ONE: I forgot to tell you the funniest story! So, the group of 18 girls walking around speaking spanish and english, with several tall blondes and many who look completely not-spanish (that would be ME, apparently), seems to attract a lot of attention. Like, a lot. On the metro, people stare. Some smile, some glare. I have had several large old fat men shamelessly let their eyes sit in their sockets as though stuck in my direction, while several times giving them weird looks and trying to get them to look away. People eating tapas stop and stare. Groups of teenage boys will yell out in funny accents, "Hello, bay-bays! Hello!" Well last weekend, while in León, we were out in the city around 8 or 9 at night, walking down the sidewalk talking. People were leisurely eating tapas and going on their way, all the while staring, staring, staring at us. It's ridiculous, and so uncomfortable sometimes! Well, we were walking up to a curb, about to cross a street, and there was an older man turning left into the street in front of him. His window was down, he was 5 feet from us, and he surely would have gotten an A had he been in drivers ed and the task was to stare out your left window as though your life depended on it. He did not watch the car in front of him at all! He just stared at us! As he kept rolling. You tell me the end of this story. Since you can't, because we aren't actually talking to each other right now (sad. Soon :), I'll finish it.
He full on ran into the car in front of him. Yes, we caused a car wreck by virtue of blonde hair, blue eyes, and lots of ladies strolling around in a big group. We have had girls flirt with natives, we have all made friends with Carlos at subcero, a fantastic ice cream place here, and now I believe we can all go home with "success" marked on our passports... we caused a car wreck in Spain. Check.
TWO: YESTERDAY!!! It was amazing! I'm gonna just show you some pictures. Actually, I change my mind. I'll show some from the whole week, and tell you all about them as we go :)
K, here we go!
Lauren, on last weeks trip, in her sweats, in a men's bathroom, because we absolutely take over every women's bathroom EVERY time we stop. The life of 18 women traveling together :)
It's becoming fall here! Look at the happy leaves :)
I would say that sign gives me reason enough not to drink beer. Good advertisement... if you drink here, you'll be a fat, bald, old man that can't even stand up. Ironically enough, this bar is full every night I walk past...
Awful economic crisis right now... take a look at these two photos, above and below. Advertisements for women trying to get any work they can, cleaning houses, anything. Sad :( 50% of the population between the ages of 18 and 30 in Spain are jobless at the moment. Horrific, no?
Late to school, taking the bus. Letty is so happy, no matter what :) Lucky me. Luckier Bradford!!!
For Kirsetona's 18th birthday I bought a dessert to celebrate! It was a layered pastry with a layer of merengue, a layer of vanilla cream, and then sugared almonds on frosting on top. Apparently it's super common in my little village here :) I thought she would like it!
Unfortunately, "ferreteria" translates to hardware store, not pet store. Right next door they are selling parrots though!
These are my friends from church. They are both named Elisa Maria (me too!) and they are my same age, only a few months apart from me! ¡Que guay! We are friends :)
The street when we were walking home Monday night... empty. Never ever empty at 10 at night! Reason? Real Madrid was playing. Letty and I could hear people cheering from inside their houses though! How fantastic :)
Letty and I love to buy fresh food from the store TerraVitae here, where they sell whole foods and mostly organic. We get rice cakes, sesame seeds, nuts, etc... Great for all the trips we go on!
And I found an apple as big as my face, almost.
It was delicious :) Ready to be grossed out? It fell on the nasty ground here, where dogs pee and such. Did I eat it? That's a question of how well you know me. So... yes.
Kens and Letty, on our way to the temple on Wednesday. Love this time every week :)
Laurs and I. Love that lady!
Besitos de España!
Look at that sky.
On the way home, they bought wheat cereal that promised red fruit. Didn't find any...
And then they did! So excited! Haha LOVE THEM!
Cutest old couples here. They go dancing at night, they walk around in their nice clothes holding hands, and they are so unified it seems. Here they are carrying their groceries home together- they even went through the train barrier and lifted it up at the same time, no problem. Mind reading? Probably.
My 'medicine cabinet'. Full :( But effective! :D
Oh, it's fine, I just saw a castle. Right out of a Classic Disney Movie.
In.Cred.Ible.
Segovia. Small eyes. Love my eyes :) They are happy, and they are my great-grandma's :)
Finally, a picture with my eyes open!
Jules and I
The roman aqueduct in Segovia. It is one of the best preserved in the whole world! And I got to see it! This was one of my favorite places to see! The Romans did not use any cement, it is 2000 years old, and can you please try to IMAGINE the mathematics that went into that! Please? Unbelievable. People have done amazing things.
Statue of Rome.
Aqueduct...
Floored by this beast :)
Kari's a beauty! Look at that hair, and that smile :) And the personality just adds to it.
Looking over Segovia. The shadow of the mountain behind me looks like a pregnant lady laying on her back... dead? Morbid.
A Romantic Era church in Segovia, in the Plaza de Juan Bravo. The plaza is of the Italian Style.
Juan Bravo, the hero of Segovia, who saved the people from the wicked king, Carlos XV of Spain, or Carlos I of Germany. Still revered, hundreds of years later, with his own Italian styled plaza.
Beautiful facade.
Map of Spain, written in Hebrew. In the Jewish district of Segovia on the ground.
Oh, hey HUGE Cathedral. You're pretty :)
The people stand outside the cathedral here once a year to watch that statue 'turn the page' in it's book. Apparently, when he gets to end, the world also ends. Luckily for us, he never actually turns the page, and once the people finish watching him not turn the page at midnight, they go drink and dance and socialize in the plaza. Oh, the ancient customs and the community feeling in Spain :)
Picture perfect.
