The excitement of this weekend was that I went with 3 other friends on a day trip to the city of Aracena. Aracena is famous for las Grutas de Maravillas - the caves of wonder. When we got off the bus, we didn't really know what to expect from the city, but it turned out to be the perfect excursion. The city was pretty small, so we literally stumbled upon the location of the caves. There was a guided tour of the interior, but the tour guide had a strong sevillano accent (not pronouncing 's' and dropping certain letters). Wonder is definitely a good adjective to describe the caves, I loved them! They were the type that are huge cavities in the side of a mountain with lots of mineral deposits that make interesting stalagmites/crystals. There were also beautiful lakes (big, but not enormous) throughout the different rooms that were made of the clearest water I have ever seen.
Next we learned about Aracena's pride and joy, the Iberian pig, at the Museum of Ham, haha....it was only 1 euro more to see the museum and it was pretty entertaining....and when I say pride and joy, I mean it. We learned about the importance of raising the pigs correctly to make the best meat.
After that, we went to try some of the city's ham and other tapas at a local restaurant in the downtown/center of the city. I thought the tapas were great. One thing we had that I have also eaten in my homestay is vegetables with scrambled eggs. To top off the meal we went to a confitería - a sweets shop - that many of the locals had claimed was the best around. I chose something that looked like it was chocolate, but it ended up being more of a zuccini bread and was delicious.
The last main attraction of the city was a castle/church on the top of the mountain. We learned that the caves of wonder are actually directly below the castle. From the top we had a great view of the entire city and surrounding area.
Today I finished off the great weekend by going to mass at the catedral (they used the altar that is completely gold! and right next to the tomb of Christopher Columbus), walking around my neighborhood more (I found a movie theater that plays the new American movies with Spanish voices dubbed over), and going for a run.
Nos vemos,
Elizabeth
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