today my mom and i woke up barely in time to get to our bus stop to take a full day guided tour to toledo, a city about 30 minutes southwest of madrid. and can i tell you!? ITīS BEAUTIFUL!!!! not only is it chock-full of culture, religion, and art, the buildings, the history, the moat, the walls...all of it is so amazing!!!
i went to a mosque build by the arabs in 999!!! it has held 3 different religions and mosques becames synagogues which became catholic churches...there were buildings there even before colombus set sail to eventually discover america!!
the streets are all tiny and little stairs lead up and down to houses. there are courtyards and monastaries and museums everywhere. i went to the house of victor macha who was a famous sculptor, and saw the famous painting of El Greco.
then we went over to see how swords and jewelry were made back in that time. the style was called damascene, where they etched designs into the steel and then melted 24K. gold lace inside. i bought a pendant to show off when i get home.
we had lunch at this great place called monterrey overlooking toledo, and then drove to a cliff and took pictures of the entire town, which sits on a hill surrounded by a moat, 2 walls for protection, and a bridge.
you guys, it was just so beautiful. in the town alone i probably took like 100 pictures!! itīs so amazing to see what people were able to build even before america was anything!! before bibles and books and all that stuff, these people were already building entire places of worship and bridges and guard towers and swords...it is truly inspiring.
If you guys ever get to go, i would totally encourage it. Pictures to come as my digital camera gets figured out over here. Tomorrow Segovia and Avila!
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