Salamanca and Avila

As usual, we met at the Aqueduct and left around 9 am.  I think we all take for granted the fact that we hang out around this amazing 2000 year old structure every day!

We arrived in Salamanca just after 11 and were dropped off near the Roman Bridge (also over 2000 years old) and explained the history of the Romans in the city and took photos near statues of Lazarillo de Tormes before walking up to the outside of the cathedral. Luis gave a talk outside for almost 10 minutes then we went inside and spent about 5 minutes looking at the ceiling and walls before heading into the capilla where we would spend the majority of the looking at mostly religiously themed art from many different time periods.  The town is full a lot of amazing architecture and history but you can only see so much so after a bit we headed off toward the Plaza Mayor and gave everyone an hour to shop before meeting back there.  The plaza was full of people and many were Americans because Salamanca is a university town so it is very touristy. We walked to Gran Via for lunch where the food was once again fantastic.  Choices were baked macaroni or paella for the first course and then baked chicken french fries or a plate of jamon serrano covered with fried eggs and french fries.  Afterward everyone had some more free time before we met to walk to the bus.  We left just after 4 for Avila and stopped outside of town to take photos of the city.  The idea of an entirely walled in city for protection is pretty amazing.  We had about 1 hour to explore the city so we saw the cathedral and the area where you can get on the wall and enjoy some panoramic views of the city but decided not to take that option. 

More photos of our trip

Here are a few links on the history of where we were:

http://www.spanish-town-guides.com/Salamanca_History.htm

http://www.top-tour-of-spain.com/Avila-Spain-History.html

Today we took a 20 minute bus ride and our time was spent at a Spanish royal glass factory established in 1728 near the summer palace of King Philip V in San Ildefonso.  The factory was established with the objective of providing the palace with all the necessary glass to furnish it, mostly windows, mirrors and chandeliers. The glassworkers were initially foreigners; the main stylistic influence was, as in earlier Spanish glass, that of Venice.  As with many buildings from that period, it fell into ruins and little use but in 1982 it was transformed into a museum and a school for glass work but they retained the majority of the original look.  Here is a link for more information:
http://www.patrimonionacional.es/en/granja/granja.htm

We spent an hour touring the building and were able to see how glass was made in the past and an exhibition of what modern artists are doing to create art with glass.  I am sure everyone got a lot of great photos.

When we finished we walked over to see the palace mentioned above and were given a nearly 90 minute tour of the palace and then walked around the fountains behind it.  The palace is home to a collection of tapestries that have immeasurable fortune due to their size, age, historic significance and materials: they are interwoven with gold and silver.

Information on the palace

We were not fortunate enough to see the fountains run yet but we will try next week.  

Bullfighting

After 4 summers of bad timing we finally arrived in time to offer a bullfight to the group.  No, we did not actually participate because we did not have time to train but several of us did go to a bullfight and it was definitely a new experience.  All of the circumstance surrounding the event was very lively and it was well attended so we had a good time although the end result of each of the 6 bullfights we saw is not something we choose to see on a daily basis it was interesting to see and learn about the culture that surrounds it.

What's cookin'? PAELLA!!!

A few summers ago I met Bernardo and he runs a cooking school at La Albuera.  He shows us how to make paella (AKA - he makes paella for us) and we end up eating it at around 10:30 in the morning.  You should try it some time!  

Paella is in no way difficult to make so if you want to try it, here is what you do: 

On high heat, sauté your prawns in some olive oil for a few minutes so the oil will retain some of the flavor then remove them from the pan. Sauté your meat until it is cooked halfway through – we used some lovely rabbit.  Add in some thinly sliced red and green peppers as well as some diced tomatoes, some garlic and some colorant – saffron is used but you can cheat and use turmeric if you don’t have any saffron.  Cook for several minutes until the veggies soften.  Here you can add in other things such as squid.  Add in the desired amount of rice and then add twice as much water as rice.  Bring it back up to a boil for a few minutes, add back in your prawns (we used clams too) and reduce heat for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes before eating.  See, easy!  Now make it and impress your friends!

If you do decide to use rabbit, I hear it is a good idea to let your students, I mean friends, finish eating before you tell them what they ate.

