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!

Andalucia! Fifth Stop: The Windmills of La Mancha

So, our 5th and final stop, before arriving back home in Alcala, was the famous Windmills of La Mancha. These were the windmills which inspired Cervantes to write the climax of Don Quijote. These also inspired me to search out and begin to read the book in Spanish. (Something that wasn’t realized until our next week long trip to the university where Cervantes studied.) Anyways we stopped to take a bunch of pictures and it was a lot of fun. It was a pretty quick stop but long enough to get in a jumping picture. The top of the hill had an amazing view of the nearby city. I really like this picture that Amy took of us. Here is my awesome hat that I purchased that morning in Granada. We then got the coolest picture of the 4 men of Madrid. With the sun low in the West and our bus pulling away we all decided to take one last picture from one of the greatest weeks of my life.We boarded the bus and were back in Alcala before we knew it. It was a lot of fun. Seriously, it was one of the greatest weeks ever. It was one of those defining moments on the trip where 90 % of what has happened since has been a direct result of what happened on that trip. At least in my life. Sorry that it took so long to “publish”.

Andalucia! Fourth Stop: Granada

So we pulled into the last hotel on the trip in the Ancient city of Granada. Granada was way cool. We got there in time to see the Alhambra but since it was noon 2-ish we had to stop for lunch after checking in. There wasn’t much there by way of food but we finally found something. As we walked up some crazy lady tried to pray in Brock’s hand and then asked for money. He didn’t give her any and as he walked away she flipped him off. It was really funny. Brock, however, was not her only victim. The Alhambra was way cool and even the walk up was like falling back further and further with each step.The Alhambra is this group of castles and buildings that were each built amazingly and awesomely. One was Moorish, one was from Carlos the 5th one was ...I don't know but it was really "fortressy". The whole thing is set on the top of a really large hill and the view from the top is amazing. The main part of the trip there was the Moorish one. We took a rather long tour of it and it was very elaborate. There was a really cool fish pond where we sat for a while and the Shumway boys tried to catch the fish with their bare hands. They didn’t succeed but we got a cool picture in the courtyard. I really was impressed with how detailed it was. The walls and doors were all really well carved and it’s really cool how they elaborately carved everything. So Kyte and I wandered a bit with the Shumway kids……but then when we got to the palace of Carlos V we found a museum that we would have had to pay for so they left but they lady liked me so she let Kyte and I in. Here are some pics before the Museum. The Museum was cool with a lot of art and such. From there we went to the Fortress part of the Alhambra and from the top of that there was a REALLY amazing view. From the top of the highest tower we were able to see out into the city and get a great overview of Granada. So we had spent so much time in the museum that it was already 6 pm and the Alhambra was closing so we didn’t get to go into the Gardens. People say they weren’t that good so I don’t feel too bad. I did get a picture by the locked gate. We found the cutest old couple wandering around. I want to be like that one day. From there we wandered around the city but we went in by an odd road because by then, everybody had left the Alhambra and we didn’t know where to go. We got into the city and just started going up. Kyte was a little nervous that we were trespassing or something but we weren’t. The roads reminded me a lot of Guarabira from my mission and so I felt right at home. All of a sudden we ran into one of the best views ever. The sun was setting so we sat there and we just looked out…across the city from our little spot on the hilltop. Oh, it was so pretty from way up there. We talked about how the lights from the buildings and cars seemed like reflections of the stars that shined out so pretty and bright. That night…It was daytime…The daytime, of the night. (ok that didn’t really happen to us but it could have.) We did however sit there and watch the sunset. It set behind the church and was pretty darn awesome. We went down to the church and it was pretty cool during the night.The next morning we woke up and wandered the city again. I thought this would be a pretty cool model shot. We found an interesting little store. We then found an interesting intersection and some of us were torn as to where we wanted to go. We later found a very interesting donkey.A quaint stream ran through the city and I decided it was photo worthy.It was there that I bought my man bag and nifty hat. Afterwards we went looking for lunch and Kyte wanted bread and I wanted a Kebob and we ran into some other people so we split up and it took so long that had to ran to the bus and therefore didn’t get any other pictures until we had left for home. So…that’s Granada.