Toledo y mucho más

Alright, a little confusing but we are reminiscing back to St. Patricks day and the following weekend in Spain..

On St. Patty’s day (17th) we went to an Irish Pub and it was so much fun! They played an incredible mixture of American tunes. There were some great oldies like “Think”, classics like “Sweet Child of Mine” and then “Single Ladies” with “Umbrella” in the background…hahah it was all so much fun! We had face paint and everyone wore green and it was a very good celebration!

Friday was a pretty busy day: I woke up to teach and then did some shopping with Katee. After that we sat at Tomate un Café Aquí (drink a coffee here- the name of the café) and sat in the sun. Dani took a vacation starting on Wednesday for a week, so Marta is home with me during the days now and it is very different but fun to be able to talk to her more. After lunch I had a group presentation and then I went for a run with a couple of girls. It was the most beautiful run around the city. We went up a hill and saw the sun setting from behind the aqueduct and the whole city with the mountains in the background. It was absolutely breathtaking and that plus the run put me in such a good mood the rest of the day. After a little bit of homework at the school, a few of us girls went to get tapas at El Sitio. I had a caña (small beer) but cerveza limon (beer mixed with lemon fanta) it is really different tasting but nummy! Then for my pincho (the food) I got calamari. After that, we walked by the churro stand and it was open, so we definitely did not pass that up! ☺ That night I stayed home alone because the family went somewhere up north with a group of friends. Marta left me out all of the ingredients to make a pasta salad: bowtie pasta, olive oil, vinegar, corn, tuna, red peppers and salt. I did an AMAZING job mixing it all together!! I really hope I can recreate that in the states when I come back…it was so easy and soooo goood. I spent the rest of the night doing homework and then I was able to skype my family on video and actually see them from Jorge’s computer!
On Saturday we left early in the morning to the gorgeous city of Toledo! The whole weekend it was beautiful weather, but of course this was the weekend I chose to not pack anything fun and summery that I have been waiting to wear. Oh well, hopefully it will get nice soon in Segovia. Anyways…. Toledo is about two hours from Segovia and is surrounded by a river with mountains and hills all around. We saw lots of hiking trails and bridges and it looked like one of the most beautiful places to live or study. (I think if I was not in Segovia I would want to be in Toledo because it still has a small town feeling)
When we got there we first visited the Puerta de Bisgara, which is a door in the front of the city. The city is surrounded by a wall so the door is actually necessary! The city was designed to shade the people so the streets are very narrow and curvy, and the buildings block the sun in most of these areas.

We walked to the Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz, Hospital de Santa Cruz ( which had paintings by Goya and El Greco) and La Catedral. In this catedral there was a huge window that shines it light on a painting of Jesus and also creates rainbows on the ground. It was gorgeous, but I learned the hard way that pictures are not allowed in this church. After the tours it was time for lunch and all we wanted to do was sit in the sun!! We sat there most the afternoon and ate, but we also had to walk around and buy the famous dessert that Toledo is known for, Mazapan. It was verry sugary and different textured but it was nummy of course. Toledo is also known for its swords! I really wanted to bring some back for my guy friends, but I thought that would be a little hard to get through security…the cool ones were also pretty pricey!

After our morning in town we drove to our hotel, which was out a little ways. It was the nicest hotel we have stayed with a huge room, balcony, pool, discoteca and the best breakfast!! When we got to our room we had to check out the balcony right away….and apparently so did everyone else in the hotel (which happened to be 110 guys from Sevilla) we walked out our door and in every direction there were guys staring at us….from the floor below, above and to the sides ..it was crazy!! They definitely were not shy. We quickly learned that the pool was closed until summer ☹ but we took advantage of the weather anyways, put on our suits and laid out by the pool! After catching a few rays we did some yoga!
I attempted to go out with some of the people from the group that night, but ended up feeling too sick and had to take a taxi home…I don’t know what is wrong with me, but once I laid down and rested I felt a lot better.

On Sunday we woke up and went down to a huge amazing breakfast buffet! It was gorgeous weather once again and we started the day at Santo Tomé to see the painting “El entierro del Conde de Orgaz”. In this painting, which is huge, there is a little boy, who is the painters son, and he is pointing down to something. There is also a man who is dying in the picture and for years people were not able to find his body. But, it was later found under the painting and under the ground in a tomb right where the boy was pointing. After that we went to Museo Sefarí ( a synagogue), San Juan de los Reyes (catedral) and Puente de San Martín ( a beautiful bridge). During the day we also stopped and looked at some views of the city over the river…so beautiful and also did some more shopping. Anna and I got popsicles, mango flavor and boy were they amazing! ☺

When we got back to Segovia it was about 6 pm so I decided to take advantage of this nice weather and gorgeous night and go for a run. It was 71 degrees out and it felt amazing!

Later in the week Marta made paella and I don’t think I have ever eaten so much in one sitting (3 huge platefuls! We ate the whole pan). She said this dish is typical for men to make, but she did a wonderful job! The kind we had was rice with lots of seafood. There were so many different surprises in it (seafood creatures). It is so different to have to take the heads (with eyes) and tails off of shrimp ah!

I learned how to eat an orange with a knife and fork …it was a fracaso (failure) juice was going everywhere. I think I will go back to the old way…just peeling the skin. I think both are equally as messy for me hah.

I cannot believe I only have 2.5 weeks left here…. I have so much I still want to do and so much homework and projects I should be doing as well. This week is going to be crazy busy!
Although I feel better that I am a little more caught up with the blogging!
Hope everyone is doing well and that the snow is melting ☺
Ciao
Morgan