Let's Catch You Up--Alcalá

This week has been nuts! I can't believe that I've gone from Monday where I was jet-lagged and needing hours of siestas, to today, the second day of my Madrid wanderings! Each day has been interesting and so different from the day before that I can't wait to get going each morning. The week truly started going with our group's tour of our university, the University of Alcalá on Wednesday, and picked up on Thursday when we got a taste of what Madrid has to offer. Here are some pictures to show you how lucky I am to be living in a mecca of history in our small little town:

This is the old facade of the University of Alcalá

Once you enter the university and go through the facade, you'll find this courtyard

This is our attractive tour guide, Jose, who showed us the old University of Alcalá

Old arches along an inner courtyard of the university

The intricate ceiling of the presentation room in the university

Plaza de Cervantes, the most known plaza in Alcalá--Alcalá is the birthplace of Cervantes, so there are many statues and areas named after him and his novel Don Quixote

A portion of the Plaza de Cervantes at night

After class on Thursday some of us wandered around and found the house where Cervantes was born

In the courtyard of Cervantes' house

And of course, right outside his house happens to be a statue of Don Quixote and Sancho

I'm sorry, but how could you not with him posed like that?

In my wanderings of the city I've found that Cervantes and Quixote are big--this is a restaurant that I pass every day to school/the Plaza de Cervantes that says "The Mustaches of Quijote", though I never knew he had more than one

I also found that, as demonstrated by my amiga Emily, this is where you drop off your mail at the local correro (post office)

Alcalá is a town full of history that I can't wait to explore further. Other than being the place of Cervantes' birth, other significant historical events also occurred here. I recently found out that Alcalá was the birthplace of Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII's first wife, as well as the first meeting place of Ferdinand and Isabel I. And what's even cooler is that I have the chance to visit those historic landmarks! Delight!