Real Life Cheetah Girls

Y'ALL. I just lived my dream this last week!!! I became a real life Cheetah Girl and even have a music video to prove it!!! 

Okay, okay I am going to try and calm down and share. It is so hard to write this post because my heart is literally still in BARCELONA! It had everything I could've ever want in this life. The beach, then mountains, then a super fun city. Obviously everything a girl could ever need. 

Alright, still trying to share and not succeeding. Let's get it started. We started off early in the morning and had a long, long bus ride to get up north. First stop: Zaragoza!!! We visited the Catedral de Zaragoza and the Catedral de Soa. It was also Ash Wednesday so we were able to sit in on real life mass and also get the ash cross in our hair! I loved experiencing this and listening to what the mass was all about (lent) AND in Spanish! It was also a great way to truly start off lent. I have participated in lent for the past couple of years, so I feel like I truly had to start following through with what I have decided to give up for lent this year. 

Then finally, BARCELONA!!! It is literally perfection. I cannot stop dreaming about it. Or watching this awesome video that my BFF Cassie made. (http://youtu.be/xYEBS_NYkjg) yeah. We are the real Cheetahs. 

ANYWAYS, wow I really feel so scatterbrained right now. so. Barcelona. yes. The first thing we did was take a bus to the top of a giant hill right in Barcelona to see who the whole city! You could see the mountains to the left and the ocean to the right. Just how I like it. We then started on our walking tour through Barcelona. We saw every government building, every capilla, every street performer, then visited the most utterly jaw-dropping piece of architecture I have ever seen in my life. Barcelona really is the city of Gaudi. Key word- Gaudi. We started with La Sagrada Familia, which is honestly the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The whole group's mouths were wide open when we first walked up to it. It is so much bigger and more detailed then you could ever imagine or see in the pictures. AND it is still not finished! The whole actual front of the basilica is not even finished! Gaudi's vision is still being fulfilled and all his work is inspired by nature. The inside is supposed to appear as a forrest and in all his work there are never any straight lines because in nature those just don't exist! We also visited the Gaudi Park where the famous "gingerbread house" and the tiled benches are located. It was so gorgeous and his architectural genius continues all throughout the park. Everywhere you look you can tell Gaudi planned every single bit of it. His style is so interesting to look at and inspires a more colorful outlook. 

Another key word of the trip. Las Ramblas. This is basically the main street of Barcelona where all the little street shops set up and there is absolutely fabulous shopping! Also on this street is an outdoor market called La Boqueria. If you are ever in Barcelona, this place is a necessity! We were able to buy the sweetest fruit, smell the super fresh fish, and spend almost 20 euros on chocolate and candy. Oh, and don't forget the gelato! Go to Barcelona hungry. Trust me. 

Last key word. La Playa. I. love. the. beach. And  just sitting on the beach is good enough for me! The sunset was also perfect. So overall. Perfection. I'm tellin' ya. Barcelona is the place for me. Also a place for all the girls with a little Cheetahliciousness in them. 

xoxo,

Lyds {the other Cheetah Girl not actually in the movie}

The South

I am going to go ahead and ask for forgiveness now because this post is a big one! I really wanted to post each night during this last week’s trip, but the internet in our hotels was spotty and we were exhausted anyways! All right, let’s get this started.

All y’all know I am from the South, right? So of course it only makes sense that I go on a trip to the South of Spain! And oh my goodness, if you come to visit Spain, the South is a must have in your itinerary! If I picked some place to live in Spain, I would say any where in the South. Not only was it so much warmer, but it was also so so beautiful and more relaxed.

Our first stop of the trip was Cordoba. I adored Cordoba! It felt like a little beach town with the bright colored houses and the small streets. Cordoba is also super famous for La Mezquita, which is another place I have only ever seen in pictures. It was HUGE. And I mean the inside of this mosque was ginormous. I think I remember the guide saying there were over 80 arches? Huge. We also saw the cutest little street called el Calle de los Flores. It was so charming. That street took everything good about Cordoba and put it all together! Another favorite thing of mine is that all the streets and courtyards are chalk full of orange trees. The locals don’t actually eat the oranges, but use them to make marmalades. We decided to use them for a photo shoot and play soccer of course.

From Cordoba we continued on to Sevilla and stayed there for the night. The next day we toured Sevilla by bus and on foot. Here we saw the Olympic park that was built, but never hosted the Olympics, another very large Cathedral de Sevilla, which is actually the biggest Moorish Cathedral in Europe, and another Palace, or Alcazar de Sevilla, with the most beautiful gardens. Sevilla was a lot more modern of a city than what we have been seeing, so it was very interesting to see the combination of their old town vs. the newer sides of town. Also, while we were in Sevilla, Brad Wilcox put on a fireside for the Elders and the young single adults (YSA) in the area. There were just about 30 missionaries there and it was so great to meet and talk to them. They are all so extremely happy to be serving the Lord and be serving him in the beautiful South! I made a lot of fun connections with multiple missionaries as well. It is such a small world!

The next morning we took off for Granada. Granada is mainly known for the Alhambra, and yes the H is silent. The Alhambra is a huge Muslim Palace that is on the hills of Granada. There is beautiful tile work and amazing, clay, engraved walls; everywhere you looked there was something beautiful to look at! Every room had Muslim references and every single wall had written on it, “Only God is Victorious.” I thought that was so cool that even though the Sultans had essentially all power, they still recognized God as the only one that could ever make them powerful or successful. Also in the Alhambra was a baptismal font created to be just like one from the Biblical Solomon’s Temple. This was so special to see because as Mormons we have something similar in our temples and fact is, everything in the temple is laid out in the scriptures. I love studying the ordinances that we can receive in the temple. The gardens of the Alhambra were also so large that this tour definitely was a killer to our feet, but completely worth it.

Going down South was a great trip and it was made even better by the people that I have gotten to know and love so quickly. I have been out here not even a month and I know I have made long-lasting friendships and relationships with the people I have met. We haven’t been out here very long, but it feels like months have passed and time is still flying! I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity I have to experience the Spanish culture and to see and touch the history in this country! Hasta luego amigos!

Xoxo,

Lyds