Where in the world is Francesca.
Possibly one of the least internationally known stops on my world travels I am now in Soria, in northen-central Spain (the part without beaches).
Soria is in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Castile? Like Castellano, the most widely spoken form of Spanish? Yes.
Hence my connection to the province. When I was studying in Spain during summer 2005 my teacher went on a trip to Soria because she wanted to set up a permanent exchange between my high school and they students there since the people of Castile and Leon are known to speak some of the purest Spanish and Soria is a quaint, safe city. My teacher contacted the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Soria who at that time happened to be Alma's dad. My teacher and her husband stayed with Alma's family, just as I am, and it is easy to see why she fell in love with them. So much so that she offered to find an American family to host Alma- mine!
Today Alma's mother and I went on a city tour. Now, remind you that Soria is not a city like Madrid, Paris, or Shanghai. It is a city like Troy, New York, my hometown. In fact, Soria is even smaller with just under 40,000 inhabitants. However, if you go out on the streets on any given night you will see the whole city and it will feel like many more than 40,000 people live here. The town square, or plaza if you will, is crowded with social drinkers snacking on tapas.
Situated on the Rio Duero, the city is noted for its walls and a number of architecturally distinctive churches. here a church, there a church everywhere a church church! Wait, that's all of Europe- and somehow they stay open- unlike the Churches in America's Catholic/Protestant turned atheist North-East.
Like most of Spain, Soria has belonged to many cultures over time, typically at the periphery of the ruler's kingdom. The area of Soria was inhabited by the Iberians, who merged with the Celts to form the Celtiberians around the 4th century BC. We saw some excavated Celtic ruins which were pretty cool. During the Roman conquest of Iberia, Soria was besieged and its population committed a collective suicide in order to escape slavery. That's a pretty deep subject which I discovered through a low budget film at the ruins. Centuries later, after the Arab conquest of Spain, it grew in importance due to its proximity to the border of the Christian lands, which in the 8th century had settled along the Duero river.
Possibly one of the least internationally known stops on my world travels I am now in Soria, in northen-central Spain (the part without beaches).
Soria is in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Castile? Like Castellano, the most widely spoken form of Spanish? Yes.
Hence my connection to the province. When I was studying in Spain during summer 2005 my teacher went on a trip to Soria because she wanted to set up a permanent exchange between my high school and they students there since the people of Castile and Leon are known to speak some of the purest Spanish and Soria is a quaint, safe city. My teacher contacted the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Soria who at that time happened to be Alma's dad. My teacher and her husband stayed with Alma's family, just as I am, and it is easy to see why she fell in love with them. So much so that she offered to find an American family to host Alma- mine!
Today Alma's mother and I went on a city tour. Now, remind you that Soria is not a city like Madrid, Paris, or Shanghai. It is a city like Troy, New York, my hometown. In fact, Soria is even smaller with just under 40,000 inhabitants. However, if you go out on the streets on any given night you will see the whole city and it will feel like many more than 40,000 people live here. The town square, or plaza if you will, is crowded with social drinkers snacking on tapas.
Situated on the Rio Duero, the city is noted for its walls and a number of architecturally distinctive churches. here a church, there a church everywhere a church church! Wait, that's all of Europe- and somehow they stay open- unlike the Churches in America's Catholic/Protestant turned atheist North-East.
Like most of Spain, Soria has belonged to many cultures over time, typically at the periphery of the ruler's kingdom. The area of Soria was inhabited by the Iberians, who merged with the Celts to form the Celtiberians around the 4th century BC. We saw some excavated Celtic ruins which were pretty cool. During the Roman conquest of Iberia, Soria was besieged and its population committed a collective suicide in order to escape slavery. That's a pretty deep subject which I discovered through a low budget film at the ruins. Centuries later, after the Arab conquest of Spain, it grew in importance due to its proximity to the border of the Christian lands, which in the 8th century had settled along the Duero river.
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