This March break, 11 students and two faculty members are traveling to Spain to explore the life and works of Teresa de Ávila, a renowned Spanish mystic. Please enjoy the blog post below from Bishop ’26 shares about the group’s day filled with art, history, and culture, from exploring an abstract masterpiece and visiting a centuries-old convent to discovering vintage toys and ending with an exquisite five-course meal crafted by a renowned chef.
On the morning of March 12 our usually boisterous group awoke sleepily to go to an art museum. Because of the abnormal energy of the group, once we got off the bus, we took a pitstop at the local market. Here we all looked around at the various meats where we saw whole monkfish, whole rabbit and naturally the various assortments of jamon (ham) and different ways to eat it. We snacked on coffees and pastries in preparation for our adventure for the rest of the day. We went to the art museum to meet the creator of the art piece we were about to witness.
The art we saw was an abstract piece that was a room that had shapes on all four of the walls. The shapes were different four-sided shapes with warped oval-like circles, either independent or overlapping. The artist, David, then explained the complexity of the piece. While at first glance it just looks like cutouts on a wall, if you look deeper each shape looks like either a square or a circle in a 3D manner facing up or down. While the shapes are only 2D – because of the alignment with the walls and other shapes around it paired with the fact that they are separated from the wall – the art makes this illusion much more prevalent. David says the piece brings out the basics of art. The simple colors and shapes, if used correctly, can display complex detail used in art forms.
From there we said our farewells to David and made our way to the bus to depart for the convent that was originally founded by Teresa of Avila – and that still houses a Discalced Carmelite community. In the 16th century, this convent – the Convent of San José in Medina del Campo – is where she would eventually meet the saint Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross.) As we headed into the old building our guide explained that the building was almost in its completely original form. Doorways were small, especially for me, and all of the steps and walkways were made from five-hundred-year-old architectural practices. As we headed into the chapel where the nuns would hold their mass and prayer, we saw the detail and wealth that separates religion from the rest of their lives. In the opening part of the tour we saw the relics recovered from the convent where there were golden woven priest robes and bones and flesh of both Teresa of Avila and Juan de la Cruz. All religious related items were either gold and silver leafed or had gold woven into. In comparison to that, the living spaces and quarters of the nuns were minimal and simple, and showed devotion to their cause.
We said our farewells and left the convent, hiking our way to a place to eat lunch in the beautiful town square. Arriving upon our lunch destination, all of us enjoyed a good meal with the choices of either chicken, fish, or veal. It was a lovely boisterous meal with good conversation where I was the honorary table head. After we finished eating, we made the long hike to the toy museum in the outskirts of Medina del Campo. There we found the toy museum that included the largest Tente build (a failed competitor of Lego) and toys from real steel and tin from the 1910’s. There were large Batman and Spiderman statues to go along with numerous historical and discontinued toys.
Tired from our long day, we had a great meal made by the very talented chef and good friend of Jordan Romm, our trip organizer. The renowned chef’s name is Palmyra. We had a five-course meal with rice, seafood and all sorts of delicious food. My favorite part was the dessert. We had authentic tiramisu made from a real Sicilian chef. We got back late after the meal and went to bed easily to prepare the next day.
