Our dear friends Kylee and Eddie Norton invited us to join them on a trip of a lifetime- Spain and Italy! We took them up on the offer and left for Spain the day after Thanksgiving. Ky and Eddie are friends with the Madrid MTC President and his wife due to a previous church trip and they were nice enough to be our hosts for a few days. After a long, over-night flight, we arrived in Madrid sleepy, but ready to see the world! After President Earl forced us to sleep for a couple of hours in our MTC bunk beds, they took us to downtown Madrid. It was beautiful! There were Christmas decorations and lights strung up everywhere we went. This is the Office Building of Madrid.
This is the Madrid Market. Hundreds of people were selling toys, candy, clothes, nativities and all sorts of fun things.
All of the buildings were so colorful and detailed.
They had a huge, open market where what seemed like
millions of people shopped for their groceries. I was afraid I was going to get lost in the crowd on our very first day. They sold fresh fruit, bread, cheese and meats.
The Earls then walked us to the Palacio Real de Madrid-a beautiful palace!
Every single ceiling we saw was covered in paintings.
We walked into the armory where we saw barbaric weaponry that was really used hundreds of years ago.
Across from the palace was an incredible church- The Almudena Cathedral.
I couldn't get enough of this purpley/pink building!
There were people all over the city trying to make money in a variety of creative ways. This mud woman, for example...
Or the faceless man.
After dinner with the missionaries, we went on a night walk of the city. This is the Madrid Temple.
The next day was Sunday and we were able to attend church with the missionaries. There were about 20 missionaries, sisters and elders, from all over the world. Most of the sister missionaries were from Russia and they loved talking to Kylee and me. They kept asking Kylee how she had so much volume in her hair. We attended Relief Society where they all introduced themselves (most of them had gotten there just a few days before we did). Those who spoke English translasted for those who didn't. It was an eye-opening experience. They all spoke of their families back home and many of them said they were either the only members in their family, or they were disowned by their family when they joined. One said she came on a mission to avoid her father marrying her off to a man she didn't even know. A few of the sisters were in the same branch in Russia and when they all left for their missions, they had to close the branch because there weren't enough members. One little Italian sister began crying about half-way through the introductions because everyone was speaking in Russian or English and she didn't speak either. I felt pretty small amongst all of these brave women with enormous testimonies.
Following Relief Society, we had sacrament meeting. Believe it or not, Conner and
I were the keynote speakers. President Earl had asked us to prepare 20 minute talks before we came. Wow. I had never given a talk that long. Come to find out, since our talks were being translated into Italian, French, and Russian, I could have prepared a 10 minute talk. It was an interesting experience with translators talking into microphones and everyone wearing earphones. Conner gave his talk after mine and he did a great job. We were really happy to be able to have that experience. Despite language barriers, the Spirit can touch hearts; It truly is a universal language. That night Kylee and Eddie gave and incredible fireside. The spirit once again was so strong.
After church we celebrated Conner's 26th birthday. He had a birthday cake made out of towels and a toothbrush. He was a good sport to speak in church on his birthday and not make a fuss over a towel cake. Happy Birthday Conner!
Out to see the city once more! This is Madrid's City Hall.
A protest!
We went to a famous art museum. El Prado. I wish I could have taken pictures inside. There were murals painted from stories in the New Testament that were incredible. I don't think I have ever appreciated art as much as I did at this museum. There was one painting in particular that stands out in my mind. This painting was of King Harod's soldiers killing all of the infants who may have been the Christ child. Mothers hovered over their infants as soldiers tried to rip them from their arms. It was so sad and barbaric, yet I realized then that it really happened. I often read over that part in the scriptures without giving it much thought, but how sad that all of those mothers lost their children because one man feared he would be overthrown by the Christ.
Conner's favorite picture was of Hecules being breastfed by his mother. She missed his mouth and shot milk into the sky...and that is how we came to know The Milky Way.
This was a beautiful church next to The Prada.
A walk through the park.
Take a close look.
A true Spaniard.
Many elderly Spaniards are super short. During World War II they were unable to receive the food they needed and were malnourished. This lack of food stunted their growth.
Riding the underground train. This is how we got everywhere. It was slick!
Monday we drove out to an old walled city called Avila. Most of the town was closed because it was Monday (not sure why Monday is a special day), but we walked around and took in the sights and smells of the old town. The town supposedly was supposedly built in the 5th century BC and was inhabited by a number of different people from Romans to Arabs.
It
A little family picture...
Still feeling the jet lag.
Next we went to a city called Segovia to see an aquadect built in 80 BC. This was the Roman's plumbing system. The entire aquaduct was built solely out of stones stacked on top of one another. It was built to bring water from the River Acebeda. It was incredible, and the entire city was beautiful.
We weren't able to go inside this Gothic Cathedral, but it could have been the most intricate building we saw the entire trip.
Batilda Bagshot???
This is where the Knights of the Templar lived. During the Middle Ages, the Knights of the Templar were actually priests that were members of the military.
Next we visited the Patronato de Alcazar de Segovia. This castle was built around 1100. By 1155 this hill-fort became known as “Alcazar”, which in Arabic meant royal residence. The fortress played an integral part in Isabella being crowned Queen of Castile (Queen Isabella is the queen who gave Columbus permission to sail to America). Alcazar castle played an important role during the civil wars in the 19th century and was used as a prison until 1764, when it became the Royal School of Artillery. In 1898, the General Military Archives were moved to the castles upper floors and in 1953; the "Patronato del Alcazar" (Alcazar Trust) of Segovia was created.
"Tell me a little bit about your morning routine..."-Ted (Hairstylist on TLC's
What Not To Wear)
Authentic armor
We never saw a boring ceiling.
From the top of the tower, you could see the entire town of Segovia. It was beautiful.
Climbing to the top...
The Earls. What WONDERFUL tour guides!
Later that night, in dowtown Madrid, we went out for churros and hot chocolate. I'm pretty sure my first Spanish book in 8th grade with Maestra Thurman was entitled, "Churros y Chocolate."
This is the moment I was almost kidnapped. Good thing we got the villians on camera! Actually, all they wanted was a little American lovin'... Eddie and Conner put a stop to that real quick!
Goodnight Madrid. Tomorrow, we're off to Rome!
Our last morning in Madrid, Conner and I had the opportunity to go to the Madrid Temple. We walked in the temple and the man at the front desk started asking us questions; we had no idea what he was saying. Apparently, he was speaking Portugese. We stumbled our way through the conversation and headed back to get our clothes. I attempted a Spanish conversation with the young man behind the clothing desk. He let me give a poor attempt at explaining our sizes and such and then laughed as he informed me that he spoke English. He helped us with our clothing and English translation hookups and we headed in. It was a neat experience since were were the minority. The endowment session was in Portugese and Conner and I were the witness couple. I felt nervous in the beginning but it turned out to be a great experience. The temple was beautiful.
After the temple, we packed up our things and headed back downtown one final time. I wanted to pick up a nativity for my mom that we weren't able to get the day before. We ate lunch at the MTC and then President and Sister Earl drove us to the airport. It was kind of hard to say goodbye because once we left their care, we no longer had parents/tour guides and none of us spoke Italian!
