Mas Segovia..

Soo yesterday was a really cool day! We went to the glass factory that was about 20 minutes outside of Segovia called Granja then we went to a restaurant and then we went to a Whiskey Factory. The Glass Factory was really interesting. They only make glass perfume bottles and isolators for machines. But just seeing how the machines work was crazy. The ovens get up to 1200 degrees Celcius and then drop the hot liquid into this shaper which cuts it into the shape that it needs to be. It was so loud in there we had to wear ear phones. Also they try to have zero pollution. I cant remember what the pollution percentage was but it was almost 0%, i cant remember what they said about how they recycle but I think it was something with how they make the heat. Also the factory is open 24/7 year round because I guess it costs a lot of money to turn the huge ovens back on. I would show you guys pictures but they prohibited picture taking. But I did get a free bottle of carolina herrera, which I had no idea who she was until this tour because perfumes usually make me feel sick but this one smells really good!

We then went to this restaurant which was very yummy. It had a really cool name it was called El Chorrillo..which also means "spill". I dont know why you would name your restaurant that because it sounds really dirty but hey its spain they do what they want. But the restaurant was far from dirty, it was more near the mountains so we had a view of the mountains from the windows which were covered in ivy..really pretty. I had a salad which had tuna, egg whites, lettuce, olives, tomatoes, carrots, and i sprinkled some salt and olive oil on it it was really good! Then for the main I had roast beef covered in salsa and some frieds..very yummy as well. Dessert I had chocolate mousse which was the yummiest of all!

We then went to the Whiskey factory. Once again we were not able to take pictures but I tried to sneak some. It was really interesting to learn about Whiskey because I had no idea how it was made. The man who started this Whiskey DYC company near Segovia, made it accidently he made some bad beer and tried fermenting it longer and realized it tasted like the whiskey he had in Scotland. So he went back to Scotland and tried to get some secrets and came back to spain and started experimenting. I guess this whiskey is considered more "cheap" compared to other whiskeys but is still good. I didnt realize you made whiskey about the same way you make beer. So first you have your barley which you let sit for about 8 to 14 days which is called "malting". And you have to let it germinate, but you have to keep mixing it around otherwise the bottom will rot. Then you grind it up, and then you mix it with hot water and kind of make a mush. I think you set it for like 95 degrees. Then you let the fermentation process begin. This is when you add yeast, and by doing this there is a reaction with the wort (barley) which makes alcohol! (you guys prob new this but i had no idea! soo cool) And all of these processes are the same as beer making up to this point. The difference is that you then distill the Whiskey after the fermentation. Beer you instead add hops and other tasty ingredients. So the Whiskey gets distilled in which the alcohol and water gets separated in these things called Stills. Water evaporates at 100% and alcohol at 80%. So they raise the temperature so only the alcohol will raise up into these Stills. At this point the whiskey is like 80 proof so they usually add water to lessen the concentration. Then they age it for atleast!! 3 years. And to be considered whiskey it has to have 40% alcohol in it. So hopefully you guys learned something new today! I thought it was really interesting even though I dont like whiskey..

Soo we had a whiskey tasting afterwards in which I made myself at least try, but I thought for a minute there my insides were going to come back up. Not the drink for me but my professor liked it. I think he had like 2 full cups overall..el es muy loco!

Went back to Segovia after that, I bought some shorts because my madre doesnt really do my laundry much. I really dont mind doing my own laundry but she refuses to let me help but its a little frustrating because I need clean clothes! Typically, today she gave me all my clean clothes after I bought the shorts but they werent to expensive so its all good.

Today was the first day we ate fish, all the other students keep talking about how they eat way to much seafood and they keep telling their parents they dont like it but they just keep feeding it to them anyways. But this fish didnt even taste like fish. It was like a tuna covered in this tomato sauce with mashed potatoes and of course a baguet. YUM.

Supposedly the Queen of Spain is coming to Segovia thursday for this russian ballet that is near the aqueduct so it will be free for everyone to go watch. So im def going to go to that! Ooo and ofcourse the market is tomorrow in which im going to buy many many yummy pastries. So excited..

Well today was a usual day ran, school, its now siesta and then were going to check out a museo (museum) later.. soo ill letcha know how that goes! Hopefully you guys are doing well miss you!

love linnea