Toledo

Yesterday we took a day trip to Toledo. Toledo is about 45 minutes south of Madrid and is really easy to access by bus. When we first arrived it was so foggy you could hardly see a thing, but as the day went on it cleared up and we were able to see the beautiful, historic city. The streets are super narrow and sometimes you have to jump in a doorway so you don't get hit by a car! First we went to the cathedral and I led some people on a walking tour that I found in one of my guide books. The cathedral was huge and had so much ornimentation that it was hard to take it all in. Inside the cathedral there is a little museum full of paintings by Goya, Velazquez, Caravaggio, and Bellini. It was cool to see the painting I've learned about in school in real life. All of the ceilings were beautifuly painted and I spent a lot of time looking up. After the cathedral we wandered through the old part of town to a synagogue, however it was 1:30 when we arrived which is when everything starts shutting down for siesta. We only got to look at the synagogue from the outside. Instead we went into this little shop that sold hand made golden jewlery. The man running the store showed us how the jewelery was made with fine threads of gold and the burned to be a beautiful piece of jewelery or a plate or a vase. I guess there aren't many artisans who can still make this gold jewelery by hand. Now most of it is made by machine. We got to watch a man working on a neclace that was about the size of a qarter. He said it would take him 4-5 days to finish. By this time we were starving so the owner of the store recomended a restaurant for us. He even called and made reservations. We walked up the hilly, winding roads and enjoyed a huge 3 course meal. We were all stuffed after we ate so we walked around a bit and did a little shopping to help us digest. Then we went to our last stop of the day, the Museo Sefardi. This is Toledo's jewish museum. It is an old synagogue converted into a museum. It is really cool because you can see the Jewish influence as well as the Muslim and Christian influence. According to my guidebook, "This 14th century synagogue was built at the peak of Toledos enlightened tolerance-constructed for Jews with Christian approval y Muslim craftsmen. Nowehere else in the city does Toledo's three culture legacy shine brighter than at this synagogue"(Rick Steve's Spain 2009). So there you have it! After that we called it a day and caught our bus back home. I went to my house and had dinner. A few friends and I decided to go and explore the nightlife a little so we went out to a tapas bar and to a dance club and had a really great time. Our evening ended in the traditional madridleno way, with churos y chocolate!