6th Excursion Trip: Cuenca, Teruel (November 3rd & 4th)

Hello Everyone,

For the 6th excursion trip we went to visit three areas. They were Cuenca, Teruel and Albarracin. This excursion trip was a bit of a rush and I felt that I was not able to grasp a whole lot of what I had visited. So, this trip felt like a fast weekend trip to take in as much knowledge needed.

On Friday, November 4th we started with Cuenca and were only there for like 2 hours which was very little time to explore the city. The city is set up in a new section where most of the current population lives and the old city which is the tourist part of town. Cuenca was actually a brutal battle field field the Spanish Civil War. A lot of buildings were destroyed and the Catholic Cathedral had most of its windows blown out. The neat thing about Cuenca is how there is not modern art that took over the city. So, the windows in the Cathedral were replaced and redone in an artistic way that doesn't match the original feel of the building like the typical Catholic Cathedrals located in Spain. Besides touring the Catholic Cathedral, I also had the opportunity to visit a Modern Art museum and take a look at a sight in the city called "Las Casas Colgadas." Since the excursion was very quick we headed out to Teruel. As we were heading out I had the tender mercy to meet two missionaries that I call my mission grand kids which is a long story. We all have a connection from the Spain Madrid Mission and it was planned to visit and see one another.













Later that day after we left Cuenca, we went to a little city called "Teruel." In terms of where this city is located geographically, it is located in the province of Teruel. The capital of the province of Teruel is called Teruel, just like the capital of LA County is LA. And, Aragon is the community that has Teruel along with two other provinces such as Huesca and Zaragoza. All of this is located in the East of Spain right before you run into the province of Catalonia. 

In Teruel they have a tower that has Mudejar designs and colors. The whole city is very small and it is fighting to maintain its population. It is said that a couple of centuries ago the Spanish King of Spain created laws such as no taxes, land, have more children, etc for people to move into the city of Teruel. It is said that they still have that mindset. 

One of the sights we saw was a museum about "Los Amantes" who were Juan Diego and Isabel. It is a love story similar to the one of Romeo and Juliet. In this story its about two people, a boy and a girl who fall in love with each other. The male Juan Diego comes from a poor family and the female Isabel comes from a rich family. Juan Diego does not have permission to marry Isabel and he then makes a deal with the father. The deal he makes is that he will go to war, become a soldier and come back with a fortune. The agreement was made and Juan Diego left for a couple of years to achieve his fortune. Right before Juan Diego came back another young man who was rich and famous convinced the father of Isabel to let him marry her. They got married and then came Juan Diego. Juan Diego was able to find the home of Isabel and he snuck into her room without the husband being there. Juan Diego then told Isabel if he could have one last kiss. Isabel refused and Juan Diego pleaded that a kiss is all he wanted. She would not give him a kiss, so, he then died on the spot. At his funeral Isabel went to pay her respects to Juan Diego. She was so sad that he had died and she kissed and then died. The two were then buried together according to their love and how much they wanted to be with one another. 

In the museum, there are two actual bodies that date back from the time that the story was told. And, there have been studies made on them that also prove it to be valid. In the coffins through the glass you can see the two corpses. The statues made on top of the grave have the hands barely touching but not touching.











On Saturday, November 4th we went to a pueblo located just outside of Teruel. The name of pueblo is "Albarracin." It is on the process of being one of the most beautiful cities you can visit in Spain. I love how antique it is and the old fashioned Spanish vibe that is brought from it. After walking around and exploring the city we headed back to home and that was our excursion trip.

Thanks for reading and following my blog.

Love,
Sal Galvan 














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