Day Trip to Toledo

This weekend's excursion was to Toledo, which is in Southern Spain. Going south in Spain means the same thing as in the U.S.: it gets warmer and warmer. It at least got up to 35 C, and one place said 39. so somewhere between 95 and 102. The countryside was beautiful on the 3.5 to 4 hour busride: more rolling hills and beautiful landscapes. Once we got to Toledo, it was easy to tell we were going to love it. This city is more what you think of when you think of Europe. Salamanca and Madrid have been a more big city feel similar to New York, but Toledo was very historic with castle-like buildings and beautiful cathedrals with unique streets, alleys and shops that all add a great deal of character. A place like this would never be seen in the states. We crossed a beautiful bridge on foot after we got off the bus, and the view was quite breathtaking. Toledo is very hilly, many of the pathways very steep. You'll see in pictures that we all dressed very casually and wore tennis shoes because we knew it would be very hot as well as very hilly and the walkways are all made up of uneven stone. After a long walk up a steep hill, we toured Claustro de San Juan de los Reyes, a cathedral. It was mainly gothic style in all of the detail. So very intricate and detailed, it just amazes me that they built a place like this so long, somewhere around the 16th century I think? Don't quote me on that, the guide was speaking Spanish very quickly and not very loudly so it was hard to understand everything. Anyways, it was built a long time ago. I took lots of pictures of this place, other places didn't allow photography. We couldn't stay in the actual cathedral very long because a wedding was about ready to start! It actually reminded me quite a bit of where Justin and Bergen were married, but even more intricate and certainly more historic.

We also went through a synogue that was built in the 12th century. The archways were incredible, but this was mainly to look at art, and I can't say I was all that interested in seeing those. We then saw a painting that was either by Greco, or of Greco. I'm not quite certain. He is famous for painting people with elongated faces, bodies and hands. This was a short exhibit.

Our last museum stop was in the second largest cathedral in Spain (I think), it seemed like the largest in the world to me. This place was absolutely gigantic and every inch of it showed intricate details. There is no way I can explain in words what I saw because I wouldn't even know where to start. This place was also very ancient, and contained a great deal of history.

Next, a group of us found a place to sit down in the shade (finally) and ate our "bocadillos" or sandwiches that our hosts had packed for us. There were lots of little shops to go in, so we got to look around for a while. Mom, there were these beautiful hand-painted plates that I wanted to get you because it would have looked great in the kitchen, but they were very expensive and also would have been hard to travel with. Sorry, it's the thought that counts I guess. Toledo is also very well known for their swords and knives because of their steel production. There were giant swords in stores everywhere. I wanted to buy one to see if I could get through the airport with it, but again, very expensive, so I nixed that plan.

It was a very full day of getting up early and touring in the hot sun, but it was well worth it. It made a great day trip to see this beautiful city.