Sunday Guests

Yesterday after church, we enjoyed the company of, and a fajita dinner with, two of the sister missionaries in our ward and a group of BYU students (current and former) who where here working on a research project.

Here are the two missionaries, Sister Holly Clark of Star Valley, Wyoming, and Sister Catherine Kristina Shepherd of Derby, England, along with Beverly and Scott:

They are such wonderful, dedicated missionaries. Before they left, they shared a scripture and spiritual thought.

Our other dinner guests, with Scott and Beverly in this picture, were Layne Watson (whose parents live in Anchorage, Alaska), Leah Greene (whose parents live in West Bend, Wisconsin), Rory Haglund (whose parents live in Chicago, Illinois; she is cousin to our son-in-law Marshall), and Eric (not shown in the picture because he was ill and taking a nap):

They were in Madrid as part of a research project that Eric is doing for his master's degree at BYU. All four have a bachelor's degree from BYU or are attending BYU right now.

We had a wonderful time eating and chatting.

Missionaries in Códoba

While Scott, Beverly, and Miriam de Schweinitz were visiting Córdoba (we'll do a separate blog post about the city), we met the missionaries at church and took them out for lunch at a nice restaurant.

Elder Jackson from Kanab, Utah, in the back on the left; Elder Woodford from Star Valley, Wyoming, in the back center; Miriam and Beverly on the right; with members of the Córdoba branch:

Beverly, Miriam, Elder Woodford, and Elder Jackson at lunch:

We were impressed by the dedication and spirit of these wonderful missionaries.

El Escorial

On Saturday, June 23, 2012, Beverly and I took the train to the Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a historical residence of the King of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 28 miles northwest of Madrid. El Escorial is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school.

We traveled by Bus 32 to Atoche Renfe train station and then took the cercanía ("near-by") train to El Escorial. From there we took a taxi to the Valle de los Caídos, a Basílica and monument in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Conceived by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to honor and bury those who fell during the Spanish Civil War, it was also claimed by Franco that the monument was meant to be a "national act of atonement."

Valle de los Caídos, Basilica of the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen:

Closer-up view of the huge Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen on the hill above the basilica:

 Archway, Basilica Valle de los Caídos:

After our half-hour stop at the Valle de los Caídos, our taxi driver took us to El Escorial:

Another view of El Escorial (photos inside the monastery were not allowed):

A wedding had just taken place in the basílica of El Escorial:

A picture of some of the wedding party in the basilica courtyard:

A Rolls-Royce awaited the newly married couple:

A view of El Escorial from the other side:

A closeup of the monastery garden:

Our final view of El Escorial as we walked back to the train station:

It was an enjoyable day in a wonderful part of Spain.

Toledo, Spain

On June 22, 2012, Scott and Beverly took the Renfre train from the Madrid Atocha station to Toledo, Spain. This is the notice for the Toledo train leaving from Atocha:

We arrived in Toledo about 8:50 (30 minute train ride from Madrid) to this station:

This was our first view of Alcázar fortress (now a museum), the Alcántara bridge, and the Tajo River:

 This is a closer view of Alcázar on the hill in the old walled city of Toledo:

Here is another view of Alcázar and the Río Tajo:

 Beverly stands at the entrance of Alcázar after we had gone through the museum:

Scott was not happy that cameras weren't allowed inside the museum; however, they were allowed in the courtyard:

After visiting Alcázar, we went to the wonderful art museum--Museo de la Santa Cruz:

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Wonderfully, this museum allowed photography inside and out. Here is the inner courtyard of the art museum:

 This beautiful painting is La Verónica con la Santa Faz by El Greco:

This is an example of a panel of azulejos (patterned ceramic tiles), made in Lisbon in the 17th century, on display at the Museo de la Santa Cruz:

Our next stop was shopping on the way to the Catedral de Toledo, shown here at the end of a narrow street (with Spanish flags on display):

This is the main façade of the Catedral de Toledo:

Inside the Catedral was this famous painting by El Greco, Disrobing of Christ (El Espolio), 1577-79, located in the Sacristy:

Next we went to the Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca, which at one time was a Jewish synagogue but long ago was converted into a catholic church:

We took a trip outside the old city to a viewpoint, from which we could see the Río Tajo and the entire historic center:

The trip around and outside the city was in this little train:

We loved Toledo!

We Are Official Spanish Residents

Today we made the trip (two hours round trip by subway) from the Pavones metro station near our apartment to a government building (near the Aluche metro station) where we picked up our Permiso de Residencia, which officially gives us Spanish residency. It's a restricted residency; it does not allow us to work (at least not for money!) and lasts only one year (after which time we have to renew the cards).

Our residency cards (names and signatures removed for security reasons)

We're excited to have these cards because now we can have free entrance (for Senior citizen  residents) to the wonderful Madrid museums!

A Birthday Party for Sister Eastman

Tuesday, June 10, 2012, was Sister Teresa Eastman's birthday. Sister Eastman is in charge of decorating the doors of temple missionaries on their birthdays, so Beverly and Miriam thought it would be nice to surprise her by decorating her door and holding a party for her.

Beverly, Teresa, Miriam

Beverly prepared a fruit pizza, a fruit plate, and ham sandwiches. Miriam baked and decorated a cake, and brought a watermelon and salted almonds:

Nearly all of the temple missionaries came (there were 24 people present), including President Tenney and his counselor President Payá, and their wives:

Pres. Tenney, Sister Eby (standing), the Lloyds, the Payas, and Sister Eastman

We even had a short impromptu recital and sing-along, thanks to David Eastman:

Everyone said it was a great party!

Guests from the United States

Scott, Beverly, Randall and Gayle Jones (Gilbert, AZ), Miriam de Schweinitz, Mary Martínez (Mesa, AZ)

Randall and Gayle Jones of Gilbert, AZ, have a son who recently received his mission call to the Peru Lima East Mission. When they searched for information on their son's mission, they found our previous blog, which led them to our current blog. What a coincidence that their first son was serving where we are serving now (Spain) and their second son will be serving where we served before (Peru). The Jones emailed us that they were on their way to Spain to pick up their son from his mission so we invited them to our church meetings and to dinner afterwards.

We also met a young woman at church that day, Mary Martinez of Mesa, AZ, who was studying in Granada, Spain, on a semester abroad program. She was staying a few days in Madrid before returning to the U.S. so we also invited her to dinner.

And of course we invited our close friend and fellow temple worker Miriam de Schweinitz.

We had a great meal and and chatted for a long time after lunch. Best wishes to the Joneses and to Mary!