Here Come the Americans

I've had a very eventful past three days! On Friday, my American friends and I were all super excited about the 4th of July. We'd talked about it so much that even our one British friend was excited. For some reason, we all really looked forward to acting like obnoxious Americans for one day out of our five week Spanish immersion. We wore as much red, white and blue as we could, and invested in two American flags before leaving for our all-day excursion.

 

First, we went to the Castillo de Loarre, which is about an hour and a half outside of Zaragoza. We drove through the Spanish countryside, which was very pretty. The Castillo is at a fairly high altitude, so as the bus drove up the hill there was a very impressive, sweeping view of the countryside.

Finally, we arrived at the Castillo. It's probably the most impressive castle I've ever seen. Its location is incredible, it's huge, and it's so well preserved. Construction on the Castillo de Loarre began in the 11th century by King Sancho III of Pamplona. The original structure was built to serve as an outpost for the Christians to watch over the Muslim villages below. As you can see from the photo above, the soldiers stationed at the castle could see for miles and miles, so if any Muslim armies tried to invade the castle, the Christian soldiers would see it coming and have sufficient time to prepare. Also, the castle is located at a fairly high altitude, which helped deter attacks as well.

Throughout the next two centuries, additions were made to the castle, turning it into the giant fortress we see today. The last major addition, the outer wall, was constructed in 1287. The Castillo de Loarre is the biggest, best-preserved, and most important Romanesque castle in all of Europe, and therefore in the entire world. Here, you can see Romanesque details come to life and appreciate the tactical genius of the castle's architecture. One of my favorite parts of this castle is that I got to appreciate its grandeur and its tiny treasures, such as the inscriptions in the later 2 of the following 3 pictures:

 

Old writing on the side of the main entrance to the castle.

A Christian monogram with Greek letters found above the entrance to a tomb in the castle.

After visiting one of the most important and impressive historical sights in all of Europe, we embarked on a less intellectual adventure: rafting down the Gállego River! I'd never been rafting before, so at the beginning I as kind of nervous, but I ended up having so much fun. Also, there were some impressive red rock cliffs towering above us, so I got to navigate rapids and appreciate Spain's natural beauty at the same time.

 

After rafting, we returned to Zaragoza to get ready for the night. My friends and I found a super cheesy Grease-style American diner, and although the burgers weren't very good, we enjoyed the American decor and just hanging out on the Fourth of July. After dinner, we walked around a bit and enjoyed being in the city.

A portion of the group (Americans and Spanish siblings) on 4th of July

After such an exhausting day on Friday, we all slept in pretty late on Sunday. Around mid-morning I went to a giant, brand-new mall called Puerto Venecia with my host family. Afterwards, we came home for lunch and siesta, and then I went to the pool with Carla, my host sister, and two of my friends from the program, David and Daniel. Carla met up with her Spanish friends at the pool, so the three foreigners were on our own. We borrowed one of Carla's friend's ping pong paddles and walked over to the ping pong tables. We were just minding our own business when a giant pack of 12 year old Spanish boys came over and tried to take our paddles! After 10 minutes of harassment, we decided to walk away, but Jaime and co proceeded to follow us and didn't leave us alone for a while. So, I guess I can check getting swarmed by 12-year-olds off my to-do list.

Spanish boys trying to get us to trade paddles. Jaime, the pack leader, is in the red and white checked swimsuit.

We left the pool at around 9. Carla, David, Daniel and I walked to the Plaza del Pilar, got ham sandwiches (ham is super super popular here), and enjoyed seeing the Pilar all lit up at night. After eating, we noticed people were walking around in a fountain in the Plaza del Pilar, so we decided to join!

In the fountain in front of El Pilar

Today has been a pretty low key day as well, although this morning I finally got to try chocolate con churros! Carla, Natalia and I each got a coffee cup filled with thick dark chocolate, and then a plate of churros to share. The smaller ones are churros, and the bigger ones are called porra. They were delicious, although very filling!

¡Chocolate con churros!

That concludes my adventures from the past three days. I can't believe I'm about to begin my third week in Spain. These past two weeks have really flown by. I'm super excited for this week, because from Wednesday through Friday I will be in Madrid,and I'm super excited to visit the capital of Spain and see all its art, history, and culture!