Spain!

I was so excited to see Victor again, this time with his whole family! Sonia, Juan and Sophia are so unbelievably kind and they feel like family.
Sonia and Victor picked us up from the airport and we began our grand tour of Spain and Portugal!

First stop was the apartment for some watermelon, then the streets for some gelatto from the oldest bakery in Seville. Off to a perfect start!!

I fell in LOVE with the diverse, gorgeous and intricate architecture of this city. It was simply stunning!

Everywhere you look was a brand new, dazzling building, park, restaurant or street. This one was just magical!

Love the combo of modern brands and ancient architecture

I was blown away by the intricate, exquisite detail of the Islamic decorations. I can't even comprehend the time, dedication and love that was required to cover every inch of the walls and ceilings with this glorious art!

These tiles are gorgeous! I love the geometry and clean, vibrant feel of them

An organ powered by water, only a handful of them exist in the world. The sound was captivating!

Palm trees! So summer!

What a beach!

Y-U-M

Mango smoothie on the beach? Don't mind if I do

The stained glass threw rainbows everywhere

Christopher Columbus' tomb

Look how tan I am!!! And my cute charm bracelet from Evyn

I think I am tanner than Ruby!

My new favorite store EVER. They sell a brand called Sfera that has the cutest clothes for super duper cheap. I bought like 7 shirts and wish I would have bought more because you can't buy that brand online or in the US!

Alhambra

None of my pictures could do the view justice

Suave Victor

These water droplets look like diamonds!

Amazing Flamenco performance!! Unlike anything I've ever seen. Flamenco is such a passionate, sizzling, mysterious, strong and powerful form of dance. And the singers have extremely gravely, rich, rough, loud and passionate voices. I'm so grateful I could see this so I can expand my appreciation, understanding and knowledge of dance. The dance world is so diverse and rich!

And we got the BEST ice cream I've ever had walking home from the concert. Chocolate truffle.

Cathedral at Cordoba. I've dreamed of going since I saw it in the AP Art History text book. By the way, did I tell you I got a FIVE on the AP Art History test?? And 4s on English Lit and Lang! Hallelujah

Someone was playing the organ in the church and it really hit me. I was standing in this church with hundreds of years of prayer, change, worship, song, art, culture, history, royalty, celebration, births, and deaths.

Victor's country house. Indescribable. We had a lovely swim and then a yummy dinner of chicken skewers and other super good stuff

It was marvelous at night time!

We went on these waterslides like 20 times. And there are 60 stairs to get up to one. We were all exhausted at the end of the day! In the best way possible. Sitting at the top of them waiting for the signal to go, it just felt like summer. The cotton-candy colored slides, the blue sparkling water, the Spanish sun. I couldn't get enough of it!

AquaBadajoz!

Some of my spoils. Trying to pack them all into an already full backpack

The beaches in Spain and Portugal. Enough said.

Our hotel. There are turtles in the courtyard and they hang fresh bread on your door every morning. I was wishing this was my dorm. It was so adorable and I could use the rolls and the rest of the breakfast they put in a mini fridge to last me the whole day. Boom!

The Altieris know how to dine!

This specific day in Portugal was so foggy!! And hot and humid. But fun!

Stork nests

When Ruby and I saw these advertised in a tiny cafe, we had to get one. They don't have peanut butter in Europe, so we savored every last bite of this!

This gorgeous beach was a nude one. Luckily Victor would warn me to avert my eyes if he saw a fat old guy stripping down. Because let's be honest, the only ones that are naked are the fat old ones.

I have a huge crush on Portugal and Spain

And this dessert

Gema (bottom left) was my mom's good friend at Indiana. She is spunky, fun-loving, funny, youthful, has the best laugh, is gorgeous, generous and amazing. I'm so glad we could see her! And her husband and two adorable (mischievous) little boys

Love them!!

The chocolate section at El Cortes Ingles had us swooning

Victor was hilarious. He was just as enthusiastic as we were. He told us that when he was little and they were approaching the chocolate aisle, his mom would say "Juan, get the kids." and he'd usher them quickly past it. hahahaha

If only our backpacks were bigger...

Madrid

Segovia

We got to meet the older Victor, the one my mom Dear Johnned by dad for in her crazy, rebellious college days. :) He is so so nice, easy to talk to and kind-hearted. His girlfriend Paloma was just lovely and his daughter Emma was adorable!

The gardens at a royal cathedral. Gema married a guy who was related to the ancestors of the royal family, so she was able to get married here!

We took a long walk around the gardens with Victor and his family after a sensational lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Awww Victor laughing :)

So, when we got back to our apartment in Madrid, the lights didn't turn on. The Wi-Fi didn't work, our phones wouldn't charge, the A.C. wouldn't work. We had ZERO power! Juan was staying with his mom nearby and couldn't fix it, so we just fended for ourselves! haha just kidding, we had a ton of fun

We weren't tired, so we just sat in the living room in the dark and talked about deep stuff. Mostly life and religion and stuff. Victor is one of our closest friends and it amazes me how much we can talk about so openly, even though we've only spent a few months together in person. He is just an awesome young man!

This list of artists was overwhelming in it's amazingness. It's in the Prada Museum in Madrid. My Art History brain was going nuts! I mean look at all those famous, incredible, genius artists!! It was like Disney Land!!