Holy Toledo!

Busy Busy Week! 

This was on Tuesday, we went to a flamenco.  It's a very popular Opera that has been turned into a flamenco, Guaranteed you've heard the music play.  It was amazing.  The dance of the flamenco is kind of a mix between tap dancing and ballet with the big dress that you spin with your hands to make you look fancy  fancy.  It was so amazing! It almost made me want to learn to dance.  Almost.  This here is Katie and I waiting ever so patiently for the Flamenco to begin.  It was such a cool experience to get to see the Spanish people perform a Spanish dance in Madrid! Woot woot!

Wednesday we went to... well this is a picture of us eating a nepolitano... but it was before we went to an Agatha Christie play (in Spanish, naturally).  Basically this is a pastry that is filled with warm melty nutellay chocolate.  Yeah.  Super delicious! 

Agatha Christie: we watched the Mouse Trap (Ratonera) be performed and it was so amazing! It's basically the story line of Clue, someone dies and they're all stuck in a hotel and they're trying to figure out who did it by re-enacting it.  It was so suspenseful and thrilling.  It made me want to go find every book by Agatha Christie and read it.

Thursday: means Pastry day! So we bought pastries (naturally).  Here is the most marshmallowy thing I have found in Spain... It's pure cream that is thick and sticky (like unto a marshmallow).  And yes.  It was very difficult to eat.  and a little bit flavorless after a while.  1 bite sufficed.

After our pastry we went to Madrid and went to the Reina Sofia (as seen in the background) and I found a penguin out front.  The Reina Sofia is all modern art, which sometimes my immature and uncultured and unartistic brain does not understand.  So I hug penguins instead.  However! I did manage to see Picasso and Dahli whose work I do admire quite a bit! And besides that they're Spanish artists, so it was Legit! Loved the photography as well.  We were going to go to a Navy Museum but it was going to close 5 minutes after we got there.  So for another day, probably Tuesday.

AND THIS IS TOLEDO!

Here is Katie, Haley and I on our way to Toledo, we needed a bus picture: This is what we do on the buses and we hadn't taken a picture yet.  There is 37 of us (now 40 becuase Profe's family has joined our group) and we all pack onto a big ol grey hound.  Katie and I listen to music and chat and others fall asleep.  So life is great on our buses.  Except when we don't have A/C.  Then they are a struggle to get through.

this is the Cathedral of Toledo, also seen here are the banners that are stretched above all the streets in Toledo, follow these and they lead you right back to the bus. ha But they're used to hang decorations throughout the year; such as flowers, lights, and streamers during festivals.  

The most amazing part of the cathedral of Toledo is this arch here, and other than the fact that it's huge and impressive and gorgeous.  They cut out an arch and they have put statues in the arch.  It is painted with bright colors and it is absolutely amazing.  One of the more extraordinary things I've seen done in a cathedral.   And this group would know, we have visited so many Cathedrals, we're almost experts! Almost.

The outside of the Cathedral, it was swarming with black birds.  So medieval like.  

Toledo is known for their narrow streets.  There are some that you can stretch both your hands across the street and touch both buildings.  It's more crowded than California! Never would have thought that was possible! But it was awesome! It was so gorgeous.  I love the architecture because it looked older with the thick bricks and the French look with lanterns and swirly barred balconies.  I think I'm going to live in Spain... one day. 

And to sum up.  I had my First Gofre! It's basically a waffle (But more of a cookie dough batter) that is topped (usually, not ours) with ice cream.  This Gofre here (shared with Michael) is topped with Kinderbueno sauce (don't ask me how they did it, but it was amazing) and maria cookies.  It was gorgeous. That here is my adventure to Toledo.  

Only 2 more weeks to go.  I'm flying home in exactly 2 weeks from tomorrow.  This trip could not have gone any faster.  Its so sad! But I am ever so grateful for this opportunity.  It has been such an amazing learning experience and I have learned a lot about myself and set more goals and raised the bar to where I want to be with who I am! Thank you Spain! :)

A week summed up.  May 26, 2012

Yes.  Turtles.  Lots of them! This is in the Atocha Train Station in Madrid.  It's a random itty bitty lake (and yes all the water here looks like that) for hundreds of turtles.  Literally.  

