Spain...

Spain has been pretty great I must say. There is beautiful mountain ranges everywhere, and its been quite warm, not quite like Portugal, but similar. It kind of reminds me of Colorado actually.. Anyway, the last few days we've seen so much. Elaine took us out to Sogovia and Pedraza yesterday. Theyre these little walled cities built up on a hill, about an hour and a halfish-out of Madrid. Really interesting as theres some roman ruins around up there and castels and things. Everything is sooo old! So much history in all these places. We went out for 'tapas' while we were there too.. thats just kind of like the spanish 'snack'. we all shared a baby lamb, which is one of their specialty dishes. It was interesting, reminds me a little of Pork only a more wild taste to it. We also tried Iberical Ham, and basically its a big pig leg. Another spanish favorite. These things are everywhere, and just hanging around in windows and restuarants. they have the whole hoof and hair on it still and theyre cured, so they last for years. Brent and Elaine have on here at their place, so they cut some off for us yesterday (note the pic), and its sort of like beef jerky, only ham. Not so appealing to have sitting around i think, but its not bad! These things are worth quite a bit too, for eaxmple Brent said he got it for a gift, but normally it would cost around $600... for one pig leg! haha.. i was amazed. Spains probably got the most different culture we've hit so far as far as foods and traditions and history. And their meals, so funny- Lunch at 2-3pm, dinner at 9-10 pm and then in the middle, they close down everything for a siesta. like their work, restaurants and stores..Restaurants wouldnt even open again till 8:30pm! Its weird to adjust to that. but its cool! I find myself eating a lot more than normal, since I get hungry at normal meal times, and then I eat again at theirs. haha..its great! Madrids been a lot of fun, its Spains capital, and biggest city. And to compare with Canada, Spain is bigger, ppl wise, than all of Canada combined and then some! Anyway, i gotta run for a while. We are heading out with Brent and Elaine tonight, and Im looking forward to it! They have been SO amazing, so much fun, and its SO nice to see Spain this way, because they know all the things to see and do around here, and they've given us a real taste of the culture, which we could have never got otherwise. Its so nice to not have to take all our little maps out with us and get lost for once. haha.. yeah its been a lot of fun!