Finally we arrived in Toledo around 11 am, where our tour guide for the day (Geraldo/Jerry) took us on a 2 1/2 hour tour of the city which was so great and muy interesante! Spaniards stay up very late in the weekends and their Sundays do not start until noon for us. So when we arrived, there were very few people on the streets. We stopped in one of the oldest synagogues in Spain called 'Sinagoga el Transito'. This 'sinagoga' is so detailed. It is no longer in use and has been restored for tourist but was once the main 'sinagoga' of Toledo. Geraldo told us that Toledo used to have dozens of sinagogas, but that there were only two or three left inside the town now.
After that, we walked down to Plaza del Salvador where we looked at the most detailed painting I have ever seen. I could have the years wrong but I believe Geraldo said that the painting was started in 1583 and was finished in 1586. They would not let us take any pictures of the painting but it was absolutely amazing. Allison if your reading this, you would have been in awe. It was absolutely huge and almost looked 3-D it was so detailed. Absolutely beautiful. Abbye and I could not get over it. Then we saw the most beautiful Cathedral I have EVER seen. Very Gothic style architecture. We arrived right as their Sunday service was getting out so that was very neat seeing that. This Cathedral of Toledo is one of the most beautiful in Spain and Europe, says Geraldo. The outside had statues of the last supper at the very top of the Cathedral. I know I keep saying this, but I really have never seen anything like it. After that Geraldo took us to the Main Square of Toledo where we had three and half hours to eat lunch and tour the rest of the city on our own. Abbye, Nola, Kelsey, Liz, Ashley and I had lunch at a cafe called "Cafe & Te" located right in the square and oddly enough, right next to McDonalds. We all had panini's and split a Margherita pizza! Muy deliciouso! Our waiter spoke English which was very helpful, although Kelsey is pretty fluent in Spanish. I am so impressed with bi-lingual people. Its something I wish I could do very badly now that I am here. We had a long lunch and drank more sangria! We still had about two hours to kill after lunch so we walked up and down the street around the square and did a little retail therapy! We tried to get back to the Cathedral in time to do a tour but ended up not having enough time. We met back up with the group around 5:30 and were on our way back to Madrid! Our group had a planned dinner at a wonderful tapas restaurant where we all sat at two huge tables! They brought us six different courses of tapas which were all delicious! And of course... more Sangria. Their sangria is so refreshing -- yes it has alcohol in it but people drink it here as Americans would drink a soda with any meal. Again, muy delicioso. After tapas, we rode the metro back to the Colegio and everyone pretty much strait to their rooms. I think everyone is pretty exhausted and jet lag and we have our first day of classes at 9 am tomorrow! Abbye and I were talking earlier and our time distance is so off. It never feels like any time of day or any day of the week (like when we say it feels like 5 but its only 3)... this probably from all the jetlag. Everything is just so laid back here, no rush like in America. I absolutely love this place. I don't think I'll ever want to leave... sorry Mom! I feel like I will be depressed for weeks when I have to leave in August!
Im off to bed now to get a good nights rest before class! Buenos noches!
Thank you for that shout out Stace! That made my day. Soak it in! Enjoy every second. Don't worry about the time, as long as you make it to class and your tours ;)
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