Toledo- May 29, 2010

Today we woke up early in our hotel in Madrid, had another lovely breakfast, and set out for Toledo. It was about a three hour bus ride and my first major view of Spanish countryside. Once we got closer, a tour guide from the area hopped on our bus and narrated while we drive around the city of Toledo a bit. It was beautiful, so different from anything I had seen before. Toledo is essentially built up on a hill and historically was a very important capital for Spain. A large fortress could be seen on top of one of the hills. Our bus arrived at a very scenic spot and we departed the bus for our guided walking tour. It was so hot!! And I happened to make the unfortunate decision of wearing pants that day. We walked around the town and toured a cathedral which was very cool. It had a courtyard with a garden and orange trees which was very beautiful. Just walking through the streets was a whole new experience. They were very narrow and had canopies covering them as to block the heat. I felt like I was walking through markets as they originally were. We also were able to see a famous painting by Greco, The Burial of Saint Orgaz I believe its called. It was amazing to see. After the tour we were left to eat lunch and do some shopping. Dana and I and some of our new friends had a nice little shaded lunch and then walked around a bit. Then we got back on the bus and head for out hotel. Our hotel in Toledo was quite a bit larger and nicer than the one we had in Madrid. Rumor had it that it used to be a hospital, which creeped some people out haha. Dana and my room had this gorgeous view of Toledo. And for the first time since I arrived in Spain I had substantial access to internet, which was nice because I hadn’t even been able to tell some people I had made it safely yet. There wasn’t too much to do around town, but I caught a late dinner with some familiar and unfamiliar faces. It was nice getting to know some of the people on my program, all of whom are now my friends. After dinner we all went back to the hotel, I caught up on some internet time, and head for bed to get ready for our early morning to Barcelona the next day.