Holy Toledo!

Warning: this post is incredibly long but also full of amazing wit and charm, not to mention interesting facts. If you can’t handle the awesomeness I suggest you abort now.

All I can say is holy Toledo Batman! What an amazingly fantastical city! So we hopped on the bus at the awful hour of 8:30 (wholly unnecessary because we didn’t even leave until 45 minutes later). I spent most of the trip sleeping on Meg's lap actually, but she was kind enough to wake me as we were entering the city. Our first stop was actually this great overlook that gives you the best view of the city (where all the postcard companies take theirs). So of course we had to get out and take the typical tourist pictures (see below). Toledo is a city surrounded by a river on 3 sides and is actually encircled by a large castle-like wall. The entire day I felt like I was on my way to Mordor.





So our first stop was at El Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, a large monastery that is the burial place for many Catholic monarchs and with a plethora of references to Fernando and Isabel. It has this large chapel inside decorated quite ornately, as can be expected, and then outside is a large square with the center uncovered to make room for this fantastic little garden fully equipped with an adorable well and delicious orange trees. And we haven’t even started talking about the walkways with amazing carvings up the walls. It was a great start to our Toledo adventures. I just love how naturally peaceful and respectful people get at places like that-churches, monasteries and such. It really allows for better focus and admiration of the beauty of it and the work put into the building.



So we went from Catholic to Jewish next at the Sinagoga del Transito right in the middle of the Jewish district of Toledo. It was built in 1366 by Samuel ha-Levi, the Jewish treasurer to PedroI of Castile. At the time it was against the law to have synagogues larger or more ornate than Catholic churches. This man broke all the rules however, with this beauty (ironic seeing as how he worked for the government). Anyway now it is a museum dedicated to Jewish artifacts and such. It was quite interesting to see it all-they don't have any chairs to sit on while worshipping, and it has always been that way! I think that would get tiring. Also what was really cool was that they are actually in the process of excavating under it and finding more artifacts. We just got to peek in, but it was so freaking cool to see! It made me want to be an archaeologist, but I think it would get creepy at times.


After exploring the Jewish quarter we made our way back to Christianity and went to another church-La Iglesia de Santo Tome. Here we saw El Greco's most famous painting-The Burial of Count Orgaz. El Greco spent much of his life here so they commissioned him to paint the death of this man who donated almost all of his money to the church at the time of his death (which was 200 years earlier). This work is pretty dang huge and detailed. Interesting facts about Count Orgaz's painting: it has a self-portrait of El Greco in it (he's the only one looking at you) and also a portrait of his son (by the priests and the Count). Other than that particular work of art the rest of the church was quite beautiful (as can be expected. Oh and here was the first place we encountered this one couple that seemed to follow us or us follow them for the rest of the day.


Our next stop was the Cathedral of Toledo. This stands on the east side of a great little plaza called Plaza del Ayuntamiento and is considered the best gothic cathedral after Burgos in Spain. It took forever to build (but I can see why)-between 1227 and 1493. So now we enter the great and spacious building-literally. You enter in and immediately freeze your butt off for one and then just gaze in awe. They don't let you take pictures sadly so I didn't get any but hopefully I'll be able to remember it. So all the walls are either ornately carved or have large Biblical paintings on them-I never before have seen a larger depiction of Jesus in my life. All around the cathedral are these grand pillars and also these mini-chapel rooms that are caged off. They are actually the tombs of famous monarchs and such. They all have these huge statues in them and amazing coffins. Then when you look in the middle of the whole cathedral you see these 2 caged areas where in one we think the choir sits on these carved seats. Above each one there is a different scene from the Bible and around the whole room there are statues starting with Adam and Eve and ending with Mary and Joseph of Biblical figures. So then moving on you come to the far side of the cathedral where there's this huge sculpture thing that goes clear to the ceiling with angels and different Bible people and such. The best sculpture is centered by a skylight that is surrounded by even more paintings and sculptures. Don't be mistaken by all my talk of paintings and sculptures that this building is particularly colorful. It is actually mostly white and gold. I think it gave the cathedral a very noble effect. And now we have sighting number two of the mysterious couple.