Letty and I. Check out the front of the building behind us- Arabic influence. So cool!
A close up of an Arabic-influenced building front.
Countryside.
Cinderella's castle!!!
Kari, Chloé, Me, and Sarah in front of Cinderella's castle!
Another shot of it.
The armor for a little kiddie! See the toes? That is a German influenced custom on these outfits. They were used to stab the horsies legs when they were riding towards each other. Poor horsies :(
I found my knight in shining armor! Except there isn't a guy in there... hopefully mine turns out to have more... substance. Heh. I'm funny.
The stained glass in this castle was so unique! The glass was painted and shaded. I loved it.
Every ceiling in every room was a work of art. All original, 500 years old.
Gothic style window
The crowning of Queen Isabel. The people look downcast because the day she was crowned was December 13, the day St Lucy (the patron of blindness) is celebrated.
These kings are holding the world in their hands :)
Pretty window :)
Pretty countryside :)
Me :)
Wouldn't mind living there... check out that cute garden! Oh, and it's right underneath a castle. In Spain.
More original suits of armor and weapons
Mikayla :)
More weapons will follow... I thought Zachy Bear would love these :)
A cannon, and the big bullet things from the 16th century!
The scene from tangled? Please? Yes. They say this is the castle Walt Disney got all of his inspiration from for the princess castles :) Love it.
Another shot of the roof.
Pretty garden!
Looking up from below at the castle :)
Tangled! Loved this tower.
All of the turrets. I look like my mom in this one!
More. Couldn't get enough of this castle.
Last one, promise.
That doesn't mean what you think it means, "Don't pee on the grass." It means don't walk on it... Thank goodness, because before I knew that I thought that Spain had a serious public hygiene issue. These signs are everywhere haha!
Fall :)
The Royal Palace! El Palacio Real :)
Pretty flowers=My Mawmaw :)
Palace :) It is out of use since the fire of 1917(?) and now is a museum full of tapestries. We were able to walk through many rooms, seeing original paintings of Queen Isabel and King Carlos and also their room. They were the first to share a room- it was a huge scandal back then! It was cool to see the bed decor from then :)
The gardens outside the palace! Sarah, Letty, Me, Jules, Connie, and the one and only Profe!
Without people :) I would say it resembles my garden, at home... ahem. Or not. It's just a little bigger.
The palace.
Miriam and I :)
Me and the palace!
Kissing a statue of a... sphinx? Haha not quite sure. But it was cool!
More of the gardens. They were huge! Can't believe people lived here, as their summer house! Although the gardens and rooms in the home were so beautiful, it actually made me grateful not to be royal. Silly rules and public lives. Sick!
More of the gardens...
Pamela and I!
A statue, that I guess I really liked :)
Last one of the palace!
Pleasure, on a street :)
Pam and I love the picturesque-ness of it all!
Fall, again!
THREE: Today! We walked to the train station, the sky was INCREDIBLE, yet again... and then we hopped on the bus and went to Ucles, a small village with a happy and beautiful monastery, and then to Cuenca, with the hanging houses. Unfortunately, my camera died before Cuenca... but we've still got a few pictures. Tired of this post yet? Too bad ;)
Just taking an early morning swing on the way to the train station! Letty is such a good sport.
Audio tour guide in the monastery, in Spanish. Still not over hearing the language all the time.
I LOVE IT!
The front of the monastery.
Mary and I looking ridiculous, but happy!
A better picture :)
Acting weird by a statue. It's how I roll I guess.
Mary joined me. Actually, she initiated it. She deserves the credit. We can't be reverent ALL the time!
There are too many churches here for that! But don't worry, we were quietly irreverent :)
I loved the medieval feel of this monastery. This is the Socrastina.
The underside of a huge staircase. This sign was everywhere. Cross? Sword? Imma go with cross. But it does look mighty close to a sword to me...
A ceiling, that was pretty. What else is new here, right? Love it.
Julie conquering the mountain nearby, with all of the homeless cats meowing and loving her!
On a huge bridge right outside of Cuenca! It was incredible, it reminded me of the bridge at Balboa Park in San Diego... but there was less material to it, so it felt like you were suspended in the middle of the air over a huge gulf and highway.
This was an accident, on the bridge. But I liked it anyways :)
On the bridge.
This was right before my camera died, so I didn't get a better one of the cathedral in Cuenca.
Cuenca was great, and we got to spend a couple of hours there. We were able to walk up and down the hills that it was built on. The houses are called "casas colgadas" or "hanging houses" because they have balconies and parts of the house hanging off the edge of cliff with no support underneath. But they've lasted for hundreds of years. A couple of things about Cuenca: incredible ceramics! (can you say souvenir gold?!) and also a strong smell of urine, and everyone drinking huge beers in the streets. Charmed, but happy to say adios after a little bit of time :)
I would like to say that tonight I went for a nice long run through the streets of Alcalá, I got a few big smiles from my mamita here, I am almost done with a letter for the one and only Elder Hessing, and I have felt the spirit several times today that attests to the involvement of the Lord in our every day lives. How grateful I am for people who take time to talk to me and say what the Lord would say to me. I love the girls I am here with, I love my director, I LOVE my family, and I love the Lord. The church is true, you guys. Check it out. You won't regret it. LDS.org.
Love you all.
Love Segovia! Love that Castle!!! So glad you're enjoying yourself. (Love Alcala, too)
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