'西班牙之旅' ↓

Sergovia的主要廣場Plaza Mayor, 屹立著應該是歐洲最後一座歌德式教堂﹐外觀宏偉美麗﹐不過內部卻出奇地缺少奢華的裝飾。

以往到歐洲旅行﹐還會細究一下參觀的教堂的歷史﹐裡面的文物藝術﹐但現在﹐已看過這麼多教堂﹐感覺有點麻木﹐但最主要原因不在於麻木﹐而是對中世紀以來﹐宗教如何被用來操縱人類﹐使人陷於愚昧無知﹐感到相當反感。記得在Salamanca, 有日去參觀每日上學都經過的San Esteban教堂﹐步入四壁掛滿宗教聖物和人物肖像的小教堂﹐對不起﹐我沒有肅然起勁的感覺﹐只覺陰森﹐寒氣迫人。

現在看教堂﹐只會觀其貌﹐取其“美意” 就算了。

Segovia的街景﹕

Segovia比Avila熱鬧得多﹐主要因為這裡離馬德里較近﹐每日都有很多巴士接載遊客從馬德里來到這裡作一日遊。事實上﹐Segovia亦比Avila有更多東西看。

Segovia的旅遊局發奇想﹐在街道重現舊時的城市生活面貌﹐包括真人以舊時裝扮﹐穿梭人群之間:
   

Segovia的羅馬建築保存得很好﹐羅馬引水道(Roman Aqueduct)最為宏偉﹕

當地人說迪士尼樂園的古堡建築是仿這裡的城堡(Alcazar Castle)建成的﹕

交通﹕由Salamanca乘搭巴士前來Segovia, 會經過Avila﹐車程約2.5小時。來回車費約10歐元。每日只有兩班車。由巴士公司AutoRes營運﹐巴士舒適干淨﹐又準時。如果選擇由馬德里前來﹐可承搭巴士﹐1.5小時車程﹔如果搭火車﹐要兩個小時﹐但沿途風景美麗。

由馬德里搭火車前往Avila﹐不過兩個小時 (請看以下的地圖)。來這裡﹐為的是它的千年城牆﹐不僅是看﹐還可以在上面走﹐把四野平原景色盡收眼底。說不出的好感受。

交通﹕

巴士﹕幾乎每隔兩個小時便有巴士由Salamanca開往Avila﹐或由Avila開往Salamanca﹐車程個半小時。巴士公司叫AutoRes。單程車費約5.50歐元。

火車: 每小時均有火車由馬德里開往Avila﹐車程由1.5小時至兩個小時不等﹐視乎車種。

Map

上文提到﹐雖然Isla的教學沒有我所期待的好﹐但它始終是間好學校。好﹐是因為老師負責任和友善﹐其次是學校真的安排不少活動給學生﹐一個星期總有兩三個活動﹐例如一齊去吃tapa, 學跳salsa, 去吃西班牙地道的churro(油炸麵粉條) 伴朱古力奶當早餐﹐還有電影播放和市內導遊等﹐有時還有老師主持的講座。

學校並非每個週末都安排旅行活動﹐但一個月總有兩次這樣的活動﹐由學校的職員帶隊。最好的安排恐怕是一個星期有兩三個下午﹐你可以預約十至二十分鐘一對一的時間﹐向老師提問有關學習上的問題。

我本來是訂了兩個星期小組課程的﹐後來想把第二個星期的課程轉為一對一的課﹐跟學校講了之後﹐亦輕易成事了。

 Granada

Castila在泳池邊安排的BBQ聚會

 Castila 的花園

 一齊去看鬥牛
總結而言﹐我在Granada的Castila的經歷還是最好的﹐一來是課程和課堂的安排好﹔二來是課餘活動﹐除了週末旅行﹐都是由老師陪同﹐而不似ISLA﹐由職員陪同﹐老師和學生的關係在Castila因此要親密得多﹔三來是學校的氣氛﹐Castila沒有一團又一團的年青學生到來﹐大部份學生是獨個兒前來﹐而且大部份在二十至四十歲這個年齡範圍﹐同學之間較易溝通﹐加上學校有個花園﹐夏日大家一起坐在花園休息﹐是最好的聚首和聯誼的時光。

