Torre Tavira
Hey friends,
Just a small blog before I zonk out. I am finding Spanish incredibly difficult to understand here in Cadiz. Maybe those Americans were right after all. The teacher talks and talks but I am not understanding anything he is saying. Yet, the German girl next to me, is getting it. . . so um, maybe my brain just isn't cut out for learning another language?!?! *sigh
After school today I crashed for two hours. Boooorrring, I know, but everyday I am just go go go here. My brain is exhausted trying to concentrate on every word my teacher says, and then after school walking for hours to see the city...my body just shut down.
After my amazingly nice nap, I met up with some students and we went site seeing. :) There is this tower called Torre Tavira, was the official watch tower in 1778 as it's the highest lookout point in Cadiz. Cadiz has 23 watch towers. The entire city itself once had a wall around it to protect them from pirates or wars. For it being so small, Cadiz sure was on top of things. Inside the Torre Tavira there is a "camera obscura". It's so cool. Basically what this does is project a moving image of the surrounding town. It projects in a bowl that you look into.. this bowl can move up and down to help focus close things or far away things. "If it were possible to stand inside a photographic camera, with its shutter open at a very small aperture, you would see, projected on to the film, a moving picture of the scene outside. An experience almost identical to that is offered inside a large Camera Obscura". They wouldn't let me take pictures, but it was awesome. You see people walking, birds flying, boats and cars moving, and the tour guide basically shows you the entire city LIVE, describing buildings, etc, all in 15 minutes.
After my site seeing I went for a long run/walk.... which was incredible. I saw some parts of the city I hadn't seen yet, and tomorrow I need to make it back down there with a camera! There is a wall that acts as the gates to the city, and on top of the wall are old cannons!! I am not sure if they are just there for tourists, as you can't go up there or if they are just old cannons still in place.
Anyway.. here are some pictures that I took today.
Check out this tree. Notice on the right hand side the branch has a pillar holding it up. I wonder how old this tree is!
The Cathedral... Notice how the bottom design is a bit different then the top. This church took 116 years to build. The bottom is more of the 18th century design. The architect, Vincente Arcero, left the project not finished and so other architects, 19th century style, came in and finished the top.
See the two towers on the left... and then kind of a open spot in between the buildings to the right of the two towers. That is where I live! Plaza San Antonio.
These are some of the students that are in my school. Irish lady who now lives in the UK, and the other two are from Germany!
Loves,
Cole
Just a small blog before I zonk out. I am finding Spanish incredibly difficult to understand here in Cadiz. Maybe those Americans were right after all. The teacher talks and talks but I am not understanding anything he is saying. Yet, the German girl next to me, is getting it. . . so um, maybe my brain just isn't cut out for learning another language?!?! *sigh
After school today I crashed for two hours. Boooorrring, I know, but everyday I am just go go go here. My brain is exhausted trying to concentrate on every word my teacher says, and then after school walking for hours to see the city...my body just shut down.
After my amazingly nice nap, I met up with some students and we went site seeing. :) There is this tower called Torre Tavira, was the official watch tower in 1778 as it's the highest lookout point in Cadiz. Cadiz has 23 watch towers. The entire city itself once had a wall around it to protect them from pirates or wars. For it being so small, Cadiz sure was on top of things. Inside the Torre Tavira there is a "camera obscura". It's so cool. Basically what this does is project a moving image of the surrounding town. It projects in a bowl that you look into.. this bowl can move up and down to help focus close things or far away things. "If it were possible to stand inside a photographic camera, with its shutter open at a very small aperture, you would see, projected on to the film, a moving picture of the scene outside. An experience almost identical to that is offered inside a large Camera Obscura". They wouldn't let me take pictures, but it was awesome. You see people walking, birds flying, boats and cars moving, and the tour guide basically shows you the entire city LIVE, describing buildings, etc, all in 15 minutes.
After my site seeing I went for a long run/walk.... which was incredible. I saw some parts of the city I hadn't seen yet, and tomorrow I need to make it back down there with a camera! There is a wall that acts as the gates to the city, and on top of the wall are old cannons!! I am not sure if they are just there for tourists, as you can't go up there or if they are just old cannons still in place.
Anyway.. here are some pictures that I took today.
Check out this tree. Notice on the right hand side the branch has a pillar holding it up. I wonder how old this tree is!
The Cathedral... Notice how the bottom design is a bit different then the top. This church took 116 years to build. The bottom is more of the 18th century design. The architect, Vincente Arcero, left the project not finished and so other architects, 19th century style, came in and finished the top.
See the two towers on the left... and then kind of a open spot in between the buildings to the right of the two towers. That is where I live! Plaza San Antonio.
These are some of the students that are in my school. Irish lady who now lives in the UK, and the other two are from Germany!
Loves,
Cole
Comments
thanks to write in my blog, i like the photo of the big tree, it is wonderful!!
i saw it three weeks ago :)
kisses!!!