La Alberca

La Alberca

We looked out the window and saw this sweet sight. The Madrid Spain Missionaries all called in for a mission conference.  They took advantage of the entire mission being present for a photo op on Temple Square.  We love these missionaries.

Our favorite young missionary in Madrid, Hermana McKenna Finch.  We picked up our visas at the same time in Provo and became life long friends.  I'm hoping one of my very smart and good looking grandsons will snatch this one up.

On Monday Greg and I took a fantastic drive.  I saw this castle off the freeway.

This is a little hunting lodge built by one of the kings.  It is now a private home for some aristocrat.

The traffic got a little thick out in the country.

The wild flowers were beautiful, but we were on the tail end of the season.
The mountain was covered in fern.

Stone fences are all over Spain.  It reminds me of England.

We ran across the cute little village of Montemayor.

It seems every village has a castle,

And a church big enough to hold every member of the community, and all the surrounding area.  

El Castillo de San Vicente

Iglesia Parroquial de Montemayor

I love the way they graft their trees together.

Then we got to my new favorite town, La Alberca.

This little jewel definitely reminded me of Herefordshire, England with a Spanish flavor.

We had lunch here, and for Spanish food, it wasn't too bad.  The ambiance was the bomb!

I bought the most amazing wooden hand carved bell here.

Greg and his pig.

The Hawkins

No one loves ugly sculptures like the Spaniards.

She was loving her freedom.  You can see her utters flapping in the wind.

It was such a beautiful part of Spain.  The flowers were so pretty.
We were really wishing we had seen them a month ago.

Another castle in another little village.  The whole country is littered with castles.

Neat old bridges everywhere.

Every little burb also has a bullring.

Back in Madrid.

The National Cathedral

A shining apartment building.  It really sticks out among the
 typical red brick.  You need sunglasses just to walk by.
We had a perfect day!