Toledo

Today we went to Toledo! It was super cool! It's this huge city, but it somehow feels really small. Probably because the streets are so tiny and there's people everywhere - I'm pretty sure we almost all got hit by several cars several times as they tried to squeeze themselves through these tiny streets. It's a beautiful city though - so much history. We had this sweet guide today named Dr. Rosenburg. He works with BYU and it was awesome having him with us to explain everything. He knows soo much. It really made the trip an experience.

This is the beautiful Cathedral in Toledo. It was amazing.

Some more sweet mercy seats.

So during Holy Week, men actually put this huge gold thing on their shoulders and carry it through the streets. They put the bread cracker in the circle in the middle, the bread cracker that is the Catholic's sacrament/communion. They literally believe it to be the body of Christ, and it's only during this week and in this beautiful gold structure that communion ever leaves the church.

 This is one of the monasteries. It's beautiful. Fun fact! Dr. Rosenburg was on the BYU team that helped to create the architectural design for the JFSB, and this claustro, or open area here in the middle of this monastery, was actually the inspiration for the interior outside area for the JFSB. Notice the well! Most claustros have a well, and in the JFSB we also have a water element in the middle. It's really cool!

Preston preparing to be the next Pope.

Preston and Stefan doing.... something. I have no words.

This is actually the scene that was at the top of the study abroad flyer!

Also included are reasons that Preston is no longer allowed to have my phone. Enjoy lol.

They say this is my resting face. I say they're full of it.

El Campo de Practica - Real Madrid

On Wednesday we had a SWEET opportunity. We got to go the Real Madid soccer training fields. This isn't just a soccer field though - oh no. This is a boot camp. Kids come here and they live here their whole lives if they're good enough. They can be recruited as early as 7, and then they can start getting paid to play soccer as early as 12. They have dieticians and personal trainers to make sure that they're at the top of their game, and most of them are paid more than their parents put together. It's absolutely insane.

Real Madrid doesn't have a C or a B in it, so I flipped this picture of me with one of the D's so it would look like a B aha

So as the players get better and increase in age and skill, they literally and symbolically move up. They get promoted to a practice field that's higher in elevation like these 2 here^

Here's me on the balcony of one of the players rooms. We seriously got the VIP tour.

Ronaldo's parking spot!

This is the actual Real Madrid top 1st division team lounge. No one except the players and the coach are allowed in here... we got special treatment. Super special treatment.

This is us in the Real Madrid players hallway - like they live behind these doors. They're living the life man.

That red light means I'm not Carvajal :(

This is more of their lounge and their sweet field

Anyways, that was our super sweeet tour of the practice stadium and the grounds. It was nuts. My favorite thing the guy said was after I asked him if they went to school - He said yes, but most of them don't do well. But it doesn't matter as long as they're good fútbol players! I guess that's true for them... certainly not for me!

Nuestros Amigos de Portugal

So on Monday we got a fun visit from some other BYU study abroad students currently in Portugal! They came to Madrid just to check it out, so we got to play host to them. It was fun! We got into groups of 3 Spain students and 2 Portugal students, and then we were told to just go show them a good time and take them to our favorite parts of the city. So Stefan, Tanner, and I took Chad and Jared and it was super fun! We went to El Parque de Buen Retiro and did the boats again. I significantly improved my rowing abilities, and Jared took some pretty solid pictures of me on his phone. His camera rocks! They loved the boats, they're always a hit. Tanner sat that one out though, he had to make some phone calls back to the US about work.

Chad's the real MVP. He ducked behind me so quality photos could be taken.

However, he couldn't resist at least one creepy picture.

After the Parque, we went to La Plaza de Oriente where they could see El Palacio Real y La Catedral de la Almudena at the same time (that court yard between the two is La Plaza de Oriente). Then we took them to La Plaza Mayor just so they could see it. Then we went to San Gimes Churrerria - my favorite place in all of Madrid.

We ended off our super fun day in La Puerta del Sol so they could see the famous bear/Madrid icon. It was super fun! It felt really cool being a position where I know and understand enough about Madrid and about what's cool and worth seeing that I could take people on a tour of favorite places. It was super fun!