Castila在課堂休息時間﹐或是週五放學後﹐都有個小廚房在運作﹐供應現製﹑美味的三文治﹑tapa和sangria(西班牙的夏日飲品) ﹔在Isla﹐就只有咖啡和茶﹐以及一些餅乾和麵包。

還有﹐Isla在學校放電影﹐就只有學生在看﹔在Castila, 是老師陪著看﹐看到中場﹐老師會解釋﹐電影播放前﹐每人還分得一杯老師自製的Sangria飲。電影播放完﹐大夥便和老師一齊去酒吧和餐廳聊聊和坐坐。

如果你決定去Salamanca讀西班牙文﹐我還是會推薦你去Isla。但我最好的時光恐怕還是在Granada﹐在Castila。

美好的時光﹐可一不可再。

溫柔的黃昏

古典優雅的Plaza Mayor 

帶霧的清晨

博物館的光影 

有關Salamanca

西班牙學西語的最佳城市之一

The beauty of Salamanca

Salamanca, a city for the young

Since I prefer to keep my blog in Chinese, and I can´t write in Chinese at the moment, this will be my last post about Salamanca in English. I will be back to Hong Kong on 8 October and will post in Chinese stories about the city and studying spanish. I have also made a few tours to the neighbouring cities and will write about them too. 

I must say, the city Salamanca itself is really beautiful. It has one of the oldest universities in Europe and the univesisty area has an ambience evocative of Oxford Univesity. The city also boasts many beautiful cathedrals and churches. At dusk, when the architectures of the city are lit by the soft light of sunset, it is magnificient. The city is also at its most beautiful when the many churches and cathedrals are lit by artificial lights at night.

And Salamanca has one of the best preserved and most beautiful plazas (squares) in Europe - its ¨Plaza Mayor¨. I recall that I had the most expensive cafe in my life when I ordered a cup of coffee in Plaza de San Marcos in Venice, Italy, costing me 10 euro (100 hk dollar). In plaza mayor, Salamanca, I paid only 2 euros for a cup of coffee, and you could enjoy nice atmosphere besides nice coffee, seeing the flow of people and life of the city.

It is said that Salamanca ranks second in the world in terms of the number of bars and restaruants in a city. There are many nice bars, cafes and restaurants here. It is a cultural city too. So you can find many arts exhibitions going on. Salamanca seems to have all for a traveller.

However, if you want to study spanish here, there are things you may need to consider. As mentioned in the last post, the people who come here to study spanish are very young. In the past week, a group of secondary students from England arrived in my school (Isla). They are only 16 or 17 years old.

Well, In Isla, there are students not that young (late 20s or above 30), but they are among the minority. Those who are in their 20s are mostly university students. So basically, most of the students in Isla are students themselves.

I will write more about the school (Isla) later, in Chinese, and compare it with the school I attended in Granada (Castila). I hope my observation and some thoughts of mine would be helpful for those considering to study Spanish in Spain.

Since I am now in Spain and the computer I use has no Chinese input system, I have to write in English.

Well, I´ve spent three days in Salamanca and two days in a language school (Isla) so far. My feeling is, the city and the school are not too bad, but trust me, Granada and the school I attended there (Castila) are still the best.

First of all, Salamanca is full of very young people, many of whom are secondary and university students from Europe and US who come to the city in groups just to study Spanish. The school I attended is a reflection of the city, with the majority of its students, at the moment, being secondary and university students coming from United States, Germany and Norway. The school atmosphere is very much dominated by these student groups who speak in their native languages after class most of the time.

I will write more later about the teaching of the school, and the city itself. But for the moment, a piece of advice for you: if you are not too young, i.e. like me (well, up to you to imagine what is ¨not too young¨), better not come to Salamanca to study Spanish. You will feel that you do not belong here. But if you think you are young (at least at heart), here is the city for you!