My Trip to Alberca and Miranda de Castañar

     I want to start off by saying that  La Alberca and Miranda de Castañar were some of my favorite places to visit since I have been here. We were surrounded by mountains, in a beautiful city that had such good vibes coming from it. I don't know, there was somethings about it that made me feel at peace. We only spent about 6 hours there, but it was an enjoyable and relaxing 6 hours. We were told the history of the places by a tour guide that did a fantastic job at explaining everything and even a little more. One thing I have really enjoyed about the past couple of adventures is that I get to see multiple castles. HOW COOL IS THAT!?

     Among the various sights we saw yesterday, the coolest was probably this store that was inside of a cave that was used as a winery, and is still to this day. It is called Bodega La Muralla, and I think it is worthy of a look should you ever come to the area. The store sold crafts made from the local people of the town. I bought Kyle a Libra key-chain of sorts and I bought a wind-chime-looking candle/incense burner. I feel in love with it as I saw it and it drew me in more and more until I finally decided to splurge and get it. I had not bought anything other than dresses and food so I thought it would be a nice change of pace. This shop had cannabis tea and incense. I found that peculiar.





     Our tour guide told us about the tradition of El Cochinillo which goes as follows: every year a pig is set loose on 15 June to travel around the streets and get fed by the village people. In January, the pig is captured and then donated to a family in need. I think this is such a beautiful thing that happens, even though it ends tragically for the pig. Pigs are a delicacy in Spain, and the Spaniards eat every part of it. So, for a pig to be donated to a family in need is just really cool and they are probably extremely thankful!

FLAN

   




     For lunch, we ate at a super nice restaurant where we ate paella, salad, and flan. It had a beautiful view and our professor was so excited to take us there. He gets so excited about the little things so it is kind of inspiring. We were able to shop around the town for a little bit after lunch, and of course I had to buy some freshly harvested honey from there. It is their specialty there. I also bought some "turrón" candies; also a specialty of the area. I am excited to take it home and share it with the family. There is something about being near hilltops and nature that seem to put me at peace. The weekend was definitely one of my favorites so far and I hope that someday, you can visit the same places and experience the beauty.

The view from the restaurant   

"Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one's lifetime."
- Mark Twain