Today we all woke up pretty late and had to run around to get ready. Natalia and I were able to head out on time and had a brisk walk to school to meet the bus to Avila. We got on the bus and settled down, Kieren passed out any mail that we got – I got a card from Katie that greatly cheered me up. As we drove away we discovered that Kieren got a flip - the new, small video camera that plugs into your computer. He loves it. He kept turning around and videoing us, it was so cute. 
After about an hour of driving through the beautiful countryside we arrived in Avila. We met our guide and started our walk around the city walls. We entered into the city museum and were able to walk up to the top of the wall. We saw the entire city and walked around a large majority of the wall. Some of the girls kept sitting on the wall and getting yelled at by the security guard. He hated us. After we climbed down from the wall (we used the stairs) we 
walked around almost the entire city. A lot of the people were having fun taking a million pictures of each other so eventually we left them to meet later at the bus.
Then we went into the Avila Cathedral which was built on Saint Theresa's birth place. She is the saint who all of the famous paintings and statues are made of – the ecstasy of Saint Theresa – it usually shows her visit from the angel and filled her with God's love. So we saw the small cathedral 
and then also got to see her relic. They have what is supposed to be her ring finger in a large glass container. It was pretty awesome and gross. Then we headed back to the bus.
and then also got to see her relic. They have what is supposed to be her ring finger in a large glass container. It was pretty awesome and gross. Then we headed back to the bus.On the outskirts of town we pulled over so we could get a panorama of the entire walled city. We took a group photo and Kieren played around with his video some more. Then we headed to Segovia. We drove about an hour and a half through beautiful countryside full o
f cows. Why is it that there are cows everywhere and yet they hardly ever eat beef? I thought about it for a while because this has been bothering me and then I figured that it must be because they eat cheese like crazy. O well.
f cows. Why is it that there are cows everywhere and yet they hardly ever eat beef? I thought about it for a while because this has been bothering me and then I figured that it must be because they eat cheese like crazy. O well.When we pulled into Segovia it was an amazing site. Right in the middle of town there is a giant Roman aqueduct that splits the town. It was built over two thousand years ago and is the only Roman structure still completely intact. It is made up over 
20,400 Granite stones, 166 arches and is held together by their engineering – there is no mortar or cement holding any of it together. Pretty awesome.
20,400 Granite stones, 166 arches and is held together by their engineering – there is no mortar or cement holding any of it together. Pretty awesome.We got out and had about 2 hours to go eat lunch. Natalia and I stuck with Doug because he always finds the best places to eat. We walked all the way through town and deep into the center, we found a little restaurant downstairs from a hotel. Here we had a menu del dia, it was amazing. I got saffron rice with vegetables (saffron is really inexpensive here so 
I'm eating it like crazy) and short ribs with French fries. For desert we had a cake with a marzipan layer covering it. Almost everywhere you go in central Spain has marzipan because they have almond trees everywhere. Over all the meal was amazing.
I'm eating it like crazy) and short ribs with French fries. For desert we had a cake with a marzipan layer covering it. Almost everywhere you go in central Spain has marzipan because they have almond trees everywhere. Over all the meal was amazing.We headed back to the aqueduct and met our tour guide for the city. She showed us the building in the city, which all have intricate patterns cut out of th
e cement. The poorer people used to do this because it was cheap and then the richer people copied their idea. Now all buildings that are in Segovia have to use the same ideas. We then walked to the other end of town to see the castle. The town claims that this is the castle Walt Disney used to design the castle at Disneyland but unfortunately Disney disagrees with them, it's a German castle. We walked through the castle rooms, which were very Moorish in their design which was cool. And then we climbed an extremely tiny and old spiral staircase to t
he top of the castle tower – 152 stairs. It was going great until we ran into a huge crowd of people trying to climb down. So I had to try and climb the tiny edge near the center of the spiral – it was terrifying. But when we got to the top and could see all of Segovia and the snow covered mountains in the background it was definitely worth it. Some of the girls danced to "Jump on it" and Kieren of course videotaped it – it's hilarious. But then we had to climb down the scary staircase.
e cement. The poorer people used to do this because it was cheap and then the richer people copied their idea. Now all buildings that are in Segovia have to use the same ideas. We then walked to the other end of town to see the castle. The town claims that this is the castle Walt Disney used to design the castle at Disneyland but unfortunately Disney disagrees with them, it's a German castle. We walked through the castle rooms, which were very Moorish in their design which was cool. And then we climbed an extremely tiny and old spiral staircase to t
he top of the castle tower – 152 stairs. It was going great until we ran into a huge crowd of people trying to climb down. So I had to try and climb the tiny edge near the center of the spiral – it was terrifying. But when we got to the top and could see all of Segovia and the snow covered mountains in the background it was definitely worth it. Some of the girls danced to "Jump on it" and Kieren of course videotaped it – it's hilarious. But then we had to climb down the scary staircase. 
After we got to the bottom we walked back through the city until we reached the aqueduct again. We said good bye to our crazy tour guide and got back on the bus for our long ride home. We finally got home at about eight at night. We said good night and headed back home. Once we got there we had a quick dinner and I went to bed immediately.
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