¡El viaje! (The trip!)

This was the second school trip, and I enjoyed it very much! We left Zaragoza around 8:30 am, the bus ride taking about two and a half hours. We wound through the mountains called the pre-Pyrenees, and after awhile we finally saw the real ones! They were spectacular. 

It was chillier than I expected when we got off the bus at San Juan de la Peña, which is an unused monastery. It's important to Aragon's history because it was the place where the kings of Aragon were buried, and it was border of the community when it was first created. Originally Aragon was very tiny, stretching from the Pyrenees to this monastery. It's isolated, but I guess visited often. This will probably be my first and last time visiting it according to one of my teachers. 

From the entrance we saw a cavernous space broken up by many arches of different sizes. Further into the monastery a man was fixing a part of an arch. Next we walked through several rooms that held signs describing the monastery and ancient sculptures. According to one of my teachers, the sculptures that look like the one I took a picture of are over a thousand years old! Afterwards we stopped in the chapel part of the monastery, where on the altar was a fake Holy Grail I think with wine in it. And to the right was the room of the kings! I felt in awe when my teacher said that. I couldn't believe that I was that close to royalty! Next we moved to the roof. To the left of the door stood a beautifully and intricately carved archway. I think my teacher said that it is Gothic. In the open space was a rectangle made of pillars that had carvings on them, each one adding to a man story. The carvings were for the illiterate people so that they could understand the story. On the walls to the left and right of the door were writing of some sort, of what language I do not know.

Front view of the monastery.

Inside.

The man fixing the arch.

One of the sculptures over a thousand years old.

The chapel.

The Gothic archway.

The rectangle of pillars.

Strange writing on the walls.

Story-telling carvings on the pillars.

After we left the monastery, we stopped in a little pueblo called Santa Cruz de la Serós, where we rested and walked around for a bit. The pueblo is famous for its conical chimneys. There was a playground, so a bunch of us decided to have some fun on the seesaw. 

In the upper right hand corner can be seen a conical chimney.

A church in the pueblo.

Some cool ceramics.

A pretty flower that I really liked.

My friend, Caroline.

We stayed in the pueblo for about half an hour, and then we got on the bus again and rode to Jaca for lunch! (The j's in Spanish are pronounced like an English "h," so "Jaca" is pronounced like "Haca.") In Jaca there was a castle with a moat around it. What would you expect there to be in a moat? Water of course! But no, instead there were deer! It's to protect them. My group of friends went to a restaurant, and I decided to be healthy and ordered a salad, which I must say was very good. It had lettuce, rice, corn, carrots, shrimp, and crab! With olive oil and vinegar as the dressing. For dessert I bought some chocolate ice cream which I extremely enjoyed. After lunch we walked around the city and rested in a park that had a playground. (I've seen so many playgrounds in Spain!) After about two and a half hours, we boarded the bus and returned to Zaragoza. 

The deer!

Me in the park.

I love these trips for two reasons: I get to take a break from classes and learn more about the Spanish culture. 

This Sunday is the beginning of Las fiestas del Pilar! They last about ten days, and there will be much to do! Concerts, the traditions, food, dancing. The most important day is the 12th, the day of Pilar, which coincides with Columbus Day in the US.