Segovia...where I technically should be living.

My dear friend Kyle invited me to join him and a few of his British friends to Segovia this past Saturday. We spent the afternoon (from 1-7pm) in the small city. It was absolutely beautiful and a really nice city. It was my first time there and I had been told by countless people that it is one of the places I just had to visit before I left Spain. Now I only have 2 more cities to visit in Castilla-Leon and I will have visited the entire region! :)
Kyle (on the far right) acting as our tour guide. I believe we were in front of the aqueduct at this point. From left to right: Dominique (lives near Birmingham), James (West Midlands, near Wales), Chrissie (near Leeds), Claire (northern Ireland) and Ashley (Wisconsin).
Plaza Mayor
View from the castle.
El Alcazar....a very large forested area.
Iglesia San Millan



A beautiful gazebo in the middle of plaza mayor.
An electric bus!!!
Walking towards the aqueduct.
In front of the cathedral: James, Kyle, Chrissie, Dominique, Claire and Ashley.
View of the cathedral and city from the castle.
Kyle and me in front of the cathedral.

The main tower of the castle....where we climbed 152 steps to get to the top.
One side of the castle....I've been told by several Spaniards (I'm not sure if I believe this yet) that Walt Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's castle from this castle.
The old moat.
Segovia's beautiful castle.
Casa de conos.....house of cones.
Kyle informed us that every house had its own "stamp" that was used to decorate the outside of the house, so you knew to which family the house belonged to.
The aqueduct from the top.
The aqueduct.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Food, Friends and Good Times!

Dia de Los Reyes Magos at Esther's House: Jan 6th
Roscon, a traditional cake eaten on this day. The tradition is for each person to cut a slice from the cake and there are two little "prizes" hidden in the cake. One is a little figurine and if you get that prize, depending on who you talk to, you are king/queen for the day or you get luck for a year. The other figurine, which sometimes is a hard candy, means that you have to pay for the roscon.
A new friend, Pablo, who's from Argentina. He is Esther's neighbor and was invited to celebrate the day with us.
My friend Esther- she received the prize!
Esther and Pablo cutting the cake.
Esther and her sister Leticia.
The roscon.

Dinner with Friends at Diego's House: Jan 8th
The delicious dinner cooked for us by Diego and Javi. They are great cooks.

For dessert we had roscon, which was filled with cream. Javi and Diego acting as bride and groom while cutting the roscon together....silly boys!My good friends Laura (from Scotland) and Kyle (from Wisconsin). The dinner was nice, just the five of us eating some delicious food and enjoying great conversation until 3am. I just love the mixing of nationalities; you never know what will come from it!

Cheers!

Mallorca.....A German Colony.

Palma de Mallorca....land of the Germans. I was warned before going that the only tourists in Mallorca are Germans, but I didn't take this comment seriously. Well, when I arrived I got a rude awakening. Everyone there was German and everything written and spoken there was in German!!! It was quite humorous. I had a good time though. The beach was gorgeous and I had decent weather during my stay there. The weather was not warm enough to be walking around without a thin jacket, but warm enough to sit and enjoy the beach. I stayed on the beach S'Arenal which is in the south of Mallorca and only a 25 minute bus ride to the city Palma. So much relaxation was done during this trip and Jackeline and I celebrated New Year's Eve in the city center, which was fabulous!!! Enjoy the beautiful view of the beach!
The first night we were there.
View of the promenade and main street on S'Arenal beach.
This makes me miss the beaches in Cali!!! <3 Some man, who I believe to be homeless, made this sand sculpture and left kind messages to passerbys on the beach. He was extremely kind.
On Jackeline's and my last night in Mallorca, there was a beautiful rainbow that showed up across the sky.
Palma, the main city in Mallorca. A beautiful walkway in the gardens below the cathedral.

The cathedral in Palma from a distance.

One of the main promenades in Palma. All decorated for the holidays.

Love, love, love this architecture.
It's hard to see them, but there are 2 swans behind me somewhere!
Locked behind bars!!!!

Silly Jackeline.
Love is in the air.

I blame the sun for making us look so goofy!
This building reminded me so much of something that Gaudi would have built. :)
Hahahaha.....

Plaza Espana en Palma
Palma's Cathedral

Only bread and water for lunch....well, not really.

No, we did not take a carriage ride, but the driver was kind enough to let us take a picture in it.

New Year's Eve in the town square in Palma. Jackeline and I had a blast!
This little girl was having so much fun with her confetti.
Around 1.30 on the bus trying to get back to Arenal.




Having lunch at a restaurant across from the beach.
Beach umbrellas
Our first night we were extremely cold in our hostel room, but the owner was kind enough to bring us extra blankets and a radiator!
Everything's coming up German.
Church in Arenal.
I had so much fun watching these boys play football on the beach. The sunset was just gorgeous this night.



View of the hotels on the Arenal promenade.
Lots of Love!