterward.