TOLEDO

So this is Toledo, its about one hour south of Madrid. The ISA group took us there for two day one night excursion. They took us on a bus tour and then a walking tour--hahaha there was a lot of hills and a lot of steps.... Definitely made me notice how out of shape I was. 

A little background info (put my brain to use): Toledo is surrounded by the Tagus river. Thats the river on my pictures fyi. It was established by the romans who built fortresses at the TOP of the hills or rocks. Toledo was known as a center of religion and learning. The area was occupied mostly by Christians with a large population of Jews. I think the tour guide said there were 8 mosques before the Jewish expulsion occurred due to the Spanish Inquisition and only 3 are left standing. There are also what the tour guide called a "factory of cardinals" here now. Now the city mainly thrives from tourism. Mainly the churches and the "el Greco" museum which houses a well known piece by him.

This is a very "old" city and the winding streets made out of rock showed exactly that. There is also a "new" part of the city that has been built around it. Its not a very big town and unfortunately our hotel was kinda far away from the city center so the tour is all I got. Plus it was raining on and off and I still wasnt feeling very good; either ways I enjoyed it.

Right from the start we were all amazed! its gorgeous!

Tagus river or Rio Tajo

The girls from the group-- I did not want pictures! for the first three days I couldnt straighten my hair because I didnt have an adapter and I also didnt want to unpack my makeup since it was in one of my bigger bags.....so embarrassing! 

this was taken inside the bus, surprised it didnt come out blurry like all the others...

magical no????

Welcome to toledo!

City of Toledo
 built on a rock

THE CATHEDRAL

This is the outside of the Cathedral and those on the side of it are shackles. I cant remember well which queen it was but either ways- these shackles represented a Jewish captive freed. At the end of the Inquisition the queen ordered their freedom.

So much ornamental design had me drooling, I think I could have stayed there at least a week just photographing the designs! 

Thats my group walking off without me... I was always having to catch up since I kept taking so many pics

This is Sebastian, he was helping me show you how little the doors are.... for some reason the doors are either HUGE or super small! fascinating! 

The cathedrals courtyard

THE MOSQUE

This is a "maqueta" a small scale replica of the mosque. Shows you the layout. They had it in the building. Unfortunately they didnt allow flash photography so some pics might be dark.

This was incredible! All designs are carved out. Their designs include fruits, geometric shapes, or flora or organic designs  due to the fact that their teachings embraced the whole "thou should not worship images of me..."???? I know, I know- I need to look it up and not sound so incompetent--pardon my ignorance for now.

roof and back walls

took this from the second level 

They had some relics including a lot of big old books with handwritten script and ornamental drawings!

 OH TOLEDO!!!!!!!! 

Night view from my hotel room

Well hope you enjoyed, sorry these blogs are taking so long, been busy with school and hanging out haha, hardly busy like in Arlington. Please feel free to leave any comments-- I have made the access easier so that you dont have to sign up to leave a comment.

MADRID!

So these are a few pics I took of Madrid. The International Study Abroad or ISA group had us all meet in Madrid to start our experience. They took us on a city tour bus which was great but was not very picture friendly so I dont have a lot of pics due to this. We also went to the Prado Museum which we got a tour on the artists El Greco, Velazquez, and Goya. Also the Reina Sofia museum in which they gave us a quick tour of artworks from  Picasso, Dali, and Miro. We spent 3days 2 nights in Madrid and were in a central location but it was raining the whole time and unfortunately I was feeling under the weather so I didn't venture out much. I plan on going back for the stuff I missed. Its wonderful! streets have huge fountains and there are botanical parks and a ton of awesome buildings....ITS AMAZING!

 This was just the first thing I walked into at the airport.. thought it was peculiar

Cant really remember what this building was... sorry I will get it next time

This is the Reina Sofia Museum which in contrast to the Prado did allow SOME photography  

 The famous Guernica from Picasso, they didnt let you do photographs in the actual room...guess they wanted  people to buy postcards. Our tour guide let us know the meaning and the story behind the painting....very interesting.

 The museum however did let you take photos everywhere else so just a couple of snapshots... 

 Joan Miro

 Salvador Dali

 This is the train station 

This is a memorial the city did for the terrorist bombings of the metro several years ago

So there is not a lot of fancy pics and I blame it on the weather and my body's constant need for sleep hahaha. Being in a new place is rough. I couldnt straighten my hair because I didnt get voltage adapters or converters so my hair was terrible! 

Then the food was so different! I got so sick and tired of "bocadillos" which is just hoagie bread and meat---DRIED meat- no veggies no mustard and def no jalapenos. It looked raw to me and if you know me you know that I like my meats almost burned... oh what hunger does to one! I just didnt know how to ask for food??? they have separate menus for the day, their food is like out in the open already prepared. Its just strange.... now that im getting used to it there is no way im ordering another bocadillo. 

Also since it rained so much I had to invest in an umbrella but this after my shoes and feet would end up soaked...ruined a pair of boots. I got lost in Madrid so I walked around for over an hour in soaked boots and  hungry and a little miserable. BUT at last im in Spain! :)  

My Apartment

This is my apartment in Spain. I share it with the three "princesses" who are super nice and- yes- we do get along! So for my first blog I thought I would keep it simple so I could get used to it so this is what you get for now :)

 This is the first bedroom and its tiny, has two single beds in it

 Our kitchen has a clothes washer in it but no dryer!

 pretty fancy huh?

 This is my bedroom and thats my bed, its a bigger bedroom!

 My bathroom which is "oh so cold!" in the mornings. The bathrooms actually have a old-school space heater in them that you can turn on to warm up the area.

Well I'm working on making my next blogs on the city tours of Madrid and Toledo so hopefully I can catch up to all the pictures I have taken....