Toledo

Because tomorrow is our final day in Madrid, today we took a day trip to Toledo, which has a rather fascinating religious history. We went to the Toledo Cathedral, a huge Gothic church from the thirteenth century, as well as Santa María la Blanca, a former synagogue which was converted into a monastery. Finally, we saw The Burial of the Count of Orgaz by El Greco at La Iglesia de Santo Tome. It was overwhelmingly huge and, though we weren't allow to take photos, I doubt I'll forget the experience for a long time.

The city of Toledo itself is full of hills and narrow streets, but the people I met there were friendly and completely tolerant of my weak American Spanish. For instance, we ate lunch at this place called El Cafe de las Monjas, and the women who worked there (whom I'm ninety-eight percent sure were nuns) kindly corrected us when we made grammatical mistakes. When we left, they even gave us free marzipan. Despite the cold and the rain, it was a good day. Now, I think I'm going to try to compensate un poquito for the massive sleep debt I've acquired over the last week...

Zocodover Square

A fresco ceiling inside the cathedral

A poorly-framed shot of the cathedral

Toledo