wait . . . is that an ancient roman aqueduct?

So today our group took a tour of Segovia, which is a small town about an hour and half from Madrid. We get off the bus and I look over and there it is! An ancient Roman aqueduct dating from the 1st or 2nd century is just right there with cars parked underneath it. So weird! Only in Europe are beautiful ancient ruins a part of everyday life. The aqueduct was still functioning until the 19th century. Crazy!

Our tour's focus was art. I am taking an intensive course for the next three weeks to help prepare me for the semester, and art history of Spain is part of the course so our professor led the way all day. For example, we learned that the patterned walls that are featured throughout the city are evidence of the influence of the influence of the Arabs who constructed most of the city under the direction of the Christian nobles (as seen below). The pattern was made by first applying one layer of sandstone, and then another which was stamped while wet.

We also got to see the cathedral in Segovia. It is in the gothic flamboyent style, and it was beautiful.

Finally we ended up at the Alcanzer, which is castle in Arabic. It has so many layers of construction it's crazy. It seemed like almost every century it was remodeled or retooled for a different purpose from royal residence to royal artillery school. This is the view from the top of Alcanzar, and a classic group pic.

Seeing the city was amazing and I loved getting to learn about the city from an art perspective. Well that's Katie's short tour of Segovia!

In other news, I have found a piso. In Spain most students rent a room in an apartment or a piso. I will be living with 5 other Spanish girls. It's a really small place, but I met two of the girls and they seemed really nice. WOOHOO!!!!!! My neighborhood is really cute and my apartment is only two blocks from a  metro stop. I'll get pictures up when I move there on the 15th.

That's all for now!