Part I: Toro & Zamora

¡Hola chicos!

I apologize for the gap in blogging, today is the first time since my last post that I've had some time to sit down and write anything! But today's posts should make up for it, you're in for a twofer, first about our excursion to Toro & Zamora today and second, the one I've been itching to write, about cultural differences. ¡Vamos!

So today we took a trip to the cities of Toro and Zamora, located here in relation to Salamanca: click here to see the map!

Toro is a small town where we visited a bodega, or winery. The winery, Bodegas Monte La Reina, is relatively new, it was established in 2004 and in addition to being a winery they also have a vegetable farm, a castle-turned-hotel, and a gorgeous venue for las bodas (weddings). We took a tour of the winery, got a brief overview of the wine-making process, and at the end we had a wine tasting. I'm not so much a big fan of wine, it was a little strong for me, but I'm told by my compañeros that it was of good quality. This particular winery doesn't export much to the US, but what they do is called "Face to Face."

 This was a castle built relatively recently by (I think) a nobleman that the winery bought and turned into a hotel. I believe it costs around 200 euro/night, but it's got an amazing view! 

 Next to the castle there is a small field of these trees, probably for wedding photoshoots. The grass was impeccable!

 And here is where they hold the weddings/receptions. This terrace has an amazing view of the surrounding area.

 Part of the view from the winery; a field of grapes (uvas) and corn (maíz).

 Our guide explaining the fermentation process to us.

 This is part of the machine that bottles and caps the wine. Our guide stressed that literally every part of the process is mechanized, even harvesting the grapes.

 A store of white whine.

 Here the higher quality wines are stored in barrels (barrils).

 And here was the wine we got to taste. Our guide even taught us the proper procedure for tasting wine!

I relaxed in the grass a little while we waited for everyone to get through the gift shop. :)

After we finished our morning in Toro we took a short trip west to the town of Zamora, which happens to be the hometown of one of the IES program staff, David. Zamora is a college town much like Salamanca, it is home to the Zamora campus of the University of Salamanca, but it is significantly smaller. While the Salamanca campus has around 30,000 students, the Zamora campus has a little over 2,000. Zamora is known for its Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations, Romanesque churches (it has 24), the remnants of murallas (city walls) built by its Christian occupants in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, the house of the famous El Cid, and its location on the important Spanish river Río Duero. David took us on a short walking tour of the city and showed us a few churches/cathedrals and the remnants of a medieval castle! We also spent some time wandering around the streets and the Plaza Mayor of the city. 

 It is kind of difficult to see but this is a billboard on one of the streets advertising the Semana Santa.

 This is a Romanesque cathedral, it has a unique scaly dome and is one of only 3 of its kind in Europe.

 This is what is left of the medieval castle.

 The moat!

 Remnants of what I can only assume were rooms at one time.

 These two photos (top and bottom) are the view from the top of the castle of the city of Zamora and the surrounding countryside.

 Gettysburg represent! On the top of the castle.

 This is a bit of decoration on the rear entrance to the cathedral. There is a fun story related to the decoration in the upper small square that kind of looks like a head. The official history says that it is a carving of the head of a Muslim conqueror placed there to symbolize the victory of Christianity over Islam. However, the Zamoran myth is much more fun. The myth says that a thief ran into the cathedral to steal the chalice that holds the sacred blood. When he tried to exit the church he jumped through that small window and God was so angry at him for stealing from His house that he closed the stone around his neck, thus killing and imprisoning the thief there forever!

 This is the house of El Cid.

 The River Duero.

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 No, this is not some kind of European KKK, this is a statue commemorating the celebrations of Semana Santa. There are various brotherhoods in the city that dress in this fashion and parade around the city during Holy Week.

On most of the towers and steeples of the churches and cathedrals you see these giant masses of sticks, turns out they are stork nests! (nidos de cigueñas)

After leaving Zamora we of course had to have la comida, so David took us to this awesome restaurant in the middle of nowhere (el campo) near Zamora called Los Yugos. This, ladies and gentlemen, is not your ordinary restaurant. Another thing Zamora is kind of known for is its underground bodegas, used in antiquity as wine cellars. Some of the remaining ones have been converted into storage, family homes, and restaurants. Yes, we ate lunch UNDERGROUND. It was so cool! The restaurant walls were covered in all kinds of strange things, pictures, a mace, a scythe, several yolks, various weapons  (Brian Denu I hope you're reading this because you're about to get really excited).

The restaurant specializes in carne asado, which is basically any type of meat roasted or grilled, so our comida menu consisted of this: agua and vino (wine) to drink, delicious bread, and a simple salad of greens, tomatoes, and onions. Course #1: chorizo asado (roast sausage, Spanish chorizo is a little salty and a little spicy). Course #2: costillas asados (grilled ribs, ¡muy delicioso! definitely my favorite course). Course #3: I don't know the name for it, but it is the same cut as bacon, but much thicker, much fattier, and much more grilled (it was a little fatty for me, but still good!). Dessert: a Dove chocolate and almond Magnum ice cream bar. After lunch: shots of some kind of herb alcohol (I did not try it, but those that did said was exceptionally strong), green mixed drink supposedly called semen del toro (I'm sure you can guess what that meant. It was actually ok, it was sour green apple flavored), and a red cherry flavored n/a drink. Apparently Spaniards don't mess around with their after dinner drinks haha. After all that, I am STILL full (llena), 8 hours later! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the food, but here is a picture of the entrance to the bodega and all the stuff on the walls where we sat: 

 This is the entrance to the restaurant. Un poco sketchy.

 "Singing Prohibited. It disturbs others." A sign in the restaurant. If you had eaten there you would understand why, the food almost moved me to sing.

 Here are the entrances to a bunch of other bodegas. David said that some are abandoned but some are still used as storage, etc. It looks basically like a bunch of shacks out in the middle of nowhere but it is actually an underground city!

So, ladies and gentlemen, there you have our lovely trip to Toro & Zamora. Other than the unfortunate fact that I am going to be working off that meal for about a week, it was a really great day, great food with good friends in an awesome place. :) 

Stay tuned for Part II: Cultural Differences!

¡Besos!