Segovia 2011

miércoles, 1 de junio de 2011

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

martes, 31 de mayo de 2011

La Ruta de los Castillos

Geographically speaking, Segovia is situated in a fantastic locations for many different activities and the one we chose last week was a visit to several different castles. We began the day by visiting a monastery at Santa María La Real de Nieva where we were shown how religious scenes were carved at the top of different posts to teach the local people of whom the majority were illiterate. We continued on to a winery where we were shown the entire process of wine making from the growing of the grapes to the bottling and we were then allowed to sample several wines. Continuing on we made our way to the Castle of Coca which is a perfectly restored castle we were allowed to tour. Lunch followed in a town called Turegano at El Zaguán where we dined on sopa casteallana (castillian soup), judiones de La Granja (Great White Northern Beans with local sausage) and finally cordero (lamb). Bellies full some people walked up to the local castle and then we boarded the bus to head to Pedraza - an entirely walled in city. A fantastic day!
Here are more photos from each visit:
Santa María
Viñedos Nieva
Castillo de Coca
Turegano

"Chocolate, chocolate"

Most of you have not been to Segovia. It makes San Francisco look like Kansas with the amount of hills we are climbing on a daily basis. And STEPS! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STEPS EVERYWHERE?!! The point I am making is that we burn a fair amount of calories. So what better way to get back that energy than by drinking a 10 ounce cup of rich, thick, hot melted chocolate followed by wonderfully deep fried churros? Yep. I felt my heart slow down when I finished the cup.

https://picasaweb.google.com/jamesmcconnell1996/Segovia2011WalkingTourAndChocolateAtValor?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDArveI_6LSggE#

Museo Esteban Vicente

The Esteban Vicente Museum has a very cool exhibit right now and our students were able to participate in an interactive exhibit. It is titled "The Dama de Corinto" and it reflects the myth of painting and the foundational myth of cinema. It was also free and they recorded the students. Pretty awesome.

Here are four lnks:
1. Museum info 2. More info, 3. Spanish information on the myth, 4. A short video

Most importantly our photos are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/jamesmcconnell1996/Segovia2011MuseoContemporaneoDeEstebanVicente?authkey=Gv1sRgCIqii4_ahNOONA&feat=email#

The first few days

Work, work, work! That is what the first few days are like regarding classwork so people can get in a routine for the academics. However, we do get out and see / do a lot the first week.