Here, I am standing in front of a closed convent (house of nuns, Nunnery) and they sell lots and lots of goodies, like cookies and chocolate and doughnuts... so naturally we showed up.  It's only open from 4-6:30 though.  So it was priority.  Katie and I bought 2 bars of fudge (White chocolate with chocolate chips and milk chocolate with walnuts) SOOOO GOOOOODDD!!

After our convent visit, we went on a Madrid walk (Down the Gran Via, which is basically a state street in Madrid).  However, this day there was an education strike happening so all the roads were closed off for all the protesters, I was standing in the busiest road without any cars around for the whole block.  LEGIT.

On our Madrid walk we were to tour McDonalds, sounds lame right? No.  This used to be an accessory store and then McDonalds bought it in the 70's, so it's this huge fancy building, with gold everything inside, marble counters and walls, and chandeliers for lighting.  It was awesome! Also, there was an H&M down the road and it used to be a theater back in the day, in the basement there is a ceiling painted with likenesses of Goya's work (famous painter here in Spain) Just in the men's section of H&M.  NO BIG DEAL! Spain is Awesome!

Here are some more penguins, this one is outside the Parque Retiro.  We went to the Park to have a picnic with the group.  So fun and adorable.  Quite Quaint if I say so myself.

We ventured out to the Plaza de Espana and there is a monument to Cervantes, Don Quijote is just out front of it.  Most the group just took normal pictures in front of the statues... how fun is that?! None! 

I rode Don Quijote's Donkey!

Our Weekend Trip.  

We went to Avila and Salamanca.  Here in Avila it's famous for 2 reasons.  There is a convent where Santa Teresa lived, where she supposedly saw the child Jesus on the steps of a staircase.  Second Reason, there is a huge wall all around the city that was built in the 16th century.  Because of how big it was, no one ever attacked the city.  

So here is the "little Pig" on the wall.  If you tilt your head to your left shoulder, the pigs legs are separted by the hole in the wall on the left... see it? :)

These are very traditional "cookies" in Spain from the nuns.  They have 2-3 ingredients.  Eggs and Sugar... sometimes lemon flavoring.  They're like cookie dough.  That's a lot of sugar to get it to that consistency!

We got to climb the wall!! It was sweet! it's about a mile and a half walk.

Katie and I on the Great Wall of Avila.

This here is the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca.  They were used for Bull fights, town meetings, and proclamation of laws.  Looks very similar to the one in Madrid.

Here is the "Casa de Conchas."  Shells are all on the Facade of the building to because the shell is the symbol of the peregrino walks.  People come from all around to see these famous cathedrals and they're wearing shells.  It's actually really neat.  There are over 1000 shells on this building that has now been turned into a library.

This is a view from the University in Salamanca looking at the Cathedral Nueva and Cathedral Vieja.  Pretty sure Spain is the most gorgeous place on Earth!

We then got to climb all around the Cathedral which was super cool.  We usually can only look from the bottom of the main section of the cathedral up and only wish we could see the rest of the cathedral, but this one we got to go outside on all the pathways and even inside where you think there are secret passage ways where Quasimodo lives.  

This is looking down into the main part of the Cathedral.  It's blurry, but You can see how magnificently tall this building is! These columns were so huge! It was unbelievable! 

My name is inscripted on the wall of the cathedral.  LEGIT!

The work for the Cathedral was redone in the 1900's... like mid 1900's so they added some touches of their own.  Can you find the Astronaut?  How bout a more difficult one... The ice cream cone?!  

