From Hell to Heaven...meeting missionaries on the way...

We flew into Gijon yesterday and had reservations at the Hotel Castillo for three nights. We got to our hotel and it wasn't much to say the least. We were also not expecting much because it was only 44 Euros a night. I was fine with it, plus I knew it was only going to be for 3 nights, I could endure anything for just three nights right?? I couldn't have been more wrong. We decided to go to bed around 11:30, our room was super hot and humid, both of us tried to squeeze into one of the beds (our room had a twin bed and a bed that was a little smaller than a full), immediately we were tossing and turning. The bed had only one super long pillow-I would pull it and then he would pull it back. An immediate tug of war broke out over the pillow. The streets were very noisy, but I was sure it was going to die down any minute. Again, I couldn't have been more wrong. Our hotel was right by a few clubs along a very busy street. It was non stop yelling, laughing, screaming, and music all night! To top it off the other people in our hotel would run up and down the stairs as loud as possible, yelling, laughing and banging things. I think our door was literally only an 1/8 inch thick so I was expecting any minute for a bunch of drunk people to come kicking our door down, coming in our room and attacking us. Yes- I am paranoid, but I think anyone in our circumstance would have felt the same, Micah was even worried-and he never is! So....between the constant noise, heat, pillow tug of war, and paranoia of being attacked, it chalked up to be a pretty horrible night. I had a bit of a break down-ok a BIG break down, and expressed to my husband in a not so calm way that there was no way on earth I could take two more nights of this. I moved to the separate bed, we both took sleeping pills which semi knocked us out for a few hours (I say semi because I never stopped hearing the noise!) It was Hell. We got up the next morning, packed our things, cancelled the next two nights at the hotel and searched for another one. Now onto Heaven....

We found a hotel right by the beach in Gijon, we trecked quit a few miles wich seemed like a hundred, with our heavy back packs and suitcases, delirious from no sleep, my eyes still burning from crying all night, down the streets of Gijon to our hotel. I finally saw it, after an hour of walking, I saw our hotel. It was beautiful! We walked up to it when I turned my head and saw down the road two young men with black coats walking. I yelled to Micah who was ahead of me and said "I think I see missionaries!" Micah looked and saw two missionaries, walking the same exact streets he had walked a few years ago, doing the same exact thing that he had done for two years. We ran up to them and shouted "élderes!" They looked up and were shocked someone had shouted to them, shocked but excited. We ended up talking to them for quit a long time. One of the Elders was from Washington and the other was from Germany. It was really neat to see them. Micah was really excited to talk with them, they live in the same apartment complex that Micah did. It was really neat to see LDS missionaries walking the streets of Spain because I pictured Micah doing the same thing for two years. I grew to love my sweetheart even more in that moment:)

Seeing the missionaries lifted my spirits:) This is a long post already so I wont go into detail about our circumstances in our hotel now, but they are 100 times better than before! I don't think I have ever loved or enjoyed a hotel room ever before in my life! There are big towels, soft pillows, a king bed, and air conditioning!! It is HEAVEN! I am looking forward to a wonderful nights sleep:) ADIOS!