The Temple and The Elders

So, on the 16th we went to the temple in the afternoon to do baptisms and it was a really great experience as usual. I have really liked going as often as we have to do baptisms with our friends. After, we were all supposed to leave for a walk but they had asked Garrett if we, the four endowed men, could stay for a session because there were no other guys in the temple and there were plenty of women who wanted to do the 3 o’clock session. Garrett and I were ok with it and very excited in fact to do a session in Spanish. So we went. After, we met up with Kendal, Andrew, and Kyte, who had already done the walk and we just decided we’d do the walk later and wandered Madrid a bit in an area we’d never been. That is why us boys were in church clothes. As we wandered the city we found a bunch of old guys (elderly people) playing a game in a park that we could not figure out.At first we thought that it had to do with knocking poles over but it turned out that what they wanted to do was spin a disc between the poles. That made it very funny because we kept cheering when they’d know a bunch over, thinking it was good, and everyone would look at us like retards. It would be like someone cheering every time someone hit the white lines on a back board but didn’t make a basket in. See, retards. We found a couple of cool places……and ended up somewhere near the Royal Palace for a picture.We walked towards Sol and saw some nifty street performers. It was a really fun day…I always end like that. Talk about monotony. That is the opposite of what each of my days are. Just think of something new and original to describe how the day ended up.

Segovia...No, Not Genovia. That's Not Even A Real Place.

The weekend of the 15th we went to Segovia and Pedraza. It was a really cool place and sent me back to the medieval times. It wasn’t quite as “enchanting” as Toledo but was still pretty cool. When else do we get to see castles and Cathedrals and old medieval towns with archaic city gates. Ok, so we’ve been getting those every week but when, aside from Spain, do we get to do that? So, Segovia…world famous for its castle. Even Brack knows it’s famous, apparently for inventing homework. (You'll have to ask me about that the next time you see me.) Anyways. Our first stop was a lookout point on the castle from below. It was really a pretty view and everyone had to gather for the picture time. People on this group sure do love their cameras but…why wouldn’t they? Spain rocks. We showed up and took a lot of really cool pictures. Anywho, while there we saw a neat river with a path of stones that crossed. Spencer and I, due to the “The Return of the King” on my iPod (and I mean the specific song, not the movie) decided to get into an intense sword fight.

It was a lot of fun. Afterwards we got a “Team A” picture. It was my first official “Team A” picture. You see, the very last morning of the Andalucia trip a couple of people informed us that they had made plans to go to Africa in a few weeks to Tangier. Because it was slightly illegal we had to not speak openly about it and called ourselves Team A. 10 of us in total: (Left to Right) Amy, I, Andrew, Liz, Callie, Sarah, Garrett, Lauren, Alex and Kendal. So there we are. We went off to another scenic spot and all the guys took a cool picture. Even Trevor and Spencer joined in. After a few more scenic spots we finally entered the city and headed to the castle. We passed the Cathedral on the way. The Cathedral was the last Gothic Cathedral built in the world. It is called the Dame of the Cathedrals because it is a lighter color. I saw someone who was depressed so I decided to join him for comfort. One more Team A but no one was looking at mine.We went into the castle. Some have called it the princess castle because it is the castle that Disney got inspiration for Cinderella’s castle. But many people have said that. The castle was pretty cool on the inside and there were supposedly many secret passages however, there was very little of the castle open for us so it wasn’t too cool. I just wish I were a knight. Here was a cool cannon.I just wanted to feel the power between my legs. . There was a lot of cool armor and weaponry. There was a lot of stuff in it about all the arms manufacturing of Spain at the time the castle was being used. We sat and played hacky sack in the courtyard for a bit. From there we went to the Cathedral.The inside was pretty cool and they had a neat courtyard and off to one side was a nifty museum type place that had some old tapestries and paintings. Aside from that it was pretty much just another cathedral. Not too great. Its prettier from the outside. After the Cathedral we wandered the city a bit and I bought the most delicious pastry of my life. It had strawberries and whipped topping and a delicious custard crème. It was really good and I ate it as we walked towards the famous aqueducts. I was once again reminded of the horror of the siesta. We were there in the middle of a tourist city at the most tourist spot in the area and everything was closed.There were some pretty good views. Now, after the Sevilla fiasco I had my doubts about these aqueducts but they did not disappoint. Here was the first view. They were massive and perfectly preserved. Someone told me they were over a mile long in total. It was really very impressive. We took a lot of pictures and then just wandered the city. Amy, Andrew, Kyte, and I broke off and saw a little more of the city. There was some random guy who was roasting some pigs. mmmmmm… Our last view of the city was pretty cool. In the end I really liked it. From there we went to Pedraza. There was this really creepy guy following us and we tried getting a picture and Andrew nearly ruined it. But we got one later on. So we entered Pedraza. This was one of the best preserved medieval cities which, until the 70’s, still closed the city gate at sunset. But, when we were there on Friday night, it was dead. I think when our bus pulled in we doubled the city’s population. There was a really good dinner there but I didn’t get it. After we got bored of the city we went outside the walls and climbed a local hill and went stargazing. It was a lot of fun. While up there, we went stargazing while telling funny stories on each other’s tummies. Here was the city at night. I wasn’t too impressed with the day when we left but in hind sight I really liked it.

HELL IS COMING

So, apparently there is a large demographic of English speakers who need to repent in Madrid.

A Heavenly Monday

So, seeing as how we had been gone the entire week, I decided that we had been too long without the “heaven” from the Mallorqina. We had class at 5:30 pm and the earliest possible time to meet to leave was 3:30 but that gave us exactly enough time to go and get back. No one but Chelsie wanted to go with me but that was just great. The two of us had more fun than the combined 35 others of our group. The train from Alcala to Madrid goes right into a subway station without even leaving the ground and then the subway entrance is literally right in front of the bakery door. Some commented about how we went all the way to Madrid and didn’t really even enter the “above ground world”. I was ok with that. So, I bought one for me and 2 for the road. They were delicious and as they say, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” But in this case it was taste buds. Here is us on the train back to document the trip. We made it back just in time for class at 5:30 and Shingo was there. The day before Shingo had moved in and would be our new roommate. I was excited because he was a very funny kid. After institute we all gatherer around and he Did a breakdance move for us for FHE.

What a day!