First Day at the Archives

So today I got myself out of bed at 7:00 on the dot for my first day at the Archives Generales du Royaume (I left out the accents). I had no idea what to expect linguistically but was pleasantly surprised when 2 out of the 3 employees spoke perfect English. I guess that is what you get in a small country with powerful neighbors that has been invaded and defended countless times over the past 1000 years! Above is the outside of the archive.

Inside, it took no effort whatsoever to figure out the inventory system. I had my first documents within 30 minutes. This is a good thing because it turns out there is far more here for me to see than I initially expected. I'm going to have to gut it out every hour the archive is open to finish by my last day (July 17). Above you can see one of the documents I'm looking at. It is a record of military reward grants (ventajas) given to Spanish soldiers in the 1580s.

I worked straight through to 4:30 without collapsing! Afterwards I sat down at a nearby cafe to get a beer and some food.

I got a smoked salmon platter with various veggie garnishes and it was delicious! Next, I walked around for an hour. Big surprise: another old European country full of cathedrals!