So we have a running joke in my family of how much I hate Chinese Buffets.  The family was driving down to Ephraim or Powell or something and the boys wanted to eat at a Chinese Buffet.  I thought that sounded nasty (road tripping on a stomach full of chinese deep fried food-Gross) so I walked across the street and went and got something at Wendy’s for dinner instead.  So now whenever we have a choice of where we want to eat out, Chinese buffets are suggested in spite of me.  Ha so we as a group in Spain ate at a Chinese buffet and it was great.  For many reasons.  1. Family joke.  2.  It was the same as American buffets.  They even had French fries.  Except for the fact we didn’t get a limitless drinks.  3. Because we got so much food and it was all deep fried and there was ice cream too!  

I'm telling you, they're the exact same all around the world! The french fries were right next to the octopus tentacles!!!  Who would have thought they continued to have french fries at the Chinese Buffet.

The Plaza Mayor at Nnight 

Even though we were stuffed full, we needed ice cream in the gorgeous Plaza.  Katie and I shared a chocolate and Cheese cake with strawberries.  BEST ICE CREAM YET! 

We were outside taking pictures and this man comes up to me and asks, Where are ya’ll from? We’re from the United States.  Oh, nice to meet you, give me a Beso.  Uh, okay… So I go in for the side cheek to cheek kiss BUT THIS MAN WANTS SOME ACTION! He turns and goes for my face and I was like WHOA BUDDY! Calm it down! Still holding my hand he’s like BESO! BESO! So I was like Please no!! Please NO! So I let go and ran away! Ha ha It was so funny! The group saw me and were all wondering why I was so rude to just get up and run away… That is why.

Inside this building there was a famous painting of a Virgin with a fly on her knee... sorry pictures weren't permitted, otherwise I'd make you find that too.  :)

Abrazos y Besos! 

Y Amor a Todos! 

Simply Splendid Weekend

Friday Night we went to a puppet show.  Yeah.  My reaction exactly.  So we got all pumped up and excited (ready to make the most of this "culture" experience.  

We get there and basically it turned out to be a "make puppets out of as many body parts (hands, knees, we even got a belly dance) as possible.  Oh Good times.  They'd have fake noses on objects, often times connected with glasses for the eyes, and would make a "puppets."  

You're still wondering about the belly dance aren't you... 

You know when you're little how you draw smiley faces on your tummy and your belly button is the mouth? Yeah, an 80 year old woman never grew out of that... Her bra was the glasses, her tummy was her mouth (she was way good at making curvey faces out of it...), and then she wore a skirt for the dress, and then her legs were the legs of the puppet... yeah... weird.  ha It was way too funny! 

For our Weekend trip we went to a monastery called El Escorial.  It was/is a monastery and it was a summer retreat home of  a king away from Madrid.  One of the best tours I have been on yet, the tour guide was very funny and just like every other Spaniard a flirt with the blondy.  

We then went to Valle de los Caidos.  This is basically as Lord of the Rings as I have ever felt in my entire life.  It's a memorial to those who "Fell" (Caidos) in the civil war.  The building was completely dug into this mountain as you see below.  It goes back for about 150-200 yards and it is GINORMOUS! We walked in and the ceilings were arches about 40-60 above my head with giant hooded statues holding swords looking down on me as I passed through the main corridor.  Then in the center there is a dome that has a gorgeous Mosaic! HUGE! This is Katie and I in front of monastery.

So after a long day of traveling Katie and I decided to get some hot chocolate and churros because we had about 3 hours before dinner.  for 6 Euros we each got a hot chocolate and 5 churros... too much food, next time (because there will be a next time!) we will definitely be sharing! So delicious! Basically the Hot chocolate is hot pudding.  It is so thick! So delicious! and it's about a 60-70% chocolate vs. Milk chocolate! HEAVEN!

We had to finish our "Madrid Walk" of the highlights of Madrid.  We went to Principe Pio and there was Goya's grave and a river walk.  We are standing in front of the river... and in the back you're supposed to see the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena.  

Logan, Jesse, Katie, Katie, Dottie, ME, and Scott.

On our way back from our river walk we saw across the way a park, so I, being the sporadic person that I am, convinced everyone to come join to take a picture... 

