I know I’m a day behind, but don’t worry, I’ll fill you in. Yesterday morning we all woke up around 8:30 to eat breakfast at 9:00. Then we went out on a great tour of Valladolid. The first place we visited is Plaza de San Pablo, the plaza located right next to our dorms. La Iglesia de San Pablo is located in the center of the square, and it has a great big facade with numerous sculptures and designs. Our tour guide explained to us that the facade actually has 3 different layers that were created at separate times in history. The background of the middle piece of the facade has a geometric pattern, a small piece of Muslim culture left over from when they controlled the city in the year 712. They call this culturally “mixed” style Isabelline, after Queen Isabella I.
Back in the medieval/renaissance ages, Spain was not a united country. Instead, each city was a kingdom, with its own royal family. Plaza de San Pablo was the royal square of this kingdom, and it is adjacent to 2 famous palaces that are still standing. The palace on the right of the church once belonged to Charles I of Spain, and our tour guide told us a funny story about the king. Back in 16th century Valladolid, you were only allowed to go to the church that was in your district, and your district was determined by the direction your door was facing. Charles I was planning the baptism of his children, and his district church was the Presbyterian church down the road called “San Martin of the Poors”. Because of the name, he did not want his royal children to be baptized in that church. He wanted them to be baptized in the magnificent, Catholic San Pablo church next door. So, to solve the issue, he began to enter and exit out of his window instead of using his front door so that San Pablo was in his district!
We continued to tour the city, admiring the Spanish building style: very uniform and “serious”. We went to the National Sculpture Museum, and saw the sculptures used each year in the Easter Procession. The Easter Procession is where the monks belonging to different brotherhoods of the city dress in face-conceling pointy hats and march to the beat of a drum, carrying sculptures that representing stations of the cross. These sculptures were crafted by famous 16th century artists including Gregorio Fernandez.
At the National Sculpture Museum we got to see more art by Alonso Berruguete, a follower of Michelangelo.
We then went to the nearby park where there was a large fountain and wild peacocks!
After the park, we ate a wonderful 3-course lunch at a traditional Spanish resturant. I got a traditional plate for dessert called cuajada, which is sheeps milk that has been heated and curdled in rennet.
At night, we went to a restaurant/bar that served tapas and mixed drinks. I got vodka with orange in a fishbowl. It was very tasty!
Overall, another great day in Valladolid!
Anna-phylactic Shock 