Blogs from Castile-La Mancha, Spain, Europe - page 6

We left Granada and were quickly on the freeway towards Madrid. No Toll road but a very nice road that took us all the way to Toledo. Arriving early afternoon that gave us an oppertunity to see some parts of this amazing city. The story will be a bit short, for the internet is not available in our room, so we are sitting in the lobby to do this travelblogg. The walls around Toledo are mostly intact and of an amazing seize. As well as the gates. There are several of them. It was conquered by the Romans in 190 B.C. From that period you find foundations pillars etc from that city. From than on we see the Barbarians , the Moors and Christians taking on this city. Ferdinand the First," The Saint" commenced some of ... read more

Today we went around the city again. Our first stop was the Cathedral, which is absolutely breathtaking. There was a room dedicated to the clothing of the bishops of Toledo. There were robes in-laid with gold, sapphires, and pearls. I mean countless man-hours spent on every piece. There was a gigantic atrium with ornate marble and carved stone. The stained-glass windows were decorated perfectly depicting various biblical scenes. It is the fist gothic-style cathedral that we saw and I have to say it was another place that I cannot forget. After walking out the Cathedral a guy approached us on the street and offered to take us to an art workshop. We said sure, knowing that we would not buy anything. He took us to a Damascene art co-op, a place where artists come make their ... read more

On Friday we took our final excursion: to Toledo. Toledo is the most beautiful city that I have seen in all of Spain. It is nestled up on a hill surrounded by a river. We left Segovia after our final class and went to the city in the afternoon. In the afternoon we had free time to do whatever we wanted to do after we were shown around the city. I decided to go with a couple friends and the professors to a cathedral and Synagogue. The coolest part about this was the Cathedral had been converted into a bar and a club. However all of the decorations and lighting was free standing so that if need be the entire building could be converted back to its original state. The synagogue was one of the best-preserved ... read more

You know how in the US when you are walking towards someone and you’re eventually going to walk into eachother, so you both go right? Yeah…. That doesn’t happen here, they just run into you. Cars do not stop, and neither do the people. I got literally no sleep last night, our last night in madrid, because our hotel faced the street and everyone was running through the streets screaming and yelling and partying. The other thing that is way weird to me at this point is they literally kiss everyone. When our tour guides picked us up they gave us all los besos, which is basically rubbing your cheeks together, and making an extremely obnoxious kissing smooch sound in their ear and then doing the same on the other side. It’s different from the French ... read more

www.thetattooedtraveler.com The more I visit sleepy, little, backwater towns of Europe— like Sienna, Bruges, and Toledo— the more I love them. Once political and economic powerhouses, these places were forgotten by time only to be rediscovered by tourists centuries later. Like mummies, they’re preserved in the state they were in, seemingly unaffected by centuries of modernization. Yes, they’re touristy— most of their economies center on tourism— but they’re also a window into the past. Toledo is only a 30-minute train ride from Madrid, making it an easy day trip, but I decided to spend a night and take my time exploring. It’s important to know a bit about Toledo’s complex history to fully appreciate its splendor. The Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and finally Christians all ruled this impressive hilltop town at one time or another. It was ... read more