Almonds of Alcalá

It's come to my attention that I haven't shared with you my experience with the almonds!

Apart from the University of Alcalá and being the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes (the author of El ingenioso Don Quijote de la Mancha), Alcalá is also known for its almendras garrapiñadas. Glazed almonds. Here is a visual:

Anyway, you can buy these from any shop in town. But the best ones are at the convent right next to the University. These monjas (nuns) are cloistered (meaning they can't have any contact with the outside world), so there is a super sneaky way to buy almonds from them. You go through a door into a small room. There is a bell and a kind of turntable window. You can't see the other side of the window. You ring the bell and wait for the monja to get to the other side of the window. The password is "Ave María Purísima" (Hail Mary most pure). The monja replies "Sin pecado concebida" (Conceived without sin). Then you tell her which size box of almonds you want. You put the money on the turntable, then the monja turns it around and BAZINGA! There are your delicious almonds.

The nuns use the money to finance their convent. You get delicious almonds for dirt cheap. It's a win-win situation. Also, God wants you to give monies to the convent. And you get delicious almonds for dirt cheap. So it's a win-win-win.

To summarize: "Ave María Purísima" = delicious almonds.

Medieval Festival in Alcalá de Henares

As promised, here is my coverage of the medieval festival in Alcalá! Enjoy!

When I returned to Alcalá from our road trip to Ávila, Salamanca, and Valladolid, I was walking to my house when I noticed that the streets were filled with an inordinate number of pedestrians, and there was a lot of  noise coming from the Plaza Cervantes. While waiting at a stoplight, a group of 8 or so Germans asked me in broken Spanish if I could point them in the direction of the beer. Heh. So it turns out there was the annual medieval festival that weekend. The entire Calle Mayor, Plaza Cervantes and adjacent streets were filled with booths offering just about anything you could imagine (from the middle ages, of course). All the people were dressed in medieval garb, and there were all sorts of artesanía. Here are some of the cool things I saw/did:

Raisin bread

It was SUPER crowded!

Confectioneries!

Apothecary

Candy!

Hand-bound books

Perfumes

Incense burner

Un Belén - Nativity

Compass

Owls!

Masks

Bizcochos - Cupcakes

Döner kebaps

Abby, Jeff, Abby, Me, Marcela, Michelle

"Con mi burrito sabanero voy camino de Belén"

Goofing off at the apothecary

Chocolate almonds? Yes please!

Tarta de Santiago

Ceramics

Don Quijote and Sancho Panza

Horno de leña - Wood oven

Baker making fresh bread

So as you can tell, it was a great time. But, the best part was the band. We wanted to follow them around for a while and be their groupies. Alas, it was too crowded. But here they are:

So yeah. All in all, it was a good time. The festival ran Saturday through Wednesday night. Yes, I went every day. Anyway, stay tuned for the next installment of BRIAN'S ADVENTURES IN SPAIN!

Ávila, Salamanca, and Valladolid

So I'm now three weeks behind on my blogging. But, I'm going to catch up!

Our next road trip was to the northwest.

We left bright and early for Ávila, about a 2-1/2 hour bus ride away. I really didn't know anything about this town before we arrived, so I was pleasantly surprised when the first thing I saw was a sweet city wall. Here is a picture:

This town dates back to pre-Roman times, and you can see lots of remnants of the Romans, such as grave stones, foundations of buildings, etc. In fact, the wall was built by re-using the stones from the original Roman wall. Neat-o! Anyway, here are some other goodies from our tour of the city:

Bull statue - from the pre-Roman Íberos

San Juan de la Cruz

Principal façade of the Cathedral

On the city wall!

View of the cathedral from the wall

And last of all, here is a view of the whole city:

 BTW's: It was freakin' cold during this whole trip. But still worth it!

Next stop: Salamanca. The Universidad de Salamanca is the oldest university in Spain, and the third oldest in Europe (after Bologna and Oxford). Almost the whole city is built with sandstone, so during the day it looks a little blah, but at night... WOW. Here are some pictures from around the city:

Stork nest atop a church

Casa de Conchas - House of Shells

Family shield (Inside the Casa de Conchas)

Patio of the Casa de Conchas - you can see the Arabic influence

Beautiful staircase

These columns look like curtains (Another Arabic influence)

The old university was beautiful! The façade is done in plateresco style, meaning it's very ornately decorated, just like silver (i.e. plata). There is a tradition in Salamanca: if you can find the frog on the façade, it means that you'll pass your exams. If you are a traveler and you find the frog, it means that you'll return to Salamanca. Well, I guess I'll be returning, because I found the frog! Here is a pic of the façade - see if you can spot the frog!

Did you find it? Here's a hint:

I don't want to jinx it for you and tell you where on the wall it is, but if you really want to know, tell me and I'll point it out to you some time! :) Here are some other pics of the university:

Patio

Univeristy chapel

Original library!

Just like every other city we've been to, we had to check out the cathedral. Here it is:

This one is pretty much your standard Gothic-Baroque combo (cathedrals took hundreds of years to build so they usually have a mix of styles). However, it is the only Gothic cathedral to have an astronaut on it. But wait... there were no astronauts in the 16th century! Right?

You're right. There were no astronauts in the 16th century. However, there were astronauts in 1992, when part of the façade was replaced. You can see the difference in color: new sandstone is white but turns gold as it ages (oxidation). Here's another goodie from the same façade:

Yes, you better believe that's a lion eating a double ice cream cone! Good stuff.

Anyway, the sandstone buildings were moderately attractive during the day, but once night fell, the whole city lit up in gold! Here are some nocturnal views:

In front of the cathedral

Plaza Mayor

View of the cathedral

Yes... I will be returning to Salamanca some day. (BTW, not only is it a beautiful old city, it's also a pretty hoppin' college town.)

Next city: Valladolid. This was the first time we've been to a city without an organized tour; we were turned loose for 3 hours to go explore! We ended up spending a good chunk of that time wandering around looking for food. But we eventually found a tapas bar and ordered some raciones. Cultural note: Raciones are a single item, served on a plate to share with 4-5 people. It's a great way to go; we ordered 5 dishes and fed 6 people for 36€. Pretty dang good! Because we were so awesome, they gave us these cute little dessert shots for free. It was like a berry purée with cream atop. YUM!

We wandered around the city for a bit and found some other goodies, like a park that was overrun with peacocks! (BTW's: the Spanish word for peacock is pavo real - "royal turkey". Heh.)

Come at me, bro!

Pretty fountain!

River running through the park.

Peek-a-boo!

There was also a monument commemorating Christopher Columbus. After all, Valladolid was where he died:

Upon returning, I was happily surprised with a medieval festival going on in Alcalá! Details to follow in next post!