Week 49: Caceres (posted by Jane)

Our second to last week was spent enjoying the festivities that were taking place in Caceres, Spain. There was a huge parade where all the neighboring towns in the Extremadura region dressed up for different holidays specific to their town.  We saw lots of similarities with the parades in Cusco! There was also free concerts in the square from 9 pm to 12 am over the weekend.

I spent a big part of my time in Caceres practicing Spanish with my tutor, Zoe.

This region of Spain we were in produced a lot of conquistadors, including the Pizzaro brothers. We took a 30 minute bus ride to Trujillo, the town where Francisco Pizzaro grew up. We even saw the mansion that Hernando Pizarro built after he returned from Peru -- he was the only Pizarro brother to make it out alive. The mansion included sculptures that depicted Inca in chains. It was crazy to see this after visiting Peru earlier in our trip.

And, of course, we went on very sunny hikes, visited old stone forts, and admired big cathedrals.

Now we are off to Lisbon for our last week of the trip!