"I forgot what it felt like to feel circulation in my toes"

Today we had our first group trip! We went to Segovia – about an hour and a half from where we are. Segovia is known for the beautiful aqueduct that is thousands of years old. According to our tour guide (Antonio who is not a fan of me and my picture taking), it is the only evidence that remains today of Roman presence in Spain. The only upsetting thing about today is that it was absolutely frigid. Luckily I was prepared and bundled up in a Cochni sweater (of course), scarf, hat, gloves and of course the north face coat. It was -4 degrees Celsius (so high 20s I believe?) Segovia is a bit higher in altitude than Madrid so it is always colder but everywhere was cold today. We walked up from the aqueduct to the cathedral and passed lots of cute stores. (All the stores here are having huge sales because of the past holiday season – but it’s only going to last for another week or so. Tons of the girls are dying to get their shopping done. However, Antonio had us on a tight schedule). We took a tour of the castillo, which was beautiful. Every ceiling was decorated with intricate detail. The castillo had an incredible view hat looked over all of Segovia. We climbed up the tower and I was able to whip out my fish-eye lense and get some cool pictures. It’s crazy constantly visiting and seeing so many beautiful things. It’s all still so surreal to me that I am living here! I’m just trying to take it all in – as much as I can. After, we headed to the catedral and took a tour AROUND the cathedral (family joke – love you Nan.) Once we stepped inside we all starting snapping pictures immediately and found out we were allowed to inside. There were sections within the catedral – one had all of these paintings depicting various ways Christ impacts our lives. This particular painting was especially interesting with a skeleton on one side of a tree using an axe to cut it down. Standing on the other side was Christ. On top of the tree were all these mini-people sitting, eating etc. It was really obscure but I thought it was an interpretation of the after-life.
After all our tours we had some free time to walk in the streets to shop. Of course it was siesta though. In small towns like Alcala and Segovia, most all clothing stores close from around 2 until 4 or 5pm. The only stores open are cafes and restaurants. So we all found ourselves in this small pastry shop – which will be the downfall for all of us. There were countless delicious treats that I won’t even get into because I don’t want to sound obese. We planned that we’ll enjoy “Spain” (meaning food-wise) for a few weeks and when we get close to the trips where the weather will be warmer we’ll start to be more concerned and monitor our pastry intake. Anyway, the bus ride home we all fell asleep and recharged for tonight! We haven’t decided if we’re going to Madrid with the other kids from U of A or what the plan is but whatever it is, it will be fun!