Croissants covered in a slightly sweet syrup, charcuterie, orange juice, and coffee. These were some of the delicious breakfast items we woke up to at Hostal Persal. After eating, we packed up our suitcases and headed off to a new town about 90 minutes away: Segovia!
Segovia is a beautiful historical town in the countryside that was a change in scenery from the bustling life in Madrid. The first thing we saw was a giant Roman aqueduct that is thousands of years old.
We walked down the cobblestone road lined with shops to the Alcázar, a castle / military structure built and used by past kings of Spain. (Fun Fact: Disney based their castles off the Alcázar.) We were amazed by the hundreds of kilos of gold covering the ceilings and then walked up 152 steps through the Torre de Juan II (but Julia counted 147 steps). We saw the beautiful view of Segovia and the mountains.
After lunch of Spanish food mixed with Sephardic flavors, we had free time to return to the shops and work on communicating with locals. Bri and Shriya bought multicolored ceramic spoons for their family members, Cassie bought a hand fan, and Jewell bought churros with chocolate for everyone!
Time for our last town of the day: Amayuelas, the town where we will be doing community service at the farm the following day. During the two-hour bus ride, everyone had their siesta (nap time).
After a busy day in Segovia, we had a change of environment. A peaceful moment in a quiet farming town. We played fooz-ball, and then participated in community and reflection activities. Throughout the action-packed day, we relaxed. For dinner we ate pumpkin soup, salad, bread, and Spanish tortilla with onions and potatoes. A home cooked meal is what we all needed! We celebrated with chocolate cake for Shriya’s birthday!