Pueblos Vallesoletanos

So my first trip of the new year was to visit villages around the province of Valladolid. A family of one of my students (Elisa, who I also tutor) offered to take me around Valladolid so that I could learn more about the province. This offer was made in November and I have been excited ever since to go on this trip. The family decided to take me, well, today (Sunday, February 7th).

We left early, around 10am, so that we could have the whole day to visit various villages. Lola (the mom), Maguil (the father), Toby (the dog), Elisa and I went on the trip. It was nice because Maguil knows a lot about Spanish history and architecture so he taught me a great deal about the different villages and churches we visited.

The first place we visited was Wamba. It is a village named after a Visigoth king. The church has Romanic architecture and it also has a crypt of people who died in wars from around the IX century (I'm not hundred percent positive of the century). Unfortunately, there was a lot of fog so we couldn't see much of the valley. It was nice though.
This is the location of the crypt, also known as "El osario".
La iglesia de Wamba
The second village was Torrelobaton. It is placed on a small hill and is very beautiful. All the homes had adobe roofs. In Torrelobaton there was a very tall castle which is called "El Castillo de los Enriquez" which is from the XIII century. We first walked around the castle and then we went inside. There are 3 levels. The first one gave you some basic information about the time period the castle existed. The second level talked about a war that went on and how the castle was used; if invaders came into the village, everyone in the town would go into the castle to stay protected. The third level was the top/wall of the castle, where you can walk around the whole thing. It was really nice. The castle was also built during the Romanic time.
Lola and Elisa at the top of the castle with the tower behind them.
The tower of the castle.
The castle itself.
Elisa climbing the stairs of the castle.
The third village we visited was San Cebrian de Mazote. We didn't enter this village, but we saw it's church, which was beautiful, and by the time we arrived some of the fog had lifted. The church has Romanic and Moorish influence which was very neat to see. The capilla is shaped as an octagon and the church has different angles which made it fun to take pictures of. Running near the church was a very small "river" and a small cascade that led the water to the "river". It was really nice. It was fun to see the dog Toby because he had so much fun running around and being free....hehe.
The church of San Cebrian.
Here you can see a mixture of the two architectural influences. I love this angle.
A view of the village, with Toby in front.
Toby again playing in the "river".
The fourth village we visited was Uruena, which was my favorite. It is a city built within a fortress. Most of the building and homes in Uruena are of Romanic architecture. We walked around it and also on top of the fortress wall. We browsed around the "street of bookstores" and I went into a calligraphy store, which was very cool. In this city we also had a very good meal; I even had a little wine on the side. :)
The rooftops of the homes of Uruena.
The towers of the fortress wall.
A view of the valley of Uruena.
The last place we visited was the village of La Espina (the thorn). Once again, we didn't visit the village, but instead visited a monastery there. La monasterio de Santa Espina is no longer a monastery, but is now used as a school of agriculture. It is very beautiful and the cloister was really nice, too.
The monastery was finished being built in the XVIII century.
One of the cloisters of the monastery with a well in the center.
A small pond behind the monastery where Toby chased a large flock of geese back into the water. It was pretty humorous to see. :D
This was a beautiful wall mural painting of Jesus. What I loved was that when you viewed the painting from a distance, it looked like a mosaic.

We returned back to Valladolid around 5pm. All in all it was a great trip and I loved learning more about the history and province of Valladolid. Plus, it was fun hanging out with Elisa outside of the "school realm". :)

Miss you and lots of love!
Celeste