So then all us girls wanted to go on this tour that one of the girls had in her travel book, but we all have apparent problems reading maps and we could never really find the start of the tour. So after an hour of wandering and talking and other such things we all split into 2 groups. My group wanted to go to the Alcazar, but we couldn't really find it. After we finally got smart and asked we found out that it was sort of far thus we gave up on that idea.

Megan had mentioned something from her book that said we could go to this church that is supposedly the highest point in the city and climb to the top of the towers to see the view. So off we went to La Iglesia de San Ildefonso. To tell you the truth I think I liked the inside of this church the best (and not just because it was warm). Everything was more simple and white. After checking out the chapel we then made our way up the creepy, dangerous stairs to the top of the towers. Let me tell you-that view was amazing. We were right near the Cathedral of Toledo so we got a great view of that, but other than that just the city was so incredible. I love the roofs here; I think them alone give the city an older, authentic feel. The view up there was worth any fear I had from climbing those stairs. And to top it all off we saw our tag-along friends here too!






When we left the church we weren't really sure what to do so we wandered a bit more. Two of the girls in our group had read about this torture museum that sounded interesting so we set off to find that-and actually found it! Let me tell you-the streets in Toledo are not made for easy navigation; they are all narrow and similar and just wind oddly. It was quite confusing. Anyway the torture museum was rather cool and gruesome. It had all those olden times devices that they used to torture people into confession or for crimes. I think my favorite had to be a real chastity belt that woman who were travelling alone would wear. It had these intense spikes that I guess were to do some permanent damage on those skeezy men. I don't think after that they would be fathering some children anytime soon. Quite hilarious. I am overall impressed by the creativity of these people-some of those devices were quite inventive, if not gross and unethical. Anyway that was actually a really fun thing to go to. I think I learned a great deal.



So our next stop was for some sustenance because all that walking had us famished. We went to this sweet shop where some people got the famous Toledo marzipan but I stuck with a pastry called Bamba con Nata. It was so freaking good! Picture a pastry filled with the best whipped cream of your life and then topped with powdered sugar and you will have a small idea of the bliss that I had in my mouth. I love all Spanish cuisine (apart from the seafood).


So then our next adventure was to find us a place to get some delicious tapas to satisfy our savory craving. Problem: nothing is open at 5 PM. Do not even ask me why, because that is when I thought people went out for their tapas, but apparently not. Anyway after much wandering and asking for directions we found one. Problem 2: even though the menu said we could order hot things then, apparently the kitchen was closed, thus no tapas for us. So then we went to a little 7/11-type place and got some chips and by that point it was time for us to head back to the bus. Sidenote: they have ham flavored chips here. I haven't tried them but apparently they taste curiously like bacon.

And then we said our goodbyes to wonderful, glorious TOLEDO!



I hope that wasn’t too long or painful to endure. I’m just trying to teach perseverance. Get yourselves ready because Monday we head off to ANDALUCIA! This will be a week of pure awesomeness, I can already tell.

Every Other Day

I thought would be nice to describe my daily life here in fantastically gorgeous Spain because I realized it must look like all I do here is go out on adventures-I do have to go to school…a bit…among other things. Megan and I live in the center of the city in this smaller apartment with a single older lady and another exchange student from Korea. I think you already knew that but this is just a refresher. Meg and I share a small room where we spend a lot of time while at the apartment. We like to occupy ourselves with facebook, blogging, Skyping, journaling, regular trips to the bathroom (which is always immaculately clean and somehow the toilet paper never runs out) and playing awesome computer games like MAHJONG TITANS! (For all of you who have no idea what this game is you are missing out-see picture below, it is not as lame as it looks).


Don’t get me wrong-we do not spend all of our time here-sometimes we do like to get some fresh air and venture out into the city and do what the cool people do-go walking. Here in Spain (and probably particularly Alcala) practically everyone goes walking in the streets between 5 and 8 PM and it’s this big social time. Thus we quite enjoy venturing out and doing some superior people watching. The old couples are the best! They all seem to know each other and all the ladies always wear their nice fur trench coats, it’s a riot!