Basically we found the best place to play Hot Lava in the entire world! Giant Ropes Course for free, in the middle of now where, not being used! Happiest Place In... Principe Pio... I think.  

Me, Scott, and Chantelle

Ropes are hard... literally.

Me, Katie, Jesse, and Scott chillin after wearing our adult-like muscles on all those rope climbing

Supposedly there are Penguins all over Madrid... We found a Giraffe Penguin... Pengwaff?  Girguin?

Arco de Triunfo

Coming in from the North, the Arch that greets all as a sign of Triumph and a city of Education (There are definitely a million universities around here.

Still not wanting to come home.  Madrid is the happiest place on earth.  Never gets old.  :)

Madrid Temple:

We went to the temple in hopes of being able to go in, but plans fell through.  We went with a member in the ward that just showed us around instead and told us a whole lot of symbolism of the temple.

Pizzaria:

I cannot remember the name of this place but for about 5 Euro I got a drink and 2 slices of hte best panini pressed pizza I have ever eaten in my entire life.  I will be looking it up and making some of these recipes.  There was hawaiian, basil and tomato, vegan, meat lovers... the works.  It was so Good! I need to move to Spain so I can cook like a Spaniard.  Wanna know the secret? OLIVE OIL! 

May 9

We went to the church and played a little soccer.  My first game of soccer I have ever played in my entire life.  EVER! Unbelievable since I have a little brother that's going to be on the Real Salt Lake's team right? Yeah, I'll leave the soccer playing to him; however, it was super fun and I got to run around... obviously looking great... 

Ucles/Cuenca:

Ucles was a monastery basically, a palace where monks live/lived.  We had a University professor be our tour guide for the day.  He brought us donuts and bribed us to be good and listen... don't ask how old we are.  

Then we went to Cuenca.  It's famous for it's hanging houses meaning they are built on the sides of cliffs and look like they're going to slide right off.  There was a modern art museum, cathedral, and lots to walk around to see.  Here is Noelle, Me, and Katie in front of the typical postcarded house of Cuenca.   

Cuenca Cathedral:

Gorgeous stain glass everywhere.  It was so amazing! Just like every catholic Cathedral we see.  We even got to hear monks singing when we first walked in (in time for mass) but we weren't allowed to walk through it because off mass.  So we went on our Nature walk instead

And naturally, during our nature walk, we found magnum ice cream bars instead.  So we ate those :)  We walked behind the city into the neighborhoods and found a gorgeous site of cliffs.  On those cliffs we found giant painted eyes.  It was the funniest thing ever!

May 11, 2012

Day Trip number 2: Destination Aranjuez.

Aranjuez has a palace and gardens that copied those of La Granja (which copied those of Versailles in France) so it was super cool to walk around the palace again.  I can never get sick of these palaces! I always just imagine myself walking the hallways in my dress being so accomplished and too rich for my own good.  If only I lived in the 1700s... and was one of the fortunate fractions that got to live that lifestyle... :) It would have been great.  So here is the main entrance to the gardens of the Aranjuez palace.

After our trip to the palace we went to a shopping center and I could not resist buying a Kinderbueno bar.  HEAVEN ON EARTH! Apparently they're illegal in the states... don't ask me why, I haven't asked just so that I don't feel guilty about eating them, probably because it's too much goodness and happiness in one bite.  It's a creamy hazlenut filling of the vanilla wafer that is dipped in chocolate and then drizzled with chocolate on top... yeah... Not lying here. 

