Toledo, Gibraltar and Carnavales

Today was extremely relaxing and low-key. I woke up at 1:30 PM, ate "breakfast", talked with Lourdes a little bit, worked on some homework, Skyped with my parents, ate lunch and dinner, and watched part of an old movie with Lourdes. The week leading up to this lazy Sunday was actually the exact opposite. I stay very busy, at least during the week, while here in Sevilla. I do have time everyday to hang out a little bit, but most of the time I am working on something or making plans for the day, or the week to follow. Last weekend, Marni, Justin and I made our way to Toledo (España, not Ohio thank God). Our travel plans were pretty insane, but the city was beautiful and I am really glad we decided to take the trip. We left Friday night around 11 PM and arrived in Madrid at 5 AM. I slept pretty good on the bus, but was still exhausted because I only really got about 4 hours of sleep total. We took a cab to the train station in Madrid (from the bus station) and arrived in Toledo around 10:30 AM. Since we weren't too familiar with the area, we stopped in the tourist office to pick up a map and guide first. We began at the Museo de Santa Cruz, where we were able to look through several galleries of paintings and sculptures. We saw a lot of works by El Greco, who's name is most famous in Toledo for all the paintings stationed there. Toledo is also known as the city where Don Quijote, written by Miguel Cervantes, began his journey in his quest to be a chivalrous knight and defender of the country of Spain. Walking into the city gates was an amazing experience, because Toledo also served as Spain's former capital before it became Madrid in 1561. We went to several different sites in Toledo, including the Sinagoga del Tránsito, El Santo Tomé cathedral (where the most famous El Greco piece is located), and Plaza de Zocodover, but the most impressive of all in Toledo was the cathedral. Toledo's cathedral is much more modern than the gothic style Sevilla cathedral, but it is also much more elaborate and grandiose. The high altar was breathtaking, and each chapel was stunning as well. We spent a good hour or so touring the cathedral with the ever so faithful Rick Steves book, which was given as a present to me from my parents before the trip. Another cool thing about Toledo was the Mazapan dessert. It was very sweet and had an interesting texture to it, but was very good after a long day of walking and touring through monuments. It felt like everything in Toledo was uphill, because it actually does sit on a hill. I definitely felt like I got exercise that day hiking my way through the city. What really made me love Toledo though was it's authenticity. From what I saw, there was only one brand name restaurant, McDonalds, and even they only had 1 small golden arch that was barely visible from afar.

That Monday, a group from the program went with an organization called DiscoverSevilla to Gibraltar, which is a British territory located at the very southern tip of Spain. It was a pretty long bus ride, but the weather was beautiful and the sights were amazing. We got to see the coast of Africa which was only 24 km away from us, and St. Michael's Cave which is a natural cave still growing on the coast of the Atlantic ocean. Monkeys run freely all around the rock and coast of Gibraltar, so we got to spend about 20 minutes watching them and taking pictures. Some people even let the monkeys go on their head and eat peanuts, but I opted not to do that. We had about 2 hours of free time, so we got some lunch at a restaurant and looked around the shops because Gibraltar sells everything duty free. I really enjoyed the day trip because the sights in Gibraltar were unbelievable. We were really lucky for how good the weather was that day too.

We spent all day yesterday back in Cádiz for Carnavale weekend. Carnavale celebrates the weekend before Lent, kind of like Madri Gras in the United States. There wasn't too much activity going on during the day, so we sat by the beach and walked around the city a little bit. We got tapas for dinner, and then we went to the plaza by the cathedral for the performances and to join the botellon. A botellon is when a big group of people get together to talk, drink and enjoy the afternoon or night. There were several food tents set up, and we all ordered chocolate waffles and baked potatoes (an unusual combination, but it was the main attraction). I dressed up as a pirate, and my friends dressed as sailors, a devil, a mime, and a cowgirl. Some of my friends wore really cool and elaborate masks and wigs as well. A lot of people really get into the theme of dressing up and I definitely saw some interesting costumes. It was really common to see group costumes, which was a funny way to make sure you stayed with your group among the big crowd. I'm not very good with estimations, but I would have to say at least 2000 people were in the plaza at a time. By the end of the night we were so exhausted that we couldn't wait to get on the bus home. Unfortunately, DiscoverSevilla did not plan very well (in my, and most's opinion) on getting the buses back because they picked us up in a circle drive. Everyone was so ready to go home that it felt like a giant mob trying to push through to get on the bus. If that was the worst part of the night though, I can hardly complain. Carnavale was one of the most fun nights I have had in Spain.

Up next is Barcelona. Bound to be an eventful weekend, just like the rest of them.