OM goodness this week was awesome. Seriously. You all have no idea. We left Tuesday morning for a weeklong trip to Andalucía which is in the South of Spain. Just so you can all have an idea, remember in Italian Job when left ear wants a house with a room for his shoes, this is where he wants it. Anyways, it started with a 3 hour bus ride to Merida. On the way there there was a rest stop that had pretty impressive labels for the bathrooms. The Ladies and Gentlemen signs were pictures of old Spanish Ladies and Gentlemen.
It was another testament to the Spanish’s innate attention to detail. Even something like a bathroom sign is elaborate and impressive. In Merida they had a bunch of really old Roman stuff. Just so you all know, during the time of Rome, aside from the actual city of Rome, Spain was the most roman place in the world. In order to get into the actual city of Merida we had to cross a Roman bridge.
It was a really awesome and I was rather impressed that the Romans had the ability to build something that would last 2000 plus years and still be as good as new. When we went into the city we had planned to head quickly to a famous museum but even before we got near we saw tons of cool Roman ruins.
As we got there we found out that it would close in only 30 minutes. But, we decided that it was worth it and went ahead in. It was really cool and there were a lot of things I had thought that I would never see. They had some of the bodies who had been mummified by ash 2000 years ago.
I was really impressed at the way nature works. So anyways, Merida had a huge coliseum and amphitheater. They weren’t open till after the infamous Spanish siesta so we had 3 hours to wander around the city.
(Southern Spain is prety famous for decorative plates and such.) I made the wise choice to stick with the girl who was the tour guide to the city. You see, we all were assigned a certain site in Spain to report on and when we get there we get to be the group’s tour guide. Brittany was assigned the whole city so she knew all the cool stuff.
We went with her and saw an ancient sport arena.
I was really tempted to hop the fence and run an official Roman Lap but it probably wasn’t a good idea. I really like the idea, however, of all the sports that had gone on in roman times. We wandered a bit more and saw a lot of the city.
Merida is famous for it's orange trees.
As we wandered we ran into a Party. You see, the reason that the museum was not going to open again in the afternoon was because it was a holiday in Merida. So we found where the cool party was and had a blast.
After we had had our fun at the party we turned and noticed that our tour guide had left us. So we wandered around a bit more and found a really nifty plaza.
It had a few orange trees.
I decided that I needed a moment to think.
We found the Mario Brothers.
They thought they were funny but they weren't. They did however tell us where this cool arch is.
From there we went to a cool medieval festival. I was able to shoot a bow and arrow but none of my scout camp skill have survived.
I did win a sucker.
From there I bought a chocholate crepe.
It was awesome.
At five we met at the Amphitheater and Coliseum.
I was really enjoying the environment. It was kind of awe inspiring to think that this all had been around since the time of Christ.
The whole area was amazingly beautiful.
The Amphitheater was really immense. 
For sake of inspiration I had the troy soundtrack play on my iPod for a bit and it was rather fitting. I was lost in thought for a bit and someone decided that I needed a picture. 
We managed to get the whole group together for a group photo and us guys set up our cameras on the steps for timer shots. It took so long however that my camera turned itself off and when I pressed the button, nothing happened. I was rather sad but there was a lady there that I asked to take a picture but she had no idea what she was doing. The first picture we hadn’t even sat down yet. In the second no one was looking. The third one was with us at the top of the picture. This was a problem because there was no amphitheater in the shot and all ground. 
Honestly, people here who are set on attention to detail are excellent at it but a lot of people are just really apathetic. It’s kind of sad. Brock did take a good picture though from the timer so I just got it from him. 
It was really neat and I almost didn't want to leave but I wasn’t too down because that wasn't even a real stop. On the way out we did get a pretty neat sunset picture. 
And thus we left Merida. We quickly went from there to Sevilla but that is another tale. 
I would have called it a mountain but it just didnt pass the 1,000 ft. mark in my opinion. (get it?) Here are some pics from the top. 
We chilled there and ate lunch and then relaxed in the Sun. 
The way back down was a lot quicker. 
Afterwards we tried running through a flock of birds but they are just too darn quick. 
That afternoon we met up to go into Madrid because it was Carnaval. We first stopped at the Mallorquina and from there just decided to explore a bit. As we passed an interesting looking building we noticed all the security and Liz suggested that we take a look around. It turned out to be a fasion show. It was pretty cool. At the time it was more of a boutique to sell all the clothing from an older show. Either way there was music and such. Andrew and I couldn't resist but to strut our stuff. 
