The Latest from Salamanca

Town Hall at Plaza Mayor

The boys and teachers continue to enjoy great weather and stimulating experiences in Salamanca, Spain. Below is a recent update on their adventures from trip co-leader, Dr. Gilbert:

Segovia Alcazar

"Wow! What a weekend it has been--first a jaunt to the medieval city of Segovia where the boys were amazed at the engineering skill of the Romans. They climbed the aqueduct of 158 arches and 22 columns--all without mortar--Ask them to tell you the legend about the devil building it --it is such a wonder.... you ask yourself...just may be? Then, the "Alcazar" or fortress of Segovia, a seat of power for the Catholic Kings, Fernando & Isabella, and other monarchs who travelled from province to province to hold court for their subjects before the modern capital city of Madrid. The boys were especially impressed with the holdings of armor and arms which they could see up close. We went onto Avila, with a 2 km walk along from turret to turret of the famous Roman wall, and a sweets treat--they all tried the famous "yemas de avila" and also discovered, yes, I am embarrassed to say, cheeseburger flavored potato chips.

"Today, we have just returned from an extraordinary expedition to visit "Saucelles", a small town just east of the border formed by the River Duero with Portugal. We did a quick 3 km hike in the morning to the cliffs high above the river and observed vultures and other birds of prey catching the thermals. Then, we proceeded to see a large dam that runs across the Duero and were able to put one foot in Portugal and the other in Spain as we stood over its span. A quick lunch in a local park and on to the adventure of the ferry ride in the gorge of the Duero on the Portuguese side. The boat itself had two different time zones which the boys really enjoyed, "being late" for appointments on one side of the boat versus the other. We saw cliffs of tremendous beauty and saw eagles and stork nests as well as brilliant green lichens that indicate this combined Portuguese and Spanish national parks have one of the healthiest airs in the world. The ride ended with a display from the naturalists with real birds of prey demonstrating their skills.

The group at Segovia Alcazar

"Now, we are running out for dinner in the Plaza Mayor-- a special treat out for the boys tonight. More soon!

"Hasta pronto!

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