B-Side of the Day

As I wind down my time here, I've been graced with the presence of my mom, dad, and cousin Abby! It really has been the best time these past few days with them (so much so that I don't really want to spend too much time blogging yet!).

We went to the small town of Ronda yesterday, about an hour and a half southeast of Sevilla. To make a long story short - it was a really fun time with some really fun people and arguably the best view I've seen this semester.

Stateside in 3 days. Crazy...

Brad.

Daily Dime

The Daily Dime - when I post a photo, song, quote, and video in the same day.

B-Side
Arc de Triomf, Barcelona.

Song of the Day

"When Death Dies" by Gungor. Notice the flamenco influence at 1:20. The beatboxing cellist isn't bad, either..

Quote of the Day

"There is something good in men that really yearn for discipline." - Vince Lombardi

Video of the Day

Louie Giglio - "Laminin"

Peace and Blessings,

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Los Buenos Muchachos, Barcelona.

Brad.

Song/B-Side of the Day

I realize this song isn't that new, but honestly I didn't like it the first time I heard it. Now it's a current favorite. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a simple bass drum.

Florence + The Machine - "Shake It Out"

The B-Side comes from the Brick Lane Market in London. I'm a fan of bikes.

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Sea of clouds on the top of Mount Teide.

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Hiking to the top of Mount Teide to see the sunrise. Anything is possible.

Song/B-Side of the Day

So I'm not the kind of guy to "abuse" songs. One of my best friends in high school was notorious for playing a song non-stop for two weeks and then forgetting about it forever, so I've always made it a vow not to do that. However, when Ben Sollee's song "Try" came on my iPod during my morning metro ride, I literally played it back three more times. II'm convinced it can't be abused. Check out the awesome folk cellist's tunes through this video below, and listen to the studio version (which I think I prefer) under the video. My favorite part of a song is always when they "bring it back", so the 3:30 mark on the studio recording always gets me smiling.

Also, a b-side from the hike this weekend in Guadalupe. I'll always consider myself a city boy, but I'm realizing more and more every day how big of a fan of nature I am.

Brad.

B-Side(s) of the Day

El Rio Guadalquivir

Brad.

Weekend in Lisbon

This weekend in Portugal was an absolute blast. We left via bus Thursday, and got back early last night. Some highlights/thoughts about the trip:

• Fado - Fado is the national music of Portugal. If you had to compare it to something, it's somewhat like flamenco, although there is no dancing involved, only music. I was fortunate enough to see fado twice in my time in Lisbon. The first time seeing it was a very spur-of-the-moment thing, where a couple of my friends and I went into a small, dark restaurant with about 20 other locals and witnessed some fado music worthy of numerous smiles and goosebumps. Fado is obviously very popular, so everyone else at the restaurant was singing along and clapping (and I may have been goofy and pretended to know the songs a few times, too). The "band" consisted of one rhythm guitarist, one Portuguese guitarist, and one singer. The singers varied from a man and woman who seemed to be professionals and also the owner and an old man who came to the bar late but was seemingly a local legend. See the photos and videos below. According to the guitarist on the left, E=mc²..

• The tour - Friday, we went on a bus tour all around Lisbon and the surrounding area. We were guided by a Portuguese woman who spoke 6 languages and had a strong resemblance to Edna Mode from The Incredibles. There's some pretty funny stories with her, but it'd have to be explained in person or over the phone. We saw many of the sights of Portugal, including their famous Torre de Belen and Santa Maria de Belem parish, shown below. After touring Lisbon, we headed to the outskirts to a couple of other towns called Cascais and Sintra. In Cascais, we had a great view of the ocean and the beach, ate lunch, and had the best gelato I've ever tasted (I'm not going to tell you how many cones I had, but let's just say it rhymes with "schmoo"). Sintra looked like a town straight out of a fairy tale, and I tried the famous ginjinha - a cherry liquor served in an edible chocolate cup.

