Mi Vida en España...

Today, Kaitlyn, Linda, Mauricio, Katie, Jennifer and myself took a day trip to Toledo, in part to view the beautiful city, but also to see how easy the transportation system is here in Spain.

We met promptly at 10am to take the subway from our area of Madrid to the bus station. Once we got to the bus station, we took the bus to Toledo. The bus was surprisingly faster than any of our travel books had mentioned, making the trip only last 50 min.

Toledo was so incredibly breathtaking that there were moments where I was lost for words. There is something to be said about visiting a place with a history so immense and intricate. I don’t know if I have ever been to a place with more exquisite and picturesque views. The town is basically perched at the top of a hill and once we reach the top, you can see out for miles. You can see houses and buildings located closely together, churches, water, fields, hills, mosques, temples, the works. It is absolutely spectacular. 

Since we only had a few hours in Toledo, we decided that there were only a few things that we absoluely HAD to do:

1. Visit Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada
2. See the Toledo Skyline made famous by El Greco’s “View of Toledo”
3. Visit el Museo Santa Cruz

Luckily, we were able to accomplish all three things before we were all so incredibly tired that we wanted to return to Madrid.

For staters, I am not a religious person by any means, but there is something so beautiful and incredibly to me about cathedrals and other religious establishments. Growing up Catholic, I am well aware of what churches look like, the symbolism, the typical architecture, paintings, etc. However, every once and a while, I encounter a church, or cathedral that puts every other one to shame. Though I am not religious, I still have nothing but respect for the hard work that artists and architects put into creating such an ornate establishment. I was completely blown away by the beauty of it. There is really not much more to say than that. Besides the fact that it was freezing cold walking around in the Church, but that’s just a testament to the freezing weather that we are experiencing in Europe.

The other exciting event that we were able to do is climb the hills to the top of the city and overlook the town of Toledo. Of course, this was one of the first things that we did and of course, as soon as I started snapping pictures of every inch of the skyline (I am the ultimate tourist) my batteries died. Thankfully, we stumbled upon a small convenience store where the owner sold me batteries for 2 Euro, which seemed incredibly cheap. Especially since I could have easily paid much more out of mere desperation. 

Lastly, since we are cheap college students, we engaged in a free and fantastic opportunity by going to el Museo Santa Cruz, which is possibly most famous for their insane collection of paintings by El Greco. This museum had a beautiful and serene courtyard, perfect for collecting thoughts. 

After we viewed these three places and covered tons of walking ground, we decided that it was possibly time to head back home to Madrid. We left Madrid at 10am and didn’t get back until close to 8pm. Therefore, I would deem our first voyage a success, especially since it cost me less than 30 euros total.