Lyla's visit

In the last week of December before Christmas break, Lyla came to visit me.  I was very very excited for her visit and planned a lot of exciting things.  Of course, then I got a horrible case of pink eye.  So a lot of the awesomeness was waylaid in favor of napping and chilling.  Which might have even been better because it's always so nice to just relax with a very good friend.  Anyway, as I was still out of school on medical leave on the Thursday she arrived, I was able to pick her up from the airport and bring her into my town.  We relaxed a bit then headed back into Madrid for a dinner of sandwiches (calamares for me, lomo for her) and chocolate con churros.  We also checked out Cortylandia, the annual bizarre animatronics show put on by the local department store chain El Corte Ingles.  It was trippy.

Friday Lyla came to work with me and then we hung out in my pueblito, checking out the creepy giant Nativity Scene and a few local places.  Our enjoyment of the local places was slightly hindered by having had a bit too much fun before leaving the house, giving Twilight: Eclipse the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment.  We've now done so for all the movies, though, and it's a lot of fun.  Also, really the only thing those stupid things are good for.

us with a fiberglass elephant

On Saturday we hung out, watched movies, and gossiped.  Then it was into Madrid for some Christmas market shopping, all with great success and only slight agoraphobic fits on my part.  We also got delicious Thai food (mine was delicious, Lyla's was average) in Lavapies.  Then Lyla, Julieti, and I went out for the evening.  We wound up at this strange dance club, where we joined onto a group of Spaniards.  It was a good night, complete with techno remixes of violin music and the "No Stress" song to enrage Lyla.

pork with peppers and Thai basil... yum

On Sunday we went to Segovia on the Ave.  I must mention that I love the Ave.  The trains are so modern and sleek and just fun to look at.  Also, due to their high-speeded nature (we were going between 170 and 180 kph or 105-100 mph) we made the 93 km trip in about 25 minutes.  So we played around Segovia, which is beautiful, until night fell.  We also got a delicious lunch of two "combo plates" which we then shared to make ultimate combo plates.  (I have to say that I miss eating out for things other than the occasional kebab or sandwich.  I can't afford the time or money to do so right now, plus I live in El Escorial.  But eating out a few times with Lyla, and always wanting the same two things and sharing plates... I love it.)

me and the Roman-era aqueduct

the town of Segovia in the rich Castilla-Leon light

pretty pretty

the cathedral

The plains of Castilla-Leon are so ugly, yet I love them.  They just make me think of Salamanca.  They say that "Castilla-Leon es vida" and a part of me is inclined to agree.

me and Lyla in front of the castle

The moon was so intense in the evening sky.  Here it makes an appearance in the palace gardens.

Segovia, like so many mediaeval cities, is a walled city atop a hill.

After visiting the castle, we walked down the hill back in the direction of the bus stop we needed to get back to the train station.  The sky was amazing.

We got a little bit lost, but luckily the bus stop was right by the aqueduct, which is a major draw and therefore has signs pointing in its direction.  Before we caught the bus back to the train station, we had some chocolate and churros from Valor.  We splashed out for the fancy chocolate (mine super dark, Lyla's with orange flavor) and while the portion sizes were a bit tiny, they were awesome.

On Monday I had to work again, so Lyla relaxed around the house.  In the evening we headed into Madrid with the intent of seeing flamenco, but balked at the high cost and went and got beer instead.  Katie joined us and we had a great time at Naturbier in Plaza Santa Ana, a place I love because they make their own organic beer that absolutely destroys me.  So that was again a lot of fun.  Tuesday Lyla visited the monastery while I was at work, then we had lunch and I took her to the airport before running to my last masters class of 2010.