On Saturday (Oct. 8) I went to Toledo with my parents!
This was in the train station. Thought it was cool. Also I had a good experience with purchasing Renfe tickets right before our train ride (miracle), so 10/10 to Atocha for Saturday's vibes.
One of the first things we saw on the walk into town.
Walking into Toledo.
Plaza Zocodover.
Breakfast.
First and most important order of business: I had to get a sword. It's been one of my life-long dreams to have a sword, and once I knew I was studying abroad in Spain, I knew I had to get one in Toledo. Toledo used to be the sword-making capital of the world because Toledo steel is so good.
The workshop.
I compromised for logistical reasons and just got a dagger. "Just" a dagger. No biggie. This thing is so cool. Just as good as a sword. I'm so excited. This is the only picture I have of it </3 Luckily my mom took it before they super wrapped it for transport, and now my parents are taking it back to the US for me, so this is all I have to remember it by until June </3 But it's so awesome. Thank you Mom and Dad.
After getting my sick dagger we went to what was supposed to be the rooftop cafe of the alcázar, but the rooftop part was closed. Still got this cool picture from inside though.
Thought this dude was funny.
Thought she was slay.
Then we went inside the alcázar. It's a military museum now (not our thing), but they also had these ruins and you could walk around the building.
You know what it is... a courtyard. Love.
Walking towards the cathedral.
Cathedral moment (as per usual this picture doesn't do it justice, and I recommend looking up some real pictures on Google to get a better idea).
We were at the cathedral to meet up for a walking tour. One of the first stops was this church that was partly built using Roman ruins. Pretty crazy,
Monastery San Juan de los Reyes. Sick monastery. Awesome cloister. Obsessed. I started cheering like it was the Super Bowl.
I was into these girlies, obviously.
I have once again done a terrible job capturing how cool this church was. Again, look up pictures instead if you feel so inclined.
Anything with a shell design like this in Toledo means this guy named Alonso made it. (Like one specific Alonso, I just forget his last name.)
My mom tried so hard to get a picture of me across the way, but there were too many people for her to get her shot. Sorry Mom. This is the best we got--that's me in the arch by myself in the black shirt.
Sorry for the overload on the church pictures--it was too much work narrowing everything down when it was all so pretty. The next stop on the walking tour was Santa María la Blanca, which is a Moorish-style synagogue from the 12th century that was made into a church.
You can't really tell with this angle but Alonso was here.
Last stop on the walking tour was the Iglesia de Santo Tomé, which is just notable because they have this banger by El Greco: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.
After the walking tour we went to lunch at a place my dad found (his job for the week was finding places to eat). Paellas all around--vegetarian for me, Valencian for my mom, and I forgot what my dad got. Sorry Dad.
Get ready for a ton of church pictures again, because after lunch we went to the Toledo Cathedral. It was massive.
El Greco moment (I'm getting really good at sniffing out the famous Spanish painters. (El Greco isn't Spanish but he was here for awhile so he counts.))
Goya moment.
Caravaggio moment. It's so crazy that everywhere just has these.
After the cathedral we tried some pastries that are typical of Toledo--here's a picture of some of them. We didn't like any.
Here's a few random pictures from the rest of the day.
I looked up what castle is, and it's a hostel. A hostel... in a castle. A hostel in a castle. I will be getting some friends to come back here with me at some point this year just so we can stay in a castle for a night.
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