Speaking of older people going out with their friends let me tell you a little about mi mama here. Blanca is quite a character. She is a mom and grandmother, with two sons in their thirties and one little granddaughter. However don’t let the grandma status fool you-she is one ball of fire! Let’s just say that Blanca has a way of properly identifying those attractive men out there and letting me and Meg know. She watches mucho TV everyday and loves to watch the shows all about famous people, pretty much the same ones as in America so I can identify with that (Fun Fact of the day: on average 90% of the Spanish population watches at least three hours of TV a day). She also goes out partying with her friends until all hours of the night. I know that she has a better social life than I do. Megan and I will be in bed before she even gets home (usually between 12 and 1) from going out at least 3-4 nights a week. Also apparently 7 AM is really early here because I’m not allowed to shower before then because it wakes her and others in the complex who were also out partying. I think this weekend she’s even going out on a trip with the girls because I guess she has gotten her fill of nightlife in Alcala and needs to branch out. Don’t let the partying fool you though-she is also incredibly domestic and let’s just say I am well-fed with delicious meals (unless she tries to poison me with TUNA!). I guess she learned everything she knows from her grandmother because her mother passed away when she was fifteen. She has lived in Spain her whole life, and Alcala for the past fourty years! This lady knows Spain and how to keep a mean house. The other day I was thinking I needed to do some laundry and low and behold when I got home look at what view we had from our window:


Every time Meg and I try to help she says “No, no, no. Your job is to go to school and eat. I cook and clean.” Can you say heaven? The only problem is that we still haven’t mastered her door and practically every day she has to show us again the proper way to shut it without waking the whole neighborhood. We did finally learn how to open it and no longer have to pray that someone is in the house to open it for us. Success!

And then we come to the thing that takes up a good portion of my day these days: good ole school. Even in another country I can’t escape it. I must admit that it’s not too bad here yet (but I have only been to one week). I actually only have it Monday-Thursday from 9 AM to about 1 PM. This homework load definitely does not even come close to last semester either so I’m a happy camper I would say. This is also supported by the fact that my teachers are fantastic. They are two Spanish ladies for my Spanish classes and they teach entirely in Spanish (which is confusing but I guess the most effective for learning). The one for grammer is a hoot and so animated (plus she has an amazing sense of style-Mom I know you would appreciate that) and the other one Meg and I refer to as the fabulous teacher. She is quite elegant in all her movements and dress and talk, pretty much everything about her screams fabulous. She also has a strange obsession with the color purple (she wears it every day almost and I think her hair is even nearing a strange shade of it). So I really enjoy both of them. Then our other teacher (besides the director Landes-who is really great too) is actually an area seventy for Europe. His name is Faustino Lopez and he is so fantastic. We only have his class once a week but he is really a great teacher and you can really tell he feels and knows what he’s teaching. He’s teaching us about the history of the LDS church in Spain-a subject he is actually writing a book about. I am so excited for this class!

Anyway that was a brief overview of the more menial parts of my life here in España! Hope that wasn’t too boring for you all! Don’t worry, my next post will be all about exciting and beautiful Toledo!

Soy una madrilena

Madrid+Me=Love. I have officially decided that there are no ugly buildings in Madrid. You know how in any other city you will find large skyscrapers that dominate the overall look of the city and inevitably you will come upon some run-down building full of graffiti and broken windows and floors, not in Madrid. All of the older buildings are gorgeous with amazing details dating back to I don’t even know how many years ago. Even the graffiti just works to add to the whole atmosphere and adds to the colorful nature of Madrid buildings. And keep in mind these are just the normal business buildings, I have not even described the historical sites.



But let me first begin with our journey into this glorious city. Public transport is huge here (as can be expected in any large city, especially in Europe). Due to this fact we get to first take a train and then the subway to end up in the middle of the city. This is not so problematic at eleven AM, when not many people are going to work, but in the late afternoon that is another story. Can I just say that the fact that I get to take trains, subways and buses everywhere makes me feel very metropolitan. But now onward with my first Madrid adventure!


