Segovia

James, my roomate, Kaila and I in Plaza Mayor in Segovia. 

Upon meeting me, there are two things you will pick up on rather quickly.  Numero uno, I drink excessive amounts of water.  I never leave home without a Poland Springs bottled water, and I go through about eight of those 16.9 oz bottles a day.  And numero dos, I am always cold, ALWAYS.  Even in the summer time I sleep with my down comforter on and my air-conditioning off.  The fact that I was born and raised in New England is rather unfortunate with the “package deal” of Nor'easters, potholes, exorbitant heating bills, chapped lips, wind-chill, drivers (too slow), drivers (too fast), getting out of bed in a cold house, digging your car out of a snow bank and shoveling (yes, the Brooks family does indeed shovel, family “bonding”).  After living in New England for twenty-one years, I have perfected the art of dressing like a marshmallow and I do so with class.  However, despite my expertise nothing could have prepared me for Segovia. 

Roman aqueducts

I have never been so cold in my life.  The day trip even beat the time I went sightseeing last January in Washington, DC wearing my “holey” jeans for Alternative Winter Break.  We ended up paying $20 to sleep through a movie at an Omni IMAX Theater just to get out of the cold.  However, Segovia topped all since there was no escaping the wind-chill.  We actually almost missed the bus, since we went too far on the Metro that morning (Needless to say my roommate is no longer trusted with directions.).  

Ducks in front of aqueducts

Looking back on it, however, I wish we took it as a sign. 

We left Madrid at 11:00 a.m., and did not return until 7:00 a.m. the next morning.  For some reason the program we went with thought it would be a “good idea” to conclude the day with a trip to the most prevalent nightclub in Segovia.  I believe I ended up passed out on a sofa for five hours next to my friends (Check falling asleep at a nightclub off the bucket list.). 

James "conquering" land.

The trip was extremely disorganized; I am surprised they only left five people behind.  We did however get to see the Roman aqueducts, El Alcazar and the cathedral.  I even got a picture of my ducks in front of the Roman aqueducts!  I promise to explain the story behind my ducks later, since I believe it is worthy enough of its own blog post.  For most of the day though James, Kaila, my roommate and I ventured off from the group to this random spot of land where the sun hit perfectly and warmed our bones.  It was like giving a 5-year-old a brand new train set for Christmas and he/she prefers playing with the box.  Much like El Rey Leon, we “conquered” this land and made it our own playground.  We spent the day laughing and playing like children, being the mature college kids that we are.  Needless to say, moral of the story, travel in warmer weather.  

Cathedral in Segovia