<face of "oh no, I just got addicted.  Oops.">

I'm sitting here going through my journal of my trip and realizing that all I do is talk about food... I need to start taking pictures of family meals because they are so good.  We eat Paella, flan, octopus, Paella, Tortilla (which is not a tortilla that you're thinking of at all), fried eggs, meat, cheese, and with every meal BREAD! French bread with every meal.  And an Orange for dessert.  Always.  Sometimes we mix it up with a yogurt... but their oranges here are candy.  So usually not.  :)

So there was a Festival here, called Festival de San Isidro.  It basically has turned into the Occupy Wallstreet.  But there was a fireworks show on Tuesday so we went, promise we were safe.  This is Katie and I in front of the lake they did the show on.  It was by far the best fireworks show I have ever seen.  Choreography to the music (classical music such as Hall of the Mountain King, the Can-Can, and the Nutcracker) was absolutely amazing! They even had fireworks that shot fireworks into the water that exploded about 20 feet in front of us.  AMAZING!!!! 

May 15: Tuesday: BULL FIGHT!

We got to go to a bull fight here! Here it is a sport.  I asked Paco if he like soccer or basketball.  "Neither. I Like Bull Fights."  The arena was huge and 100% full of people.  They take their bull fights very seriously here.  For those of you who have not attended: 1st round: The men tease the bull and hide behind big huge walls, the trumpet sounds.  2nd round: Horse comes out with a man with a spear.  They point it right at the bull and he charges and attacks the horse (The horse is covered in padding and can't even move because there's so much) Often times the bull would take the horse right out and knock it over while the man with the spear is sitting there with the point going into the Bulls spine.  They have 2 horses/spear men.  Trumpet sounds.  Round 3: Men with little jabbers that they stab into the bull and they continue sitting there weakening the bull.  Trumpet.  4th round: The Torrredor (there are 3 per Corrido de Toros and each get to kill 2 bulls (about 1300 pounds)) comes out and has a little sword and the point is to run at the bull and stab it behind the head and kill it immediately.  There was only 1 man that did that the whole night.  He stabbed the bull while he was charging and the bull stopped in its tracks and fell to the ground.  wow.  That sounds gorey... sorry... But once you could realize it's a sport, art, and totally a part of the culture here, then you actually start cheering with the people: "SIN VERGUENZA (Without shame)" or "FUERA (Get him out of there--the torredor is terrible at this--we want someone good!)"

Also, it's traditional to have fans... so to blend in a little bit more, I bought me a fan... and given the fact we had the worst seats in the house: tippy top row (there are 3 levels (about 4 or 5 stories up)) and in the sun... so a fan was nice to have.

Profe gave us "Madrid Walks" to take so that we could see the city.  We took the "Highlights" walk and that took us to the Catedral de Senora de la Almudena.  This so far has been my favorite Cathedral.  It was huge, romanesque, BRIGHT!, and newer.  The pillars were gorgeous, the stained glass was so interesting, and not to mention there was a bishop performing mass at the same time.  It gave me the feeling of a cathedral that I would actually attend versus a cold dark cathedral from the medieval times.

After that we walked around the Royal Palace in Madrid.  It was used by the royalty of Spain up until 1938, when they moved to a smaller, less gaudy home out of the heart of Madrid.  We got there and it was closed, but planned on coming back the next day.  We got to walk around the gardens though and see the outside.

Back in the Palace.

It was so awesome! This palace was gorgeous! Not a lot was original from the 16th century original building, but it was gorgeous nonetheless.  There was also a royal Armory and Pharmacy that we went through.  Walls and Walls of Armor and weapons and then walls and walls of jars that used to contain powders and liquids for the royalty that lived in the giant palace.  It's ridiculous how much attention they got.

After we went back to Calle de Ginés in the Plaza del Sol and ate the typical Chocolate and Churros treat.  This place has a reputation of being delicious so we decided to splurge and Katie and I split 6 churros and 2 chocolates for 1.85 Euro.  BEST 2 EUROS EVER SPENT! The hot chocolate is about a 60-70% dark chocolate and the churros are just deep fried and we put powder sugar on them to make a delicious treat! The chocolate I think is just hot pudding.  It’s so thick! It’s so good! Supposedly the sign of a good hot chocolate is if the spoon can stand up straight on it’s own. Ha it wasn’t that thick, but more that way than in the states.  I’m going to figure out how to make it.  I’m convinced it’s just pudding… I’ll have to try it once I get home. 

 

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