Spain & Italy

Tour of Spain & Italy

I finally have a minute to sit down and post about my adventures.  It always takes a minute to get my feet back underneath me after a vacation. That being said, it was a blast!  No adventure is complete if my husband and children aren't with me.   So I found myself often times wishing that they could see what I was seeing.  Many people said, "your husband let you go?" Actually he was so excited for me.  I love that about him.  He loves and supports my craziness. Although it would have been better if he had been with me, I was so grateful to go.

Davina's son had a soccer camp in Spain with Real Madrid, and Aurora, her daughter, had a horse camp.  Davina invited me to go with her, and I couldn't refuse.  The four of us had so much fun exploring together.
 I prayed before going that I would be able to share the gospel wherever possible on my trip, and I definitely had that opportunity.  During the course of my flights there and flights home I sat next to 5 different people, and had the opportunity to share my testimony with each of them.  I only had one Book of Mormon on me so after giving that one away, I had to give resourceful information for them to follow.  One gentlemen was a Bible historian.  That might sound scary, but he was actually the easiest person to talk with because with the knowledge that he had it made perfect sense that there would be more.  He was like a sponge.... because he new very little about the LDS religion and historically found it fascinating.

One gentlemen I spoke was in very humble circumstances.  I could tell life had been pretty tough lately, and very quickly I shared things with him that would bring hope and happiness.  You could see his mind was on fire with new concepts and hope for his future.
I love the gospel and especially sharing it with others. 

Spain was beautiful.  I don't know what I really expected other than what I have seen in movies and pictures.  I assumed that Spain and Italy were similar.  In some ways they were but in others they were very different.  A big difference to me was the people.  The people in Spain seemed very confident in themselves and their country.  From what I gathered they are not very fond of Americans.  It felt like being in Paris, where it feels like the people are being flat our rude sometimes.  As soon as they let their guards down they would warm up immediately.  Very interesting.  I'm sure the language barrier had something to do with that aspect too.   Architecturally it was stunning.  I love the detail put into the buildings.  We went through this gorgeous palace! The decor,  furniture and texture to the walls made for an incredible experience.  I'll post pictures.  We stayed at the Palace Hotel.  We visit the Real Madrid stadium.  We saw too many beautiful things to list.
 Driving in Spain was hilarious.  I swear there would be four lanes and unannounced to us one of the lanes would just disappear.  Everyone else seemed cool with it, but it freaked us out.  

One night we were eating at a restaurant that had set up tables in the middle of the streets, and all of the sudden it began raining buckets of water.  Our tables had umbrellas, but they didn't shield us entirely from getting wet.  Instead of running inside like most... we ate up the experience. Then went inside for some delicious food. .  It was one of my favorite times in Spain.  The ambiance of the streets and the warm rain.  I loved it.
Okay we went to this place called "Sol", because an Elder(missionary), from Madrid, who is now serving in Austin recommended I go there. There were literally thousands of people walking everywhere in the middle of this large square with shopping, food, and entertainment.  I was thinking about the gospel and how many people in this square were either members or had heard of the LDS faith.  For a moment I was overwhelmed by even the thought of it, when all of a sudden from a store I saw a large group of LDS missionaries.  I get chills when I even think about it, because for me it was like the Lord was showing me exactly what he was doing to reach everyone on an individual basis.  It was incredible.  They were their own little army in white shirts and ties.  I gathered a group of them and was able to get a picture.

In Spain they had these funny stone guys for entertainment.  It was pretty crazy.  I stared and stared and couldn't figure out how it was working.  You'll see the pictures and know what I mean. If you know how they are doing this.. please share.

We slept in our car the last night in Spain in order to get closer to the airport and make our flight with no complications.  I don't recommend doing that. :)

We then flew to Rome and took a Train straight from there to Venice.  The children did amazing with all of the travels.  Very good sports.
Venice was Venice.  Exactly how I had envisioned.  You'll see in the pictures.  A city built on water.  For me  Venice had a soul.  As we rode through the city on a gondola I could feel the history coming out of the walls.  Again there was so much detail in the architecture.  I could envision exactly what it was like because so much has been preserved to perfection.  We had a blast walking through the streets and exploring the shops.  We ate at this restaurant right off the water that was recommended to us by our gondola driver.  The food was not the best, but it was my favorite restaurant experience by far! The waiter didn't understand what Davina was asking for and got so frustrated with her that he just left shaking his hands in the air saying "Mamma Mia"  we couldn't stop laughing.  They really say it when they're mad!! Hilarious! I guess you had to be there.  Lady and the Tramp use to be my favorite cartoon, and so that moment just wrapped up the Italian culture for me.     For me the city of Venice was magical.
We thought we were staying in a hotel in Venice, but when you book things on line anything can happen. We ended up being in a little town called Mira.  At first we were sad, but after seeing where we were it couldn't have been better.  We stayed in a gorgeous Villa.  Actually I found out that the Villa was haunted by the first lady of the property who lived there many years ago.  Of course, I didn't sleep well that night.  Someone had to stay up and protect everyone from the ghost.  I'll put pics of the room, and you tell me if you could have slept knowing it was haunted.

The town was beautiful!  It was a little Tuscan town wrapped up with so much character.  We ate at a very quaint restaurant with great food, and Italian music.  So fun.
After staying in Venice for two days we then took off to Rome.
Now Rome was amazing!!!  In America we see things that are a few hundreds of years old and that is cool.  Can you imagine seeing things that were from before Christ was born?  Breathtaking!  I was in awe most of the time to think of the knowledge they possessed to create such beauty.  The buildings portrayed different time periods, therefore, representing the people and their beliefs.  Incredible. We walked through the Roman Forum, The Vatican, Coliseum, St. Peters, Sistine chapel, Piazza, Spanish Steps, temples, and so much more.  I had two favorites. The Coliseum was amazing!  I have seen so many pictures and heard so much about it, but it was nothing compared to actually seeing it.  It was an incredible structure.  The more we learned about the building of it, and the capabilities within the walls I felt like it was one of the best depictions of the way life in Rome during that period of time. I also loved being able to see the Sistine chapel decorated by Michelangelo's works of art.  Again I have seen pictures, but to see it in person was breathtaking.  He was an inspired and incredibly talented human being.  He had a gift no doubt.
We went to a restaurant called Caponili... It was by far the best restaurant we went to.  It was built right on top of an old Roman historical building.  So cool!  You can sit on top for a beautiful overview of Rome.  The food was incredible!  The floor was glass so that you could see the building structure below you.  You'll see pics of that too.

Tell me the doors aren't cool there!

Oooh I found the coolest thing in Rome.  A Red Beard pirate sword.  It was so cool, I had to have it for my son.  I know crazy right, to buy a 5 year old a real sword.  But trust me you would have done the same.  The detail was amazing, and you should have seen Corbin's face when I gave it to him.
 I really could go on forever.  The details are endless.  Overall, the trip was an unforgettable experience, and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to go.  Enjoy the pics.