AAVE Trip BLOG » Espana Clasica
August 12, 2010
Barcelona, Salamanca and Bullfighting - Espana Clasica 2
Posted by the AAVE team in : Espana Clasica, General AAVE Trip BLOG , add a comment
After our amazing backpacking trip in the Pyrenees, we spent the next few days doing many adventurous activities. We went, canyoning (´barrancando´), kayaking, and white water rafting on the famous Rio de La Noguera Pallaresa, where we passed `cascadas` and ´rocas´ that were an inspiration to Gaudi in designing his La Sagrada Familia Catedral en Bacelona. ¡Fue muy impressionante!
The location for our community service project was muy bonito. There, we went kayaking on a crystal clear lake suroundd by ´montañas` to go around the lake-bed and pick up trash of all sorts. We had a competition to see who could find the most trash. Tessa and Aaron won, by finding the most and going at it the longest, but Ian and Becca collected a massive steal beam and were lucky enough to find the the entire skeleton of a havolina! They brought the skull back for all to see.
Our group then packed up and traveled cross-country to Salamanca, where the architecture es increible!, muy bonito. The walls of the old cathedral were covered in intricate carvings and walking inside was just as breathtaking. We had lunch in the middle of the Plaza Mayor, a donde aprendimos sobre ´La Ciudad Dorada´, and about how the city gets its golden color from the ´Villamayor´ stone. This sandstone is unique to Salamanca because it comes from a quarry right outside of the city.
The next day we visited a traditional Spanish farm where we saw many ´caballos y toros´ and learned about the breeding of the fighting bulls and their calm nature in open fields, vs, their aggressive nature in rings and pens. After, we got to be ´matadores´ o ´toreros´ and participated in a bullfight with a baby bull! (Which was more like an agressive little teenager). The bull was very fast and it caused a huge rush of adrenaline to perform the ´capea´ with it, and dance, as it charged on through. Juliana was a natural! We can’t wait to see you all and share our pictures, adventures and new Spanish skills!
Espana Clasica