Torre de Belem.

Santa Maria de Belem parish.

Cascais.

Sintra.

Ginjinha.

• Portuguese is not Spanish - Going to Portugal, I figured that I would at least be able to semi-recognize and understand the Portuguese people and language, but realized later that I couldn't be more wrong. Luckily, Lisbon is a large enough city (around 2.5 million people) that I was able to speak English and get around that way pretty easily.
• Chaco weather - This weekend was the first time in months that I pulled out my trusty Chaco shoes. Although it was still only around 70 degrees and I felt a little chilly at times, I loved being able to wear them again. Not only did wearing my Chaco's make the cobblestone streets seem non-existent, they made me think of working at Kanakuk and how excited I am to be back there again for my third summer.
• Rock Chalk Jayhawk - I watched the KU - Mizzou game in a Lisbon McDonald's, and couldn't have been more obnoxious to everyone else there. More on that later...
• Some love for Abby! - I really like my cousin Abby a lot, and feel like she would especially enjoy this random picture of a door. Here you go, Abber. Also, if you're not already, follow Abby's blog, it's totally worth it.

Alright, that's it for now. I just got my bike pass in the mail, so I'm free to run, free to fly...

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Loving Portugal. Taken off the coast of Cascais yesterday. A more extensive entry about the trip will come soon.

Brad.

Knoxygen

The past two weekends, I was blessed enough to spend some quality time with one of the coolest guys I know, Knox Schroller. Knox and I met two summers ago when we were co-counselors at K-Kountry, and have remained close friends ever since.

Co-Counselors, Summer 2009

Last semester, Knox was living in Waco and let me crash with him a few times when I came to visit Kathryn. We were talking about me studying abroad this semester and I jokingly said to him, "Bro, why don't you just come with me?" Knox's face immediately lit up in excitement. He told me that just a few days before I had come to Waco he had heard about a missions institute in Spain. The conversation continued from there, and eventually he told me about G42, a leadership academy located in Spain. Knox prayed about where God was leading him, and faithfully moved to Mijas, Spain for the semester, only about 2 and a half hours from Sevilla!

Knox and I hung out last weekend in Sevilla. He stayed with me at my house, was adopted as Gracia's "third niño", went to a few discotecas with me, had some good conversation, and headed home on Sunday.

Street guitarist performing outside of El Alcázar that Knox and I watched for a little bit.

Co's before bro's.

We enjoyed our time so much that when the next weekend came along, I found myself on a train bound for Mijas. Mijas is a small town outside of Málaga. Situated in the foothills of the mountains and within eyeshot of the beach, it's a very popular spot for tourists to come and relax for a few days. I guess you could say I was a "tourist" for the weekend as well. Knox lives on the most photographed street in all of Spain.

Beautiful Mijas

Knox's Street, Calle de San Sebastian

Our weekend in Mijas was much more relaxed than our weekend in Sevilla, but we had so much fun nonetheless. I think I laugh more with Knox than I do with anyone else, and it was great having a Christ-centered guy to talk to and have some deep conversations with.

If you want to follow Knox and his journey this semester, check out his blog here.

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Plaza de España, located in Parque de Maria Luisa. I love going here, sitting on the steps straight ahead, and relaxing with a book or my journal. Favorite spot in Sevilla for sure.

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

I saw this street one day while I was walking and thought it was cool, so I took a picture. Simple and easy.

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Taken on the beach in Cádiz.

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Man painting a portrait at the gardens of the Alcázar Palace, Sevilla.

Brad.

The B-Sides

Right before departing for Spain, I bought an iPhone. iPhones are cool, particularly because they have applications that do cool things. Instragram is an app that takes pictures that you take, and make them cooler. I post some pictures to Instragram and my Twitter page, but realized that I have a lot more than have never been published. We'll call them the b-side pictures.

The b-side of the day is a view from the top of La Giralda, the beautiful tower connected to Sevilla's cathedral.

Brad.