Toledo... and the suburbs

Whoot whoot whoot.   Saturday I took a day trip with four other girls, Jess Julie Julie and Kate to Toledo.  It is an incredible city!  I know not everyone likes the whole history thing but I love it so for my own memory sake, I'm going to recount some of it...

Toledo used to be the capital of Spain.  It has a rich history including an intricately designed cathedral, Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada. Inside this cathedral is a museum filled with the art of El Greco.  El Greco's art didn't fit in with the other art of the day, it was more real or true to reality than other art.  Greco didn't elaborate with mythology, or diminish the flaws of those in his paintings.  Also in the cathedral was an incredible choir loft.  What a beautiful sound should be coming from there, unfortunately it was quiet and cold inside.  

I also was able to visit, just briefly, the Santa Cruz Museum.  Not the normal art museum, Santa Cruz holds artifacts, such as the organic chemistry kits of the early 1800's as well as clothing worn during that time.  Everything from fashionable fans to the evolution of compasses.  It was really neat to see so much of the day to day things had been preserved, and just how little has changed.  For instance, in one display there were two large vases as well as a salt shaker, it was a dining set, vinegar, oil, and salt for the salad.  Virtually the same as in every restaurant and home in spain!  

Also the shopping was incredible!  Spain has a system of sales where only twice a year, for a month each time, do stores put their clothing on sale.  Then two weeks of 30-50% and then the 2nd half of the month about 70% off!  It was during the 2as rebajas, as they call them that we were in Toledo!!! I didn't get anything but it sure was fun!  

Now the trip home... after taking a bus from madrid to toledo, we had to take a bus up the hill to the center of toledo.  So on the way back we assumed/I assumed since I somehow became the translator (bad idea) that all the buses go back to the bus station on their route.  This was confirmed by the bus driver, "the second stop" he told me.  Well the second stop came and went and the five of us never got off... we went across a river, saw a sign that said Madrid ---> passed numerous roundabouts, hoping that one would take us back around to where we had just come from.  Finally the bus came to its last stop in the far out suburbs of toledo and the five of us had to get off, pay again and travel the 20 minutes or so back to the "second stop."  

Well that was my day in Toledo! 

Pictures on facebook!

España

Ok, so I really like the idea of keeping essences as just that, essences.  So after a long debate with myself, I made a new thread called Viva España. I'm going to start using it to talk more about what I'm doing while here in Spain.

So to recap my first month... yes it has been a whole month!

Upon arriving, I spent a night in a hostel by myself, not too scary since i slept from 1 in the afternoon until 10 the next morning and then checked myself out of the hostel to meet my host family!

My host family is wonderful, it consists of Amalia, a gracious host, an AMAZING cook and a traditional "madrideña" having the past 4 generations grow up in Madrid. (this is apparently rare here most of the citizens of madrid moved here within the past 40 or so years. Also living with us is José, an opera singer from the Canary Islands. (He has an incredible voice)

After meeting a couple students at required gatherings, usually with tapas and café con leche*, we left for Sevilla, located in the southern region of Spain. On our way down we stopped at a Catholic Church in Cordoba, beautiful but cold. It has an amazing history, it was first created as a mosque by Abd... (can't remember his whole name) after his family, the royal family, was murdered. He travelled for 5 years across Africa and the Straight of Gibraltar... anyway very cool history.

We got to Seville and had lots of time to meet the old students and continue to get to know the newer students. Here my main group of friends all started getting to know each other. We went to a horse/bull ranch and ate a LOT of food!

(Pictures on facebook!)

After Sevilla classes started. I'm taking three and they're all good. History of Art (in English), Spanish Translation, and Spanish Conversations and Compositions (both in Spanish).

Two weeks after school began I went with about 12 other students and our activities director to the Pyrenees mountains, located on the boarder of France and Spain. They were breathtaking. The night we arrived we went to Jaca's Citadel. It was fascinating, with its drawbridge, chapel, military miniatures museum (showing the history of Spain's involvement in various wars as well as the changing battle techniques.) Then we went ice skating also a lot of fun! The next two days we spent skiing in the mountains. The first day I had altitude sickness so I stayed with the beginner group to help out. (It was the greatest day though, no wind and clear blue skies!) The second day I was able to adventure a bit more but it was windy and the fog made it so that you couldn't see the person in front of you. Still both days were phenomenal!

This past week I was hoping to go to Paris with my friends however, I wasn't able to because of a small mishap with two of my syringes. I apparently left them on the bus and because we got in so late it wasn't properly cleaned before its school route the next day. A young boy found the syringes and managed to poke himself. The parents, like any parents were scared and asked me to get blood tests done and identify the syringes etc etc. Two days ago I was told that the lab results had come back for the boy, the syringe and myself, all clear. PRAISE THE LORD!

This weekend is a chill weekend so I took a bus out to the mountains near the city of Manzanares (about a half hour bus ride) to do some exploring and climbing and have some personal time where I didn't have to worry so much about appearances but could focus on the one relationship that matters, God and me. It was a beautiful small town, peaceful and quiet, very different from Madrid which is always busy and loud. I'll put up some photos, but unfortunately my camera died about an hour into my trip. Oh and I got to see the castle in Manzanares as well. So great! A real castle, well the building was real and it was set up to imitate a real castle. I hope I can go back again to do some more hiking and get some pictures of the castle, it had some incredible tapestries and other artwork as well.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to Toledo for the day! (My camera battery is charging!)

So that catches us all up on my life in Spain.

God Bless!

bec

*(tapas are the traditional "appetizers" of Spain, and café con leche is 1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk. Both are delicious!)