We first went to the Plaza Puerta del Sol, a big square that has a statue of a famous Spanish man (the travel book does not say who), and muchas muchas personas. Interesting fact of the day: statues of people on horses tell you about how the person died. Two legs of the horse up means that person died in battle, one leg up means they were wounded in battle and died later from those wounds and all legs down means they died of natural causes. Apparently our mystery man was wounded and died later from it. As you can see below this plaza is surrounded by fantastic buildings and here you see a wide variety of people. There was even one of those statue men that stand perfectly still and take strange pleasure out of scaring the living daylights out of tourists. I got a kick out of him.





After that we made our way to another quite famous plaza, the Plaza Mayor. This place was not as crowded as I would have thought (probably due to the fact that it was a little cold when we went and people can be quite wussy when it comes to the cold and the rain), but we did get the lovely pleasure of seeing four sights that will be forever engraved in my memory of this plaza: a bullfighter (Matador) with a fake bull, four foot tall Darth Vadar, a nice Easter bunny (in January) and my personal favorite, Spiderman with a slight weight problem. Megan and I had a particularly hilarious time with this superhero. Let’s just say he knows how to work it to get him some money! We had a full-on photoshoot-first Spidey pose, then we flew to Seattle and finally he asked us the question- “Do you know why Madrid is so great?”. Do you? I sure didn’t. “It’s because we have the SEXY POSE!” (Look below for an example). Needless to say this guy got a few coins from us. But other than an awesome variety of people in Plaza Mayor it was also breathtakingly beautiful. The entire façade of one building was even covered with a mural (you had to look close to see it, but it was fantastic). Que bonita!









So after the plazas we had the fantastic privilege of chowing down on the most delicious chocolate con churros. For all of you out there who have never experienced this particular thing before let me expound. This is a hot chocolate that is so thick and rich it’s between hot chocolate and pudding. (Some people say that they melt real chocolate bars for it, but I’m not sure if that’s just here-say.) Then you get to dip these fabulous fried dough confections (but don’t think like Taco Bell-these babies have no cinnamon-sugar on them and are actually quite thin) with a slightly salty taste to them. The harmony of the rich chocolate with the salt of the churro makes for a blissful experience. Needless to say but I have now eaten them twice and will be returning for more multiple times I believe.



So now we begin the venture home. You gotta love public transport is all I can say. As I said before, like you would expect in any large city (especially in Europe, energy-conscious individuals that they are) it feels like the majority of the working class in Madrid rides buses, trains and subways. And I guess that on Fridays it’s the cool thing to do to go home from work early in the late afternoon rather than evening (so if you think you’re being smart by leaving Madrid then and can beat the crowds think a little smarter). Thus I came to have a great story to tell on this great blog! Thank you public transportation! So let’s just say that the subway was full to capacity, so much so that five of us got caught in the door as it was closing and ended up getting left behind at the train station to catch the next subway while the rest of our group chugged onward towards Alcala. Blessing in disguise I tell you. This is due to that fact that a certain drunken man happened to be sitting on a bench in the platform opposite of us. His raspy smoker-voice could be heard on both platforms belting a sweet serenade to us five American ladies. However our entertainment did not stop there because we then got to see him bust some sweet moves and at one point I could have sworn he was going to jump on the tracks and come over and join us (incredibly glad he refrained). And to top it all off he looked us square on and stopped his song to make the best face at us (sorry no pictures-we didn’t need to egg this man on). After this small bit of entertainment we then properly perfected our elbowing skills and weaseled our way onto the next subway and then later on to a train. All sense of personal boundaries is lost on those babies let me tell you and apparently no Spaniards like to talk at all during their commute. So I guess they all are more the sufferers in silence types. Let’s just say we weren’t quite the same way.


And now we have come to the end of our journey to Madrid. I hope all of my ventures there are this thrilling! I hope you enjoyed our trip, tune in next week for more adventures of the Spain ladies in our new setting…TOLEDO! (Unless I decide to be really studious and talk about my first week in Spanish school). Hasta luego!

Tengo el Internet!

