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 Aeris ’26 and Ellie ’25 where they share their experiences of marveling at Segovia’s ancient Roman aqueducts and Gothic cathedral, savoring traditional roasted suckling pig, and arriving in Ávila to craft the famous Yemas de Santa Teresa dessert.
We started off the day by leaving Hotel Recoletos and getting onto a bus to Segovia. We arrived at Segovia and were immediately struck by the sight of the city’s famous aqueducts—built over 2,000 years ago during the Roman Empire.
After taking a photo with the aqueducts, we walked up to Plaza Mayor, Segovia’s central square. We strolled around the Cathedral of Segovia, featuring gothic architecture with its stained-glass windows, pointed archways and intricate stone carvings. Inside, we admired the vast collection of religious paintings, with each telling its own unique story.
After touring the Cathedral of Segovia, we were given an hour to wander and shop around the plaza. We then went down to eat lunch where we ate Segovia’s traditional meal, conchinillo asado (roasted suckling pig).
After lunch, we walked back to the bus before we headed towards Ávila – Aeris ’26
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After a walk through the rainy paths, we arrived at our second hotel, Maria Pacheco. The group took some time to dry off and freshen up before heading to our Yemas workshop at the bakery Yemas de Santa Teresa. Yemas is a traditional Spanish dessert associated with the city of Ávila. It consists of just two ingredients, egg yolk and sugar, and is shaped into small orange balls covered in powdered sugar.
During the workshop, we each received egg yolk batter to roll into a cylindrical shape about the thickness of a finger, which we then shaped into small balls and coated with powdered sugar. At the end, each student and faculty member selected their best Yemas, and the baker chose the top three: Allegra, Aeris, and Ellie, with Allegra’s perfectly round Yema winning first place and a prize worth 25 euros.
After the competition, we headed to dinner, where we chose between Bacalao, a dried and salted cod dish, and a burger. Abdullah and Bishop ran rounds of Mafia, a fun way to end the evening.
It was a great day filled with delicious food and cultural experiences, deepening our appreciation for Ávila, a city especially meaningful to our trip as it is the home of St. Teresa, where she received her vision from God. – Ellie ’25
