SPAIN - Segovia

The famous Roman Aquaduct built before Christ. It was still in use up unil the late 19th centruy.

It's cool to stand right underneath it.

The Grand Cathedral.The cathedral

This is the street leading from the cathedral to the castle.

The "Alcazar" castle.
The mote around the Alcazar.

The artilary room in the castle.

Lance with the Knights.
Throne of Isabel and Fernanad (replicas)

Segovia is super cool too, it's another one of my favorite places. It has three unique things: The ancient Roman Aquaduct, The Alcazar and The Grand Cathedral. When you walk into town, you are walking towards the famous Aquaduct. It never ceases to amaze me. It is truly unbelievable. It was built at the end of 1st to early 2nd century BC by the Romans during their occupation of the Iberian Peninsula to bring water from the Río Frío. It is supported by an engineering marvel of 166 arches and 120 pillars in two levels. It is made of 20,400 large, granite blocks, joined without any mortar and is over 100 feet tall. It is so cool to stand underneath the arches, you can't help but be in complete awe! Segovia's Grand Cathedral has a different feel than the others. It is a bright manila color on the exterior and is very ornate. It was constructed in the late 1500's Gothic style and is widely considered Europe's last great Gothic cathedral. The spires are very Gothic yet it has a Renaissance dome. In contrast the interior is very simple, and peaceful. The Alcázar, or castle-palace, was built around the 11 century, it is on a hill and overlooks the countryside below. It has a deep mote around it and lots of beautiful towers. Queen Isabel and King Ferdand resided here, besides housing royalty the castle was also used as a prison and a military school. Ok, so now that you know all about Segovia, you have to go there too if you go to Spain. It is just an hour or so from Madrid.

SPAIN - Toledo

TOLEDO

The city is surrounded by El Rio Tajo

So beautiful!
The Cathedral and Alcazar in the background.

View from our hotel window.
The amazing Cathedral of Toledo
This is the street that I lived on as a missionary.


This was the building I lived in, it was built in the 14th century by Arabs.
Toledo is full of little cobblestone streets like this one, and yes they do drive down some of them.

This is MariCarmen and David, members in Toledo who we had dinner with after church. Toledo's train station. The fast train

On Saturday we woke up early again to catch the fast train to Madrid from there we caught another high speed train to Toledo. Toledo is my favorite place, partly because I served there for four months but mostly just because it is so magical. I felt like a lived in a postcard! It was so fun to be back and I was so excited to show Lance my favorite places and the people I loved. I just wish we wouldn't had more time there. But it was nice to attend church in an area where I served and so great to see everyone there. Well, when we got Todedo we first went to the amazing cathredral, it is known as one of the most grand and impressive cathredrals in all of Europe. It is huge! We also went to a few museums, had dinner with a member family the Gomez, and my favorite, got lost in the street maze of the city. Toledo was the capital of Spain until 1561 and is know as the city of three cultures, one of the only cities where Arabs, Christians and Jews lived and worked together in harmony. The entire city has been declared a national monument. Toledo was built on a mountain top and is surrounded by the Tajo River, for safety. When in Toledo you really feel like your going back in time. That night we stayed in what used to be the Renaissance building which was the palace of the Empress Eugenia de Montijo, the wife of Napoleon III, it was really nice. Our room was beautiful and the best part was the city roof top view. If you ever go to Spain, you must go to Toledo!

SPAIN - Granada

Granada

Our little rental car











downtown Granada










Granada's cathedral
















view of Granada from the Alhambra








Generalife gardens

The beautiful detail

King Charles the fifth decided to build his palace next to the moors.

Isabela and

Columbus

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain
The Alhambra at night

On Friday we drove to Granada. We left really early so we could make our tour to the famous "Alhambra" we were lucky to get our tickets since over eight thousand people go through the grounds every day. The Alhambra is known as the 8th wonder of the world. It is the most preserved Moorish palace in the world. Granada was the last Moorish stronghold in Europe, it fell to Christandom in 1492 . The Alhambra was unbelievable! The work on the palace walls is so detailed and beautiful. It is really a unique place, it's hard to describe how impressive it is without going there. The palace garden is called "Generalife" and is so beautiful! It is said to be the closest place to heaven on earth, according to the Koran. The garden was huge, peaceful and tranquil. After visiting the Alhambra we dropped down into the city of Granada and went to the Cathedral and saw the actual tombs of Isabel and Ferdanand. One of the coolest things about Granada is we were able to stand in the exact room where Christopher Columbus recieved his comission from Isabel to journey to the new world (well, that's where he ended up.) It was really cool to be in the very place where history was made.

SPAIN - Ronda

The city walls of Ronda.

The whitewashed city of Ronda

Lance looking like a total tourist :) I love it!

The oldest bullring in the world.

The beautiful breathtaking view!

On Thursday, we rented a car and drove up into the mountains to a quaint little village called Ronda, known for it's giant gorges, city bridges and the oldest bullring in the world (where bullfighing originated.) It is one of the many whitewashed villages scattering the romantic countryside of Southern Spain. Ronda was beautiful and Lance fell in love with it, it was his favorite place of the entire trip. We spent the whole day there, exploring the city and visiting the bullring, the museums and cathredral. We ate dinner at a little cafe on one of the narrow cobblestone streets at dusk, we had another typical Spanish dish: torilla de patata also known as tortilla espanola and pollo asado. The best part of Ronda was the breathtaking view of the gorges - gorgeous. Everything about Ronda was absolutely charming!