Ok so I thought that flying, especially internationally, was just plain awful but I have officially converted and I now wish all my flying were international and with the Germans because Lufthansa freaking rocks! Can anyone say hot towels, delicious food, big seats, humongous plane, awesome movies/entertainment and hot German flight attendants? Oh yes Lufthansa you have my definite approval. Now if next time I can only get a first class seat where they get to practically lay down the whole flight and each get their own TV. All of us in economy did get the lovely privilege of having our own down feather pillows and nice wool blankets. Overall, satisfied.

The only thing I will say is that the Frankfurt airport needs to get its act together and power some people through security. Picture a crazed American girl running through the airport to get from the far B gates to A26. Thank goodness for those moving walkways is all I can say, otherwise I would have…still made my flight. The plane was a half hour late getting there and when we all boarded we still had to wait another hour for them to de-ice the plane. But sprinting through the airport effectively brings together strangers, as in Meg and my cases. New goal: be one of those people that can go up and randomly talk to anyone and make instant friends with them. One of the guys was one of those types of people and I have to say that he was pretty dang sweet.

Meg and I still got to the Madrid airport 3 hours before our group was meeting so we then proceeded to play cards and take ridiculous pictures after our 2 day journey, as seen below:




Once we finally decided to try and find our group that was an unnecessary adventure. Apparently Terminal 2 at the airport is freakishly huge and other members of our group had been waiting at the other end for hours looking for us. Whoops.

When we finally got out of the airport and onto the bus I have to say that the journey from Madrid to Alcala was not that much different than travelling through any other city. Except for the fact that drivers here are insanely aggressive and everyone drives incredibly close to one another and you constantly feel like there is going to be a 20 car pile-up at any moment. You think I would be used to it after living and driving in Utah…

So from the freeway things seemed pretty similar to the US, but once we got off the freeway and got into Alcala it finally dawned on me that I was actually in Spain. When I pictured Spain this is pretty much exactly what I thought. There are cobblestone streets, old-style tile rooftops, funky shops and overall amazing architecture. There is one central area called the Plaza de Cervantes near the center of the city with a full-on gazebo, statue of Cervantes (writer of Don Quixote) and surrounded on all sides by huge old-style buildings. I am officially in love with this city. And this is why:




The bus was taking us to meet our families that we will be staying with for the next three months and I have to say I was really nervous to meet them. Megan and I are staying with a lady named Blanca, who is too cute and way funny. She lives in practically the center of the city so we can walk most places we want to go. However this was like full-on Spanish language immersion right off the bat. She doesn’t know much English and my Spanish is on a kindergarten level so mostly I just listen and get the gist of things and say “si!” a lot. She lives alone in this great cute little apartment, but hosts students practically all the time. She has been doing this for 16 years! We even have another girl staying here too from Korea. I think her name here is Rosio, but don’t quote me on that. She seems really nice but for both of them at this point I feel like I don’t know them too well because we all don’t speak the same language fluently. I do think that Blanca is set on finding Meg and I some novios because she loves to talk to use about those chicos guapos. And holy heck does she make some delicious food! Me gusta tortillas de patatas! Needless to say I think my Spanish will be greatly improving while I’m here.

The next three months of my life...

I am not a devoted blogger in any sense of the word and I need something to keep me posting fascinating tid bits of my life for all to hear so this does not turn into another failed attempt at some sort of journaling. Thus this blog is devoted mainly to all of my marvelous adventures in fascinating Spain!

I will be staying in Alcalá, a town about 10 minutes outside of Madrid, and studying at the University of Alcalá, one of the oldest universities in Europe. I will be exploring this country through BYU and with my fabulous friend Megan; a girl I have known a little over a year and whom I can always laugh my head off with. Her and I have both been dreaming of doing a study abroad in Spain since high school (not together, we just lucked out in finding each other) and I cannot believe it is finally here! Lucky for us we get to stay together with a family in Alcalá.

I am scared out of my mind for being completely immersed in a culture I do not know a great deal about and one in which my knowledge of the language is minimal. However I am so excited for this opportunity and hopefully by the time I get back I will be speaking with a lisp and conjugating Spanish verbs like there's no tomorrow!

I'm very grateful that I am able to go to this amazing country and I look forward to the extraordinary adventures I'll be having in el país de España! Qué macanudo!