After, we all tried to but on the 2nd person the security came and broke it up. It was a sad day. There was a pretty cool car in the lobby though.
From there we arrived near the Banco De Espana and make a quick stop at a souvenir shop and the girls and Andrew tried on some Flamenco aprons. 
Half went up towards a famous bookstore but we went to get good spots for the Carnaval parade. The parade passed right by the Banco and there were a ton of people.
It was way cool and we saw some way cool stuff. 
Here is a man after my own heart. FIRE :D
From there we went and ate at a really good sandwich place and got really good Calamari subs. They sound wierd but were delicious. From there we went home and watched the movie Skeleton Key. That was a very weird movie. So bascially it was a pretty awesome saturday. Fun stuff.
It was ok though, I guess, because I ate like 10 bowls. We went into Madrid and got...can you guess? -yup...Heaven from the Mallorquina. So good. The Museum was pretty cool. 
There was a bunch of really interesting things and there was one room that was full of Latin American gold. 
It was very interesting to see something about America that wasn't from the WASP perspective. 
We wandered a little through Madrid and Sarah needed to take a skirt or something that she had bought back. I didn't really want to go with all of them to the store so I stayed in one that had suits. I was still set on finding and buying a 3 peice suit but this store didn't have them. They did however, have a really neat jacket with Leather elbow patches. I really liked it but it was a little bit expensive. As they came back I showed it to them and they told me I had to get it. You know how I am with peer pressure so I folded. I am very happy though because it is an awesome Jacket. Its seriously amazing. After, we did the museums walk.
We saw where most of the good museums of Madrid are but we had already been down most of those streets so it wasn't that cool. 
We got some cool pictures and there was one street that was selling old used books for pretty cheap. I need to go back because when I went, I didn't have any money with me. I was able to see the Toro Loco and remembered Brazil because they always make a huge deal about horns. 
When we finally left we were thinking about how I needed slacks that would go with the pants and so Callie and I went to the mall and found some really nice slacks for pretty cheap. I wore them all on Sunday and I think I looked pretty nice. 
The suitcoat, tie, and slacks are from that day. I was happy with my purchases at least.
That is a given I know but I wanted to get that train picture in here. Anyways, it was a short walk from the subway to the temple and when we came upon it I was amazed. The same feeling that always comes when I see a temple for the first time came over me but this was all the stronger because It had been so long. 
It was a really neat experience. When we got there we all got together for a group picture and I asked someone to take it but Andrew wasn't happy with the quality so had to go back and teach her exactly how to take it. It was very funny. 
That is the one she took first and it wasn't too bad. The funniest part was that the one she took after Andrew's help cut off Moroni. We got into the temple and half of the people there spoke "portanhol". They were Portuguese. They were from a stake that, according to them, my Uncle was going to visit for a Stake President reorganization so I sent them with an "Abraco". They helped out with the baptisms and confirmations. It was really good because we had 30ish girls and only 4 guys. When it came to be my turn to get into the water and baptize, this Portuguese brother was the first. He had just been performing baptisms and so the card was in portuguese. I wasn't about to have them change it so I just went with it. It was really cool to be able to baptise in Portuguese. They all said I spoke very good Portuguese too so I felt pretty good about myself. It was really very nice. 
We took some pictures afterward and I have no idea why my camera has all those glare spots sometimes. But the Brother got done as we did and took a good picture of us all outside the temple and then I got one with them. 
We were sad to leave but knew we'd be back soon. 
We had already scheduled the group for the last Wednesday of each month and the 4 of us guys would for sure come back sooner for a session. The train ride home was equally fotogenic.
It was pretty awesome with lots of stuff in front. 
It was closed when they got there but we were there in time to see the procession of royal horses. 
We wandered around and saw a bunch of gardens that were pretty awesome and off in the distance saw a pretty neat looking mosque type building. 
We headed there and it was quite the adventure to find it and as we drew near, we lost it. We climbed a big hill to find it and realized it was nothing more than a parking garage with a cool roof. No worries though cause the hill was a pretty cool park with a random ancient Egyptian Temple of Debod. 
At first I was suspect that it was a replica or something but I asked and they said all the stones were original. So, it was pretty cool inside and there were some carvings that looked like the abraham facsimilies. There was a group of old people doing there workout up there and it was funny. 
We were up there for the sunset and it was really cool. 
On the way back we saw a really cool church and of course, we stopped off to get more heavens. They were awesome. It was a pretty interesting day.