Buen provecho!  Enjoy!

Natalie LOVES seafood!!!

Cooking photos

Russian Ballet and Queen's visit

Segovia is vying to be the cultural capital of Europe so we are fortunate enough to be here during a time when they are trying to do as much as possible to gain tourism and impress people with what they have to offer.  More information can be found here: http://www.segovia2016.es/   In any case there was a Russian ballet troupe in town last week and they were impressive.  Enough so that the Queen of Spain came to see them.  A gigantic stage was built with the aqueduct as a backdrop and it was a sight to see.  They were mostly young people performing and we were able to see all of the performers beforehand as they paraded down the Calle Real and we even met the director and got a photo with him.  We grabbed a bite to eat afterward and when people were walking back home they were treated to a fireworks display.  All in all it was a pretty magical evening.

Entirely too many more photos can be found here:

Whisky DYC

The same day we visited the glass factory we lunched in the nearby town of Palazuelos and had choices of “macarrones” (penne with tomato sauce and chorizo) or salad for the first course, a choice of ternera (veal cutlets) or chicken leg for the second and ice cream chocolate pudding or flan for dessert.  Yes, all of our meals include two courses plus dessert, bread, wine, water and sometimes coffee.  Yes, we are ballers.  (For those of you not so familiar with this form of vernacular I mean that we tend to enjoy the finer things in life.) The food was good, plentiful and filling which is good because some of us like to eat! 

Following lunch we headed on to visit the whisky factory called Whisky DYC which stands for destilerías y crianza or distilleries and aging.  Our tour began with a 5 minute video and then a tour of the entire facility.  The process itself was interesting to nearly everyone even though it was pretty elaborate and very technical, however the strong smells associated with the fermentation and distillation process were enjoyed by only a select few. They showed us the entire process including malting, grinding, brewing, fermentation, distillation and aging.  One thing we all learned is that the alcohol is clear when it is distilled and it is actually the barrels used that give it color, aroma and some of it’s taste.  Some of the barrels date back to their inception of the factory in 1959. They use American oak barrels for the aging process that are imported from the U.S. from Jim Beam who coincidentally now owns the company. We all learned a lot and a handful took a taste at the end although whisky is not really something any of us like.  

This factory also had something in common with the one we visited earlier in the day: they do not allow you to take photos!!!  We still got a couple...

Personal photos can be found here

Vicasa Glass Factory

We were fortunate enough to visit a commercial glass factory known as Vicasa.  The factory itself is very big and quite impressive.  It is an offshoot of another glass factory which we will visit next week which does more artistic glasswork and includes a museum.  We were given a brief introduction to the glass making process, where the materials are obtained to make the glass and finally we were given a tour of the factory.  The glass is made of silica, sand and calcium carbonate and comes form the northwest of Spain.  They can not use the sand nearby because it contains iron which will give the glass a green tint when heated.  The process itself is really interesting and the machines they use are fascinating but unfortunately they prohibit photography so the photos are few.  They produce a wide variety of glass products including bottles for whisky DYC, light bulbs, fingernail polish bottles, cologne bottles and glass block used in construction to name a few.  The factory produces over 300,000 tons of glass a day.  They are very big on safety, which you can see from the photos.  They actually made us wear eyeglasses, ear plugs, walk on a blue path through the factory and they obtained steel toed work shoes for 2 people in our group who were wearing sandals! In the 50 years this branch has been opened the worst accident they have had on site was someone losing the tip of a finger.  That is not bad at all considering there is molten glass at up to1200 degrees Celsius being dropped 25 feet into steel molds to then be blown into bottles or some type of insulator used for phone poles and the high speed train.   They recycle 100% of the glass that breaks or is not up to their standards and they release 0% emissions into the atmosphere - only water vapor is emitted.  Impressive.  The visit itself was very interesting but there was one major downside: no photos inside!!!  However, there are some links I am including to the photos we were able to take and to some site specific information.  They include products they make (like cologne bottles) an aerial view of the factory and the molds for some of the glass.

http://www.vicasa.es/flash/historia_eng.swf

http://www.webdelagranja.com/sgd/fabrica_cronograma.php

Our photos