Toledo!

Holy guacamole. Toledo, Spain is the most incredibly beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life. Not exaggerating at all.  

First of all, the streets are all cobblestone and tiny, which is just adorable as heck.  Then you have shiny swords and glittering gold jewelry in every shop window.  Next, the smells.  Alcalá smells like dog poop.  EVERYWHERE.  Toledo smells like delicious desserts mid-bake. Yum.  And finally, Toledo has the largest cathedral in Spain and it is breathtaking. 

So we begin:

The first stop was ironically the place where I supposed to meet an old friend, Margaret, but only hours later.  That was a major fail.  Even bigger fail was the fact that she was actually in the plaza at the time I was and we didn't realize it.  Impressive, right? Right.

Plaza de Zocodover

My knight in shining armor for the day. 

SWORDS EVERYWHERE

Continuing along the tiny streets with our handy dandy tour guide, Javier, who also happens to double as my art and museums professor, we come across this lovely street sign.  The thing about street signs in Spain is that they are ridiculously small and you have to know where to look for them.  Sometimes they are completely hidden by tree branches, other times they are on the wrong side of buildings.  It's a guessing game really.  But this one, this one is the best.  Calle de Toledo de Ohio.  That's right folks, a little bit of home right here in Spain (well besides McDonald's and Taco Bell).  Pretty cool if I do say so myself. 

Calle de Toledo de Ohio

 The typical sweet from Toledo is called Mazapán. It sort of looked like a little piece of fudge with bread on top but it tasted more like really dense bread with sugar and almonds in it.  Not my favorite thing ever, but definitely worth a taste for it's fame.  

Little Nuns in a shop window making Mazapan. 

Next we ventured into el Museo de Sefardí.  This museums commemorates the time when Spain was inhabited with Jewish people.  It's actually very sad and a good history to be familiar with.  Long story short: The Jews lived in Spain.  They were happy.  Yay.  Along come Los Reyes Catolícos who decided Christianity was much better.  Hence the inquisition in 1492.  All the Jews were forced to either leave Spain, convert to Christianity (which was the same as Catholicism at this point in time.. the church had not split yet into protestants and catholics), or be killed.  Yea, rude.  So this museum has different things about Jewish traditions and what not as well as tombs from Jewish cemeteries.  This is the saddest part in my opinion: After the Jews were forced to leave Spain, the Spanish people took there tombs and made them into troughs for their animals.  No respect whatsoever.  This inscription says that after so much time and so much hardship for the Jewish people, there is no way to tell the difference between the grave of nobleman (Spaniard) and the grave of a slave (Jew).  Beautifully said. 

Inscription with the Jewish tombs

Old architecture in the museum

The next stop was el Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes.  This monastery was built by la Reina Isabel de Castilla and el Rey Fernando de Aragón (the kings during the time of Christopher Columbus and the new world).  It was very beautiful inside and out, but unfortunately, we didn't spend very much time here or talk very much about it. 

Say hello to Javier, the best photo bomber in the world.  I literally have to retake over half of my photos because his bald head pops up in them. 

Incredible statue.

The patio

At this point in time we enjoyed our packed lunches and had some free time to walk around the shops.  I purchased a few things for a few certain people.  I'm so excited for Christmas!!!

And finally, we were able to enjoy the cathedral.  It is the largest cathedral in Spain and, in my opinion, the prettiest as well.  

Seriously, just gawk at it. 

These are the doors used when there is Mass.  The stain glass was unbelievable.  

That floating object under the cross is the hat of an archbishop who's tomb is directly below it.  There is a leyenda (legend) that says the alma (soul) of the archbishop remains in purgatory until the hat falls. 

La Custodia- this is where the Eucharist is held during processionals. 

Coronas (crowns)

This crystal rock is a gift from Toledo, Ohio to Toledo, Spain.  How thoughtful.

The choir

The altar.. breathtaking. 

 My computer sucks, but you get the idea here.  It's a painting titled "The Last Judgment" and while explaining it to us, Javier sand "It's the final countdown.. Na na na na.  Na na na na na."  It was quite entertaining.  

And now, the Puente de San Martín and the wonderful views from all around it.  This is where you enter into the city from the train station. So awesome. 

Tajo, the longest river in Spain. 

el puente (bridge)

My favorite picture from the entire day. Awesome. 

So yea.  That was my wonderful trip to Toledo.  And although I was unable to steal a sword for my uncle Kevin or meet up with Margaret, I still enjoyed it immensely.  

Here's a picture of my little Nugget, Chi Chi.  She's wonderful.  And obviously the world's cutest napper. 

This was after I sang "Halo" to her about five times.  We had a rough day.

I'm off to Paris in a few days for an all-nighter I'm sure I'll never forget. Wish me luck!

Happy reading. Stay Excellent, ME.