This was a bookstore we went into while touring Porto, Portugal.  We were all curious why we were even wasting our time going into a bookstore when we had so much to see in the town with such little time.  It turns out the bookstore was incredible and we were all very happy we were able to go inside.  The video pretty much speaks for itself, hope y’all enjoy.

While in Santiago, we took an hour hike through the city which ended at the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. This was the end of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James. The pilgrimage is actually an incredibly long trek that takes people about 3 months to complete. We were able to tour the cathedral and see the crypt and many other holy historical items in the cathedral. This video is outside the cathedral while a band is playing. Hope y’all enjoy.

We also traveled to Montserrat, a mountain near Barcelona, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary. The views were breathtaking and we had a blast taking pictures and enjoying the perfect weather. After we looked around a while, we decided to hike to the summit of Montserrat, Sant Jeroni (Saint Jerome), and stands at 1,236 meters (4,055 feet) above sea-level. The hike was pretty intense and we needed to hurry to be able to get back to the bus on time. The hike was an hour and 20 min and half of the hike was going up large staircases carved out of the rock. After it was all said and done the view was well worth the pain. Enjoy the view, although the video does not come close to doing the view justice.

Hey everyone. We just took a weekend trip to Barcelona and we all had the time of our lives. We arrived and stayed at a nice 4 star hotel right next to Camp Nou, which is home to FC Barcelona. It was pretty amazing going and seeing the stadium and the main cathedral. This cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, is still under construction but is the main attraction in Barcelona. It is truly amazing and the detail put into the structure will blow your mind. It is a church built solely through donations and receives about 2 million tourists a year. There are two main façades, the first is the Nativity and the second is the Passion. You will see both in the videos below and I will also give you a look inside the church. Hope yall enjoy.

PONTON ALTO DAM

Hey everyone. On our way to Cuidad Real from Segovia we got the opportunity to go inside a dam called Ponto Alto. This is a dam just outside Segovia and creates a reservoir where they receive most of their water. It was a really cool experience just being on top of the dam but actually going inside was amazing. This dam is a double curvature dam, meaning it curves at the top but also has curvature going down. You will be able to see it better when you watch the videos. We got to see all the different tools they use to make sure the dam isn’t shifting at all and actually got to go outside where the emergency spillway is crashing into the water below. As we got to the lowest point it got so cold we were able to see our own breath, it was pretty incredible. Here are a few videos of the experience, hope yall enjoy.

Here is a little taste of some food we have been eating. This place is a Kebab restaurant and they have huge chunks of meat on a rod slowly spinning and cooking next to a flame, similar to roasting a chicken in the States. We have eaten at this place three times in a period of a week and a half, which should tell you how good the tenera (beef) kebab tastes. They give you huge portions on a plate along with bread so you can make your own sandwich. They also will put it all together into a wrap called a “Durum”. Here is a look at how much food they gave us and what exactly it looks like.

Today we woke up around 9am to head down for breakfast in the hotel. We had café con leche (expresso with hot milk), orange juice and a huge buffet of croissants, fruit, jamon (ham), different types of cheeses, and tortilla (which is similar to an omelet with potatoes). Then we headed down to the castle which is named the Alcázar of Segovia. It was pretty incredible and was really cool to see something so old and so massive. We had a guided tour and traveled from room to room and we were able to see how detailed the décor was in that time period. We were also able to travel to the top of the main tower and get an incredible view of the entire city and surrounding countryside. Hope you enjoy!

After a 9 hour flight from DFW we touched down in Madrid, Spain and got on a bus for Toledo, which is a quick 45 minute ride.  Toledo is a very old city with a lot of historical buildings.  The cobblestone streets are very narrow and cars fly down and are very good at maneuvering the sharp corners.  The shout of “coche” gives you a quick warning to get up against the wall because of the lack of sidewalks.  One day for our cultural class we got to go to the market in a plaza outside the historical city walls.  The market is similar to a farmers market in the US but they also sell shirts, electronics, and other goods. It was really interesting seeing how the vendors try and get people to come buy their items and how they interact.  This is a short video of the day to hopefully give you a small inside look.  Adios de Espana.