Day 8: Trip to Zamora

Today we took a trip to a town called Zamora. We didn't leave until 3:30 pm, so we had the whole morning to relax. It was so nice!

Lunch today: arroz con pimientos, bacon y alcachofa.

Rice with peppers, bacon, and artichoke.

Rodd's favorite meal so far. :)

Zamora is about an hour from Salamanca. The drive is stunning. Rolling hills of green with perfect squares of yellow flowers. Nothing really special or different, just gorgeous countryside. Zamora is a little bigger than Salamanca and is known for its 27 Romanesque churches and cathedrals.

This is the picture I took from the bus... It's not very good so I looked for another online...

I found this one online. This is what the countryside outside of Salamanca looks like.

Rolling hills of green with squares of yellow flowers. So gorgeous!!

 One thing I've loved is that atop of many of the churches, there are stork nests. They say the storks go south for the winter but have already returned, even though it has been cold still. If you look, you can see the three nests and a stork standing in each one. 

 Standing in front of one of the main cathedrals in Zamora.

Catedral de Zamora.

 An arch in front of the Catedral de Zamora.

 El castillo de Zamora (Zamora Castle)

 El castillo de Zamora (Zamora Castle)

Rodd really liked this castle because of the mote.

 El castillo de Zamora (Zamora Castle)

 Walking through the streets of Zamora.

Each building has it's own style and design. This was one of our favorites.

Stunning!

 We stopped to see this cathedral and there was a baby blessing taking place.

 There is a lot of romantic architecture (with the arches).

This was the entrance to one of the other cathedrals we saw.

Stone, Romanesque bridge in Zamora. 

Rodd loves bridges. :)

 City of Zamora.

 Another catedral.

 Plaza de Viriato.

I don't know what type of trees these are, but they have grafted the together to create a natural pergola.

All it needs is some twinkly lights! ;)

Streets of Zamora

Plaza Mayor, Zamora

 Panorama of the Plaza Mayor, Zamora

                                         Dinner: Tortilla española con ensalada

Rodd wasn't feeling well so I ate dinner by myself. He got a little dehydrated and went to bed early. He's been drinking more so he's feeling better. It was fun to travel outside of the city to see the countryside and another city. This region of Spain (Castile y León) is very green and beautiful. We've also been told its a great time to be here because of the flowers. It's been a little bit cold but is warming up every day. 

Tomorrow we have church and will get to attend the small branch in Salamanca. Can't wait!

Day 7: Free time... Por fin!

We had class today but we had the afternoon free. (Yea!) We came straight home and took a nap. It was so nice! Around 6pm,we went out to explore a different part of the city. We live half of a block from a very popular mall, El Corte Inglés. It's kind of like a big Sears. It has everything you could possibly need in one, gigantic store. Literally everything... there is even a grocery store in the basement.

This is a picture from my grammar class. Maestra: Consuelo (Comfort)

Lunch: ensalada de pasta con queso de Burgos maiz chope manzana

(Pasta with corn, ham, apple, and cheese from the city of Burgos)

El Corte Inglés

Gigantic mall in our neighborhood. This thing is gigantic and has 6 or 7 levels.

Cool, but we're not mall people... so we moved on. :)

We didn't spend much time there and wandered in a new direction. We found a park called Parke de Würzburg. It was so awesome! It was a park surrounded by outside exercise equipment... like a playground for adults! Where the adults exercise while their kids play... it was one of the coolest things I've seen so far! We loved it!

Rodd at the entrance to Parque de Würzburg.

 Outside exercise stations surrounding the park. There were tons of old people going around the stations exercising and doing the activities... I loved this!

 Sidewalks with all of the exercise equipment... I wish we had this in Utah!!

 They had a big swing that was like a big saucer... it made me want one in our yard! 

It looks like a hammock!

The people we are living with keep telling us that people do not spend much time inside of their houses. Typically, their flats are small and don't have any patio space so everyone just hangs out outside for the entire evening. Literally, people are just sitting around outside all evening... its awesome.

We made it back around 9:00 pm for dinner and had fish... yummy! The last few meals have had a side of fresh tomatoes... I keep telling Rodd that by the end of the trip he'll like tomatoes... he might even crave them! (but probably not. :)

Dinner: pescado panga con pimientos y tomate.

Another really awesome day. Now that we've discovered the outside gym, we hope to start to get to bed earlier so we can integrate that into our morning. The culture here is a lot more laid back. Looking at the people and their lifestyle, there is a much higher quality of life. I mean, really... who wouldn't love to have a 3 hour siesta in the middle of the day to eat lunch at home, spend time with family, and relax? It's been a good reminder to slow down and enjoy life for the little things. 

