Hola de Madrid: Jueves

Good Morning, I started running out of clothes to wear as you can tell by my shirt with English on it. Bad idea...can we say Tourist! Even with the limited amount of English I would speak, if they made up their mind before Michelle spoke then bam....tourist. We had gone over to get tapas, sat down to find out they didn't have tapas, and as we were getting up to leave one of the waiters came over to explain if we didn't have enough money then we could got to the atm and get money with a debit card. The waiter we were talking to rolled his eyes and was like uh that's not the issue lol. Let's back up a little and look at the days events. Today was our trip to Segovia, Spain...another beautiful day! Yes, we have definetly been very lucky with weather! Well, lucky once I'm in Spain...coming here as you know was a challenge and it looks like getting back may be an equal challenge with Hurricane Irene. I know, I know, you're thinking well just enjoy Madrid some more! Haha, Michelle has some trip plans of her own already, but it's true, I may become her little tag-along pet.

Segovia

Overall, this particular location appears to be very touristy in comparison to other places we have been, which includes Toledo. Michelle and I didn't get as much of the Spanish Culture feel, but did still very much enjoy our trip! I think we'd agree to have our morning breakfast, a little shopping, see the Acuducto Romano (Roman Aqueduct), Alcázar de Segovia and Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y San Frutos, our 5 hours in Segovia was long enough to enjoy the day trip. We even accidently walked into a church and enjoyed the last little bit of mass. There are several churches in the area and we tried to see a couple of them, but their hours are more limited (i.e. Siesta time is definetly recognized and the church then locked up).

The bus from the train station was more lengthy then expected (good 15 minutes), but we made it and as you can see Michelle is being ridiculous as usual. We're standing in front of the Roman Aqueduct, which was built to supply water to Segovia. This is an impressive structure not just in height, as the blocks of granite are in alignment without mortar.

My feet and legs actually hit the tired mark, so time for a little stretching action. Michelle has been awesome in carrying our joint purse a lot of the time, especially as the week went by to try to "preserve" my body. She doesn't realize it, besides seeing me doing some warrior poses at the train station, but yesterday my hip felt like it was clicking...I think it's just really inflammed. Yes, yes, yes I am doing some yoga exercises and am even sitting with my Tens unit around the area as I type.

Americanized

Michelle and smelling stuff....not really sure what she is doing.

So I'm all for saving some money, and not replacing items at first sign of wear and tear. That being said, I'm talking to Michelle about her upcoming plans after using her backpack at WYD. This is what I discovered. The backpack only zips up one side and stays shut. It may appear closed, but will reopen again. Here I am babysitting our stuff at our campsite while Michelle goes to prepare for her candle carrying during the Vigil. I turn around to discover that the bag is wide open. Of course, I'm thinking, I left it unzipped, that doesn't seem like me...at least not that much? The thought that someone stole something went through my head too and I was thinking how terrible it'd be to tell Michelle her stuff is gone after me being in Spain less than 1 day! Well, nothing was missing and by the second time this happend I figured out it was fishy. Long story, short, it was time to buy a new backpack!

Sorry for the video, but I realized I couldn't easily make edits from here.

Why Michelle wouldn't just wear the backpack and just wanted to carry it around as we toured, I do not fully understand. Once again we had ended up on the outskirts walking around and there was only one of this type of bag left (it was for a better price then we had been seeing too :) ), so coming back to purchase the bag was not an option. It was nice to be away from the touristy area for breakfast!

Alcázar (Castle)

We climbed up 156 stairs just to get to this awesome view at the top of the Tower of John II. The Cathedral is in the background. Worth the extra money and glute workout! Yes, Michelle put on the backpack to make her look more adventurous in the picture. She did it for you Uncle Greg! Since I can't help myself, I would like to point out that the backpack is open haha.

Cathedral
When we first saw the Cathedral from the outside we thought it was the castle...oops.

Loved this statue, which represents Mary at the time of an Apocalypse. Notice, there are the 12 stars representing the apostles, she has a tranquil face, hands over the heart as a sign of forgiveness for sinners, snake representing satan on left side as looking at the picture of the statue and being risen up by the moon.

Getting Ready to Leave Segovia

Flag represents pilgrims for WYD were welcomed to stay there during the event. 1.3million people attended WYD and housing was an issue. Housing for some pilgrims was even more than 1 hour away.

Churros! We don't think I was supposed to bring food/drink on the bus, so we were strategic to bring the chocolate.

She was zonked....her sunglasses fell off without her noticing.

Debod Temple
From the time I saw the Debod Temple picture and read about it, I knew I had to see it! Michelle and apparently many other people in Madrid are not too familiar with this gift from Egypt.