Sarah Johnson is a student at the University of Denver and an ISA Featured Photo Blogger. She is currently studying abroad with ISA in Madrid, Spain.
Bienvenido a España! That’s what you’re supposed to say when you arrive to this awesome place. I have been here for a little over a week now and have already had a splendid time. In the first few days I was able to explore my city, Madrid, and visit another to the north, Segovia.
For the first post, I figured I’d start out with some breathtaking photos to give you a little taste of how amazing it is to be here. First, I went to Segovia on an ISA excursion. The three most famous sites here are an aqueduct, cathedral, and castle.
This is a first century A.D. aqueduct built by the Roman empire. It is about 15 kilometers long, but only 1 kilometer is built with these beautiful stone arches. The whole structure is held up on its own. No adhesive was used!
The Cathedral de Santa María de Segovia was built in the middle of the 16th century and played a very important role with Queen Isabelle of Spain. She was coronated in this church. This was one of the most important marriages in the history of Spain because she brought just as much to the table has her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon.
Alcázar de Segovia is a castle built in the 12th century. This was one of the favorites among the Castilian kings and queens because of its safety and location. A fire in 1862 destroyed many beautiful parts of the castle including rooms, roofs, furniture, and artwork. Much of what we saw was from after the full restoration from the fire in the 19th century.
Finally I was able to go around my favorite place in the city, Retiro Park! This is a photo of the beautiful monument in the middle of the park that boarders a lake that you can rent boats to row across! It is a truly wonderful park, full of all types of people from tourists site seeing to locals enjoying the afternoon to saxophone players setting the ambiance.
And this is the start of a lovely fall here in Madrid. I am missing my home town in the mountains with the beautiful Aspens, but this isn’t a bad substitute. I had to wait a few minutes for this shot for the cutest elderly couple to finish their stroll down the beautiful passageway.
Well that is all for now, it has been an amazing and beautiful first week! Stay tuned for more awesome photos of my time here.
Want to read more about Spain? Check out “Anthropologically Observing Family Life in Spain”