Wedding Crashers & Blood and Guts

On Friday night we walked to a tapas bar that was recommended to us. After ordering authentic Spanish Sangria we were forced to whip out our pocket dictionary (inconspicuously hiding it under the table). Webster wasn't as helpful as we had hoped. Any suggestions for next time, Uncle Ken or FJ?

The next morning we woke up for an early bus ride to Segovia, which is about an hour north of Madrid. First fun fact for the day was that the town was famous for FOOD. (You know we were LOVING that!) Apparently, people travel great distances simply to have lunch at one of the most famous restaurants in Spain- Candido. There are also numerous bakeries which we did not hesitate to visit for breakfast before the tour began. After the obvious, cafe con leche and chocolate filled croissant, we met again with the rest of the group. First, we saw some of the last remaining Roman aqueducts. Remarkably enough, they could still be used today. (Check out how touristy we are with the picture link below.) We then walked along cobble stone roads (Derek, we know you would have been a better mason) through the narrow streets lined with quaint buildings and shops. Ben, you would be proud, we toughed out a serious hike down and then back up a LARGE mountain in dresses and flipflops. At the bottom, we saw a great view one of Ferdinand and Isabella's castles, The Alcaczar. We treked back up to see a closer view of the architecture and eat lunch. After finding a cute restaurant we realized that service in Spain is not quite up to Nick's Fish House standards...we got our lunch on "spanish time." Next, we went to tour a famous monestary. Unfortunately for the lucky couple and fourtunatly for us, a wedding was scheduled for the same time as our tour. We followed our tourguide through the church (literally) while the wedding was in procession, and got quite a few evil stares on our way into an alcove. Then, our tourguide didn't hesitate to lead us through the church on our way out while the newlyweds were saying their "I do's." Finally, we toured a Gothic and a Romanesque cathedral, picked up some souveniers, and called it a day.

When we got back to campus, we walked immediately to the grocery store to pick up our trusty $.75 bottles of wine. After dinner, we headed out for a night in La Latina. Our Senora's son, Pepe, has been recommending places for us to go out that our less touristy. The next morning we woke up to attend our first mass in Spanish and were again, culture shocked when we found ourselves having to fight through the crowd to receive the Eucharist. Organization is not a Spanish forte.

That night we attended our first Bull Fight at Las Ventas. For only 8 euro we somehow managed to score great seats in the shade. We sat ten rows back in the same section as honored Spanish guests, where the matadors are instructed to kill the bull. (We think the guy selling us tickets hooked us up a bit.) Since we arn't exactly animal lovers, we were some of the few Americans able to stay for the whole event. The fight was a lot more ceremonial than expected and reveals so much of the Spanish tradition. It was a really cool experience and definately recommended to those of you who also don't have a soft spot for animals. Sike...but it is something you should see at least once in a lifetime.

Today we began our first full week of class and look forward to our weekend trip to Valencia.

P.S. FJ, would you mind sending us an extra pair of your volleyball knee pads? They will come in handy when we decided to splurge of a pair of popular roller skates.