Day Trip to Toledo: Rotting Hats and Getting Lost

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Although I haven't finished writing blog 3, it's time to move on. I'm writing from the train on an adventure to Toledo! We don't have classes on Fridays, so at 9AM I left the train station in Alcala with my friends Corey and Sarah for a lovely day trip. It has been quite an adventure. We needed to take a train from Alcala to Madrid, buy tickets, and take another train to Toledo. However, we accidentally took the first train in the opposite direction! Hey, nobody else got to see Toledo AND Guadalajara today!! We had lots of time though to exchange our love histories and get to know each other better. After finally arriving in Madrid we learned how to buy train tickets, order coffee/breakfast at a cafe, and find a train.
From various experiences this trip, a quick tip: if you plan on going on a train, you should use the restrooms in the station because there aren't public ones in Spain. However, toilet paper is apparently not provided!

From the train ride back:
What a day!! Toledo is a beautiful, relaxed, fairly compact city (at least the major sights). Although we got lost again, it really didn't matter at all. Getting lost in the city is a great way to learn where everything is and find unexpected treasures. See the gorgeous pics on Facebook!
My favorite part of the adventure was the Toledo's cathedral. Since Toledo is the capital of Spanish religion, its cathedral is absolutely glorious. As I looked in one of the rooms, my skin tingled. Among the architecture and decoration were masterpieces by El Greco, Goya, Zurbaràn, and more.
Fun fact about the cathedral: The cardinals can choose a burial place anywhere within the cathedral. Their gravesites are marked on the floor by giant metal plaques and above with their hats dangling from the ceiling. Until the hats rot away they remain as reminders of the red-dressed men below. Eeeeeeww. (Thanks, Rick Steve's guidebook on my Kindle!)
Finishing the day with a very late lunch (at an American dinner time), we sat down on at a patio restaurant to recharge. For me, white wine and a hamburger (I swear, they're plenty common here and different from at home).
Another thought on traveling: don't go in a large group. Last night when 22 of us from the study-abroad program went out to a bar, it was impossible to make decisions about where, when, and what to do. Today only 3 of us went into Toledo together, which was so much easier!



Overall, it was a great day, finished off with a trip to a marzipan store for a treat. I brought a box home to share with my family here at dinner.

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