It's hard not to be a Tourist

We left Madrid tired and ready to see the small village of Toledo. Toledo is a town known for its religious tolerance. There are strong influences of each major religion is apparent. The restaurant in the hotel actually had Arabic painted onto the walls, and Moorish carvings on the walls leading down to the restaurant.

El Escorial de San Lorenzo

We got to Toledo after visiting El Escorial de San Lorenzo, which is a beautiful monastery that is actually still in use. We toured around the cathedral, private bedrooms of Phillip II (who commissioned the building) and a part of the monastery. Our tour guide was wonderful. She spoke English and Spanish and would switch off between the two. She was very enthusiastic about everything having to do with El Escorial, and I wanted her to take me on a tour of the rest of Spain. She also showed us the tombs of the past kings from Charles I (Charles V – Holy Roman Emperor) until the two reserved for Juan Carlos I and his wife. (The old king and queen – mother and father of the current king) However, there is a problem. Once Juan Carlos I and his wife reside in the tombs, there is not more room for the new kings once they pass on. Where are the going to be buried?! However, the kings and queens are buried in rotting chambers until they are nothing but bones and then they are put into their respective caskets, ornately decorated of course. The entire process takes about 30 years and was not that appealing to me. It gave me the willies. (Lots of bones and bodies… not my favorite) But everything was still very interesting to see and learn about.

Gardens outside of the Monastery 

Outside of the monastery

We left El Escorial for Toledo in the mid afternoon and got to eat lunch. A bowl of Gazpacho was on my mind, and having it deeply satisfied a need for it. It was wonderful.

Perfecto! 

Then we went on a guided tour of Toledo following a man who was a local who had become a tour guide. However, it wasn’t a regular tour.  We were each given a small earpiece and a walkie talkie looking object, and we could turn the thing on and we could hear what he was saying without having to crowd together to hear his every word.  I felt like such a tourist with my earpiece and my large camera. (I love my Canon – don’t get me wrong, it’s take great pictures but shouts YOU’RE A TOURIST to everyone else)

Alysha (left) and Holly (right) modeling with our touristy headsets. 

This is how most of us wore our earpieces and walkie talkie sets. Alysha pulled hers off the best. 

Besides that I took some great pictures, and some others took good ones too.

Synagogue in the Jewish District. This is one of the only ones that survived after The Catholic kings, Isabel and Ferdinand, created a solid Christian state. 

The main church in Toledo. 

Yep, more church pictures. 

Beautiful and ornate organ pipes. 

Everything in this entire church was orante and gold - including the place for the bishop to preach. 

This one too. 

They even had the sword of Franco, which had a gold glided handle.

The purpose of this entire structure is to hold the wafers. 

It's over 400 kilos of gold and gems. 

So ornate and beautiful. 

A fresco on the ceiling of one of chapels. 

The hat is from a cardinal who was from the Cathedral and under his hat, he is buried. But also notice the statues behind the hat. 

These are seats for the monks to sit when they vote for things. All of them were ornately hand carved. And each chair has a different carving on it. 

More of the organ. and more beauty. 

We went shopping after our trip and I got something for mom, which I think she will really like. But the best part – ice cream, but not just ice cream, Helado, gelato, whatever – it’s the best. Better than ice cream best, so much better that I don’t want to eat ice cream once I get back to the states better. After doing all of those things, we made our way to the top of the hotel, where there was a terrace and we could take pictures of the beautiful sunset over Toledo’s skyline. 

Me with the setting sun in Toledo. 

Those were the perfect way to capture Toledo. 

Toledo and the sunset. 

The following day we headed down to Sevilla, which is where I will be staying for the rest of my time. Ok, some trips here and there, but otherwise, Sevilla is it. It was a long 7 hour bus ride, but it was worth it. I have met my host family, and I am in love with them. Even their little dog - Nano. (he has a facebook, not even Mom has facebook, I think this should change) 

For dinner we had Tortilla Española, my favorite, with salad and coffee flavored flan for dinner. Everything was perfect. 

Tomorrow brings something new and exciting - a bike tour around the city.