Toletum (Toledo)

I have to say that Toledo was one of my favorite cities in all of Spain and maybe in the world (after Venice of course). It is this beautiful medieval city that still has cobble stone streets and very small streets that the cars can barely fit through. There are two sections of Toledo, la antigua (old section) and la nueva (new). Our beautiful hotel was in the new section and the best part was that it had wi-fi! We arrived in Toledo the evening after El Escorial. That evening we had a tour, by bus, of la antigua. Later, we went to the hotel to rest a little and around 8pm we all went back to the city (except my roommate Naomi) and split up to have dinner in different places. Three other girls and I found a small, but very delicious Italian restaurant and after we ate we walked around the city for a little bit. On our own we found La Catedral, which is one of Toledo´s greatest sites. Around 10pm we returned to the hotel to rest before the next day.

The second day we were in Toledo was very busy, but fun and educational. For the first half of the day (9-2), we had a tour guide named Mario. He took us around the city to show us where the Jewish neighborhood (barrio Judio) used to be and we randomly met an older man who is from one of the last Jewish families in Toledo. This elderly Jewish man was commissioned to excavate the old Jewish neighborhood. Then we walked over to a small church that houses a very famous painting, by El Greco, that is called El entierro del conde de Orgaz (The gravesite of the Count of Orgaz). Above the gravesite is an amazing painting that shows the connection between heaven and earth and how this connection is being made by two angels who are bringing el Conde de Orgaz to heaven for all the great deeds he has done.

We walked around and Mario told us about the different architecture that we saw around us. We went into a synagogue and also into a beautiful Roman influenced church. The church had a garden and patio at the center of it (which was outside) and the pillars of the church had very intrinsic designs. The church is called El Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. Here I am with Carmen (my resident director in Santander) and Sheila (una buena amiga).

After our tour, we were free to do what we wanted until the end of the day. Three friends and I found a place to eat and then decided to roam the streets to shop a little. I ended up buying many things (not just for me) with no help from my friends because they kept encouraging me to get the souveneirs. So this is what I bought: A sketch of La Catedral de Toledo, a beautiful gold bracelet that is typical jewelry of Toledo-inlaid gold, two scarves, and a cute bag with Madrid written on it. On our way back to the hotel (around 7pm), we stopped to buy some ice cream and then on our way to the plaza to get the taxi (Plaza Zocodover) we got lost.

Oh, and the most exciting part of the experience is that when Mario took us to see La Catedral, we just so happened to arrive at the exact time that a wedding party was leaving the church. Before we realized where los novios (bride and groom) were, they came out of a small church and we were ALL covered in confetti and rice from the celebration! It was fun though. I´ll write about Santander soon!