Madrid Spain Temple

Temple #71

May 4, 2017

Madrid Spain

     ¡Madrid! What a wonderful place. Full of music, delicious foods, and warmth! When we first planned to come to Europe and do the temples, Spain wasn't even on our minds, but then a random thought turned into plans and now here we were!

     Once again we arrived late by plane and had to hurry to temple housing before it closed at midnight. We took a taxi this time, which was a reasonable price and it was only fifteen minutes from the airport. 

     It was neat to see the temple at night, beautiful and lit up. We were let into the temple grounds and made it just in time to check into temple housing, another tender mercy from the Lord. This temple housing was different, where the bedrooms were separate, men and women, and so Ivy and I said goodnight to each and went our ways. 

     It was late, but in my room were two Spaniards who were still up talking, a son and father. The son had served his mission in Salt Lake City, which was neat, and so he knew English. We talked for a little bit, but it was past midnight so we went to sleep. 

     Ivy and I slept in for our first time, getting 7 1/2 hours of sleep in a night, which was more than we had that entire trip. It was all worth it though. We woke up and went and did a session. 

     The temple was gorgeous on the inside. It was also fun that everyone spoke Spanish, which we understood a little, although it was Castellano, not Spanish, which is just a different dialect.

     We were the witness couple during the session which was fun. We went through the session, loved it, and were amazed when we walked into the Celestial room. That first initial step into any Celestial room is magical and you can't help but look up at the chandelier that is bound to be there. 

     In the Madrid Temple we were even more blown away than usual. There was a gorgeous, massive crystal chandelier, in the center of the room, but what was above it was even more beautiful. The ceiling was a dome, and lines in this dome were floral designs, and the entire thing was shimmering gold. The room was beautiful, and Ivy and I kissed in the center of the room as we always do. 

     After the temple I borrowed a shirt again, and we went outside and took pictures. It was a beautiful day, which made for good pictures. The temple itself is breathtaking, although it seems simple. It is bright white and only had one spire in the center, but it is beautiful. The bright green trees and plants and flowers around it add to the beauty. Stain glass also was everywhere on and in the temple, which from the inside was brilliant and colorful as the sun shone through. 

     While taking our pictures a group of missionaries came around the corner. They tried practicing their Spanish with us, and we laughed, especially when they were relieved that we knew English. They had only been there for two days. It's neat that the MTC is right there next to the temple, and fun that we got to talk to some missionaries from Utah. 

     The Madrid Temple was wonderful and made it near the top of our list as one of our favorite temples. Not enough can be written about it or it's beauty, and the only way to experience it is to see it for oneself. We hadn't expected to go to the Madrid Temple so soon, and we just had. It was amazing, and all so worth it! 

     After the temple we explored Madrid. We walked around Plaza Mayor, got some delicious fried squid sandwiches (twice because they were so delicious), walked to the palace and listened to some awesome accordion music, and then walked around the streets a little more. We then got onto a bus that took us to Barcelona. 

     The rest of our trip was beyond amazing. We hiked to Tibidabo in Barcelona, saw La Sagrada Familia, and laid on the beach where we got sunburnt. Next we flew to Dubrovnik Croatia, which had the most beautiful water, lapping up against an awesome castle which made us feel like we were in another world. 

     We took a bus to Makarska, Croatia, where we had two cones of gelato because it was so good, and sat on the beach and watched the sunset. We then went to Krka National Park which was a beautiful place with tropical looking waterfalls. 

     We were blessed in so many ways, from making every mode of transportation to having great weather. When we looked at the weather in most of the places we went, especially Croatia, it said it was going to rain rain rain. Ivy and I prayed, fasted and our prayers were answered! Ivy’s faith is so strong that it was sunny! Everywhere we went it was wonderful weather although it had been raining and was supposed to be. 

      After Croatia we went to Budapest Hungary, and than flew to St. Petersburg. Both places were neat and fun, but we were kind of sad to be back in Russia. We had loved Europe so much and had seen so many beautiful places. 

     It was an amazing trip, and we had many great highlights, yet the temples were by far some of the best times we had. We love the temples, and couldn't wait to continue to do more in Europe!