Segovia

This past weekend, I went on my first excursion with other classmates to Segovia, a small town about an hour outside of Madrid. The day started off very well as I met one of my best friends here yet, Fayyaz, who is from Canada. I hung out with him and two girls from San Diego all day as we explored the city. Segovia is a very old and antiuque town, walking through the cobblestone streets, it felt like a scene straight out of an old movie. One of the landmarks it´s best known for is an aqueduct that was built by the Romans over 2,000 years ago. It was impressive and amazing to see that a structure so old is still so strong today. We also got to tour an old castle that the king and queen of Spain used to reside in during the summer and one of the most beautiful cathedrals in all of Spain. I have seen pictures of Cathedrals before, but I have to admit the pictures don´t do them justice, the immense detail and beauty needs to be experienced in person. That day we hopped around to the various cafes in the city and I ate some of the best chicken I´ve ever had.

When I returned home from the excursion, my aunt, uncle, cousin, and I went out to a local bar for diner and to watch the second half of the U.S.-Spain soccer game. Spain destroyed the U.S. 4-0, and it was interesting to hear that most of the locals weren´t too interested in the match, partly because it was exhibition, and also because the they knew the U.S. would be no challenge for last year´s World Cup Champions.

Yestertday I had the opportunity to check out a Real Madrid game. It was a retro All-Star game, with most of the players being former stars from Real Madrid. The one aspect I was really looking forward to was the atmosphere of the match, from what I had seen on TV in the states, the excitement of an intense soccer match can compare to nothing we have in the states. It wasn´t quite what I expected, the game was actually a fundraiser for African countries and was more for fun than competition. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun to be in the stadium with fans who really appreciate futbol!

I´ve got a lot of great pictures I´d love to put up, but the internet is still down at the condo, hopefully it will be fixed later this week!