That past Thursday their had been a parade with all of the children going to their first communion that weekend. I cannot even imagine the hours that it took to decorate the town. Also in the plaza, we were trying to stay out of the way of rows of tables of women and men making hand-made lace! Hand-made lace! It was incredible. My madre had told me about it a little bit earlier, as it is a specialty in Toledo, but the time and work gone into this art is beautiful and fascinating. They had some for sale, but we had to leave shortly afterwards, and unfortunately when I returned later the exposition was over.
We found out, however, when we arrived that most of the things we needed/wanted to see closed at 2:30 (we got there around 11:30), so I was very anxious to get going. Our whole group then went to the Catedral together. It was a gothic cathedral, just like that of Segovia, and we were all trying to decide which one was more beautiful. Through truly, I do not think I could decide. The stained class in the church is incredible, as well as the sculptures. There was one area with paintings on the wall that slowly turned into sculptures toward the ceiling, almost like they were becoming alive. It was so neat. Although, I felt a bit intrusive walking around in the Cathedral, as there were priests meditating in the center, as well as people trying to pray and worship in the altars. Still, the area was very quiet and you are not allowed to take photos outside, so hopefully we did not disturb them too much. Outside, we also were able to see what they use to take through the streets for Corpus Cristi.
Once a year, they take this through the streets at the front of the parade. Inside, it holds a wafer (as used in communion) signifying the body of Christ. I wish I knew more about the different fiestas here (actually, many of the Spanish people don't always know all the facts about the fiestas, so it is a bit difficult). Anyways, after exploring the beautiful Catedral, we explored some more. Toledo is known for its' beautiful hand-made jewelry. It is a neat combination of black against gold designs and drawings. We were all very excited to go to Taller de Joyaría to see the museum and how the jewelry is made. Unfortunately it was closed. We were all very upset, however, there was a store right next to it where we were able to at least admire the beautiful work. We then had a lovely lunch overlooking the view from the city, and then decided to head to the mosques and the Jewish area of Toledo. Toledo has a lot of religious history. For a while, it had a high level of religious tolerance. Christians, jews, and muslims, lived together in harmony, and all were treated equally and represented in the government. However, eventually all were forced to turn to Christianity or leave. I know that many Jews were persecuted in Toledo. This history is something that very much interests me and I would like to learn more about it (It's hard sometimes to truly understand complex things here as they are all in Spanish, with very unfamiliar vocabulary). Still, we went to two mosques and inside the Jewish history museum inside on of them. My group almost did not go, as I was really the only one that wanted to see it. I felt awful asking them, however, they were very gracious and humored my interest. I am such a nerd. However, I truly want to see and soak up as much as possible these five weeks. The thing that was a pain in the butt for the trip, however, was that for anything that you needed money to get into, you had to call one of our professors and they had to come pay for you (Why they could not give each group leader money before hand, I don't know, but whatever, it was fine). Meanwhile after the mosques we walked back to the complete other side of the town to see the Alcázar. This was another castle. Unfortunately we did not get to go inside as it has been under restoration for several years now. Still, the building was very impressive. We were told a story about when Spain was trying to become an independent republic the son of the King of Toledo had been captured. The enemy (I'm sorry I don't remember who) had said, give up Alcázar or give up your son's life. The King knew that if they gave up Alcázar they would surely lose their freedom, so he sent a letter to his son, telling him to prepare to die for the republic of Spain. Interesante. Anyways, after Alcázar, we killed some time looking around in local shops and eventually needed to head back the bridge where we would leave from. However, instead of walking back through the city (which we had now done twice) we decided to walk along the edge, near the river. This was a fabulous decision, as it was so beautiful and not much further. Although it was EXTREMELY hot and I definitely got very sun burnt on my shoulders, the view was definitely worth it. Finally, we arrived back at our gate, soaked up a bit more of the beauty of Toledo, and headed back home on the bus. Although I loved Toledo, the day was a bit of a haze to me and I probably did not enjoy it as much as I would like, due to the fact that my allergies were off the wall. I was sneezing all day and was so ready to be in the air conditioned bus. After Toledo, I came back for a lovely snooze and then explored a local carnival with two of the boys from our group (the same I had mentioned a week or so ago). It took us a while to find the fiesta again, however, we saw a lot in our lost-ness. The rides were typical traveling fair rides, however, the regulations were definitely different. One ride where you are all around the outer edge of a circle, hanging out for dear life, then involves bouncing you around. The children can then jump in the middle and roll all around, often knocking each other over. This probably is not the safest idea, however, they love it and the boys attested that it was a blast. JT noted that as we looked around all of the mothers and fathers were just smiling and laughing at their kids, whereas at home Im sure they would be FREAKING out! I rode the ride, but I held on for dear life the whole time. We also rode a ride called "La Carcel" (The Jail).
I'm not going to lie, I thought my life might be over for about 2 minutes. It involves five cages (2-4 in each cage) on almost a pendulum. However, it then rotates taking you around to the top and back down. Meanwhile, you are standing in the cage and sliding back and forth inside. However, again, I think I let myself slide only once, as I was using every muscle in my body to hold on (it was a great ab work-out!), while screaming my head off. I think the boys' ears finally recovered this morning, however, I do not know if my throat has. After our exhilarating rides, we enjoyed a little bit of the music at the concert and well as beautiful fireworks, and then JT and Logan took me back home on the metro. I am so thankful to have made friends that care enough to make sure we get home safely.
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