Day 6: Spanish Cooking Lesson

I got some ear plugs from one of my class mates so I could get some sleep. I love my honey, but man can he snore! :) With earplugs, I slept like a baby last night!! Today we had class in the morning as usual.

This is a picture from Rodd's conversation class. His teacher's name is Marivi.

Lunch: Verduras con bacon. (vegetables with bacon.)

Pechuga Frita (Chicken, breaded and fried)

We came home for lunch and were able to take a nap. We were both so tired that we overslept and were running late for our evening activity! We arrived back at the school and took a another tour of a different part of the city. We also walked by the location where our LDS branch will meet on Sunday.

Our group in the Plaza Mayor, learning about the history of the plaza.

Hornazos is a dish made only in Salamanca. Picture below.

These are Hornazos. It's kind of like a calzone... We have yet to try these.

Walking by one of the parks, we say the old men playing a game called Petanca.

Its like horseshoes, but with a shot put...

Afterwards, we had a Spanish cooking lesson where they demonstrated how to make Paella de mariscos, tortilla española, y gazpacho. It was fun to watch and nice to know it is relatively easy to make the food!

 Our Chef.

 We made gazpacho, seafood paella, and what they call

 a Spanish tortilla (made with egg and potato, kind of like a quiche)

 Mmm... soooo good. :)

Afterwards, it was free time. We got some ice cream and walked around the Plaza Mayor. Around the inside of the plaza, there are medallions to honor those of great importance and/or influence to the country. One wall is for kings, one for conquistadors, and another for writer and such. Someone hasn't been put up in over 50 years, so it's a pretty big deal to be up there.

Calle del Toro

one of the main streets in the shopping district downtown 

 Around the Plaza Mayor, they have medallions honoring those of importance or influence. 

This is the one for Ferdinand VI.

 Plaza Mayor during the evening... so busy!

 On our way home we saw that they churro stand had opened back up, so we got another 

churro con crema before heading home for dinner. These are so amazing... It's a churro filled with custard.
I will be having my fair share (or more) of these. :)

 

                                Dinner: Flauta de jamón y pavo, ensalada mixta, y patatas fritas

Rodd made a video of the cooking demonstration but deleted it from his phone before we were able to get it off. :( We spent a lot of the evening trying to save it but to no avail... Good day. Lots of sites, information, studying, good food... More to come. :)

Day 5: Labor Day in Spain

Today is a holiday (día de fiesta) in Spain. It's the day that all of the workers take the day off, similar to our Labor Day. Even though most of the city was closed for the holiday, we still had class.

Lunch: Sopa puree 

Soup made with pureed vegetables

Lunch: Lomo de cerdo con pimientos.

Pork with grilled peppers... This was so good! The peppers they use are red but 

when they are cooked they are yummy and a little bit sweet. 

Lunch: Fresas con nata.

Fresh strawberries and cream. :)

Our Spanish family. Marisa and Jesús in their kitchen.

Jesús is a barber in a small city 30 minutes from Salamanca and is normally gone during the day.

He was home for the holiday and was able to eat with us during lunch.

Our activity today was watching a movie, so we were done a little bit early. Since it is a holiday, we took the liberty of exploring. We found a little store that is open 24 hours, including holidays. It was one of the only supermarkets open. We looked around the store and bought some interesting snacks...

I thought these were funny... Paprika flavored Lay's. 

We bought these but haven't tried them yet. 

The one on the left is ham and cheese flavored. 

The one on the right is 'countryside' flavored with tomatoes and onion. ;)

 They had a great selection of chocolates. I'm sure you can tell which ones 

I picked out and which ones Rodd picked out? 

The bottom one is made with corn... just like corn nuts covered in chocolate. 

I was so intrigued that I had to try it. It's very different, but still good.
(Rodd may not agree... ;)

Churreria. 

A churro stand near our school and house. 

We ate the most delicious churros... Churros con crema y churros con chocolate.

While we were walking around el Parke la a la Medilla, we saw some girls playing a game and stopped to ask how to play it. It's like Spain's version of tag! It was so funny to watch. We took a video of the girls playing it and they even explain how they play in the video.

Video of Juega de Salamanca.
Basically, you go around the circle and everyone takes a turn trying to hit
someone's hand.If it's not your turn, you can't move your feet.
 When both hands have been hit, you are out.

Dinner: Tortilla francesa, patata con queso y jamon, y tomates con sal.

French tortilla (like an omlette), Potatoes with cheese and ham (like a hash brown), 

and fresh tomatoes with salt.