Skip to main content

I'm on the Top of the World!

Dear Reader,


I'm surprised that this song by The Carpenters hasn't shown up on this blog yet. Despite that, here is a recap of our trip for this week! We visited El Escorial in Madrid and another castle on our day trip to Madrid, Spain.

Study Abroad Group, Spain, Fall 2014

We are standing on the edge! The shot above is taken in front of the Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos. The church is in the mountains to the north of Madrid and is a monument to those who fell during the civil war of Spain. Just like almost every other monument we have visited, we were not allowed to take pictures inside. It was beautiful! When I say the church is in the mountain, I literally mean to say in, as in inside. If you have seen "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring," you can compare it to the mines of Moria. There is one long hallway leading up the chapel that is at the middle of the mountain. The cupola looks flat, but it is actually a dome. Supposedly there is some uneasy feelings between people who visit this place, feelings that have been carried over since the war ended in 1939. Luckily for you, I don't really get involved in politics, so I don't really understand what problems who has with who. Here all you see in the greatness of the architecture, regardless of the motives behind it. That cross is huge! It is all granite, too. You can get an idea of the height from our friends beneath it. The girl in the bright green jacket is 5'10". With a little bit of imagination and mathematics, it does not take long to figure out that the cross is very tall. You can see it from the bottom of the mountain.

El Escorial
After our visit to the Valle de los Caidos, we went to visit the El Escorial, which is the historical residence of the king of Spain. The picture below is of the Plaza on the west side of the building. As we walked through the Monastery, we learned all about the different kings who lived there since the time it was built. There was one king who was so sick that he was moved to a room above the church. That way, he could open the door in his room and here the services and the music that the choir provided. He lived like that for a year before he died.

Again, we were not allowed to take pictures inside. That is probably a good thing in this case, though. A good part of our tour through the palace was filled with tombs of kings and queens. There was also a part set aside for royal family who never came to the throne because of death or other reasons. In total, I counted more than 110 tombs between the two pantheons inside. The majority of those tombs were dedicated to royal children that died at birth or at a very young age.

It was a very fun trip! We came back and ended up at the Medieval Fair that is being held in our Spanish hometown this week. It is in honor of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, one of the most well-known Spanish writers. He has dozens of poems and is the author of the famous "Don Quijote de la Mancha." As you can see from the picture below, we had a good time with good food.






Labels:
Location: El Escorial, Madrid, Spain

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Am I Proud to Be an American?

This weekend is the 4th of July, or Independence Day in the United States of America. One of my favorite songs during this time of celebrating the country is "God Bless the USA." The words paint a detailed picture of the beauty of the United States, both in a physical and emotional aspect. Our country is often depicted in a majestic manner such as this, making it seem like the greatest in the world and we often hear those bold words, "I'm proud to be an American."  With all of the issues that have been cropping up over the past couple of years such as impeachment, systemic racism, foreign intervention, and most significantly the COVID-19 pandemic, I have reflected deeply about what we celebrate with the 4th of July. These issues are just a few of the many that have made me wonder about the country we praise so proudly.  Am I really proud to be an American?  Thomas Jefferson wrote the candid words of the Declaration of Independence, which were th...
Post a Comment
Read more

You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breath, shine like gold...

Dear Readers, Ok, so I can't fit the entire title into the title box. It's a good song, go look it up: "You make me smile." The title can apply to anyone, I've found. The rest of the lyrics would probably refer to a best friend or a significant other, but anyone can make you smile. They all have the own way of doing it. Some are just funny all the time and you can't help smiling when you're around that person. I know some who take care of people so well that you just smile when they're doing something for another. Others you can talk to about your problems and no matter what they say, it seems to make sense and you feel better...thus a smile. Ok, a smile doesn't always come in that case, but people usually smile after that. Anyone can have a blonde moment and make everyone smile because of it. I'm glad I've got friends who can do all of these: have blonde moments, take care of others or have an episode of hyperactivity that you can't he...
5 comments
Read more

Book of Mormon Stories

Dear Reader, Today I simply want to share a story that has strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon over the years. Professor Felix Mynhardt was fluent in many languages, including English, Afrikaans, Hebrew and Egyptian, as well as many others. He was employed as a language professor when he had been praying that the Lord would give him some divinely important task that would justify his having this gift of language from God. In 1970 he visited with a group of Mormon leaders, who sought to commission him to translate the Book of Mormon from English into Afrikaans. He said that he knew of the Book of Mormon from his religions studies, and his initial reaction was that he did not want to be involved in translating it. However, that evening, as he prayed upon his knees, as was his habit, he said the Spirit of the Lord convinced him. The message was something on the order of, "You asked me for a great, divinely inspired task of translation, I sent it to you in the form o...
Post a Comment
Read more