Later Friday night, the Seattle group went for another round of Flamenco lessons- I can't say that I'm becoming any more coordinated though. When we have to move our arms and feet at the same time, I fall apart. My arms are the worse part though- not only am I supposed to move them in distinct ways at distinct times, but I'm also supposed to be making a specific turning movement with my hands while moving my arms. To make it worse, everyone but me has achieved the Spanish tan, so I definitely stand out. And then I'm supposed to move my feet in intricate ways. It's a miracle I haven't tripped over myself and fallen yet.
After dinner, our group met up once again to go to the caves of Salamanca. There is an actual entrance somewhere (I think Lindsay and I will go and find it on one of our free weekend days) that is still open to the public. There is apparently a large underground network of tunnels that go to important sites in the city, but they all lead to underneath my university. Most of them are flooded now. The legend of the caves owes its origin to the parish priest Clemente Potosí, who secretly taught astrology and palmistry classes. As the Jesuits and Catholics were in power, such studies were forbidden and considered dark magic. It is believed that there were seven pupils; this number has mystical implications. The students had to pay for the classes, or rather one of them paid for them all if chosen by drawing lots. If the student who had to pay could not, he had to be shut up in the cave. This happened to Enrique de Aragón, the future Marqués de Villena. Enrique devised a strategy to escape. He hid inside a vat covered with various materials, which he tried to leave intact so as not to be discovered. When the master returned to the cave and found it empty, he left in a fright without closing the door, which allowed the Marqués to escape. Anyways, after walking around a bit, we watched a quick play which I didn't quite understand, but it was interesting enough. Below is a picture of the actors:
We climbed to the top of the tower by the caves where the cathedral looked amazing lit up at night:
After that, the group headed out for a night of bar-hopping and hanging out. I followed along for a bit (not drinking, of course) until I was too tired to continue. Unfortunately, they don't have smoking regulations here so I came home smelling like smoke (and sneezing a lot). I had to wash my hair in the sink before I could go to bed!
Saturday was a really relaxing day. Lindsay and I slept in and then went for coffee and churros at a cafe right up the street from our apartment. We watched people walk by for a while and then went to do some shopping. Later after lunch, our house mother took us to a pool in her mom's housing complex where we went swimming and hung out for a few hours. We finished off the day by going for ice cream in the Plaza after dinner.
Sunday morning, I had to wake up really early (or what seemed like really early) to get on the bus to Toledo. Everybody had been asking all week where we were going on our weekend excursion, and when they hear that it's Toledo, all they say is "Oh wow, it's hot there". I prepared for the weather, grabbed extra snacks, and went on my way. On the way, I spotted a walled city and the castle in the pictures below.
The bus ride was long- 3.5 hours, but at least our tour guide wasn't the notorious Violeta from our last two trips. This guide was articulate, smart, and very nice. Also, the bus was comfortable for once so I managed to get in some quality napping time. Toledo is considered the city of 3 cultures because Islams, Jews, and Christians have lived together in peace (for the most part). We arrived before noon and it was already sweltering. The first views we had were of one of the historical doors of the city.
We then climbed a giant hill with windy streets.
At one point, there was a good view of the river and city below.
We finally reached the main plaza (where I hoped we might stop) and continued walking. We finally reached one of the most important synagogues in Toledo. Inside, there wasn't a lot of original decoration left, but it had a very cool collection of historical artifacts. I did take some pictures of the architecture (I'm a huge sucker for it). Apparently a lot of the synagogues were converted into Christian churches after or during the Spanish Inquisition. During the Spanish Inquisition, Jews were forced to leave Spain or to convert to Catholicism. Unfortunately, during our tour of the Synagogue, I had to take a sugar break- long walks through hot city streets do not add up to good blood sugars.
I was, of course, mostly intrigued by the architecture.
There was also an illustrated bible from the 1500s.
Last but not least, there was a collection of interesting sculptures on display.
Outside of the synagogue, there was a great view of the river- the ruins kind of reminded me of Lord of the Rings.
We then walked along and found one of the cathedrals in the city (of course there are a few) and went in to take some pictures. I found the metal wrings high up on the walls a little disturbing- I can only hope they aren't for what I think they are for. Also, some of their statues were falling apart- the sculptures always look creepy when they are missing a hand or something.
The Seattle group returned to the main plaza and sat down at a restaurant underneath some umbrellas. We all ordered cokes and sat talking and avoiding the heat for a while. The restaurant had a really neat spiral staircase inside that somehow intrigued me so much, I took a photo of it.
After the restaurant we decided to walk to the Cathedral of Toledo. The inside was amazing. I wish I could have taken pictures but they were not allowed. I looked for some pictures, but Wikipedia doesn't do it justice. I wanted to buy the entire book of pictures but at 70€, I couldn't justify buying it. Instead I settled for a smaller notebook of pictures of the main altar. One of our friends did sneak a few pictures, but she definitely got in trouble for it. Also, instead of spending more money on audio guides, one of our friends had brought along her Rick Steve's book so we took the self-guided tour of the cathedral. I did get some photos of the outside though.
The main altar was overwhelming. There were so many intricate details (it took over 200 years to build the church). Even the gates protecting the main altar were highly decorative with angels and cherubs making up the bars.
I found the choir loft most interesting. High above the seats was a history of archbishops or popes starting with Adam and Eve. The backs of all the choir seats was a history of the downfall of all cities during the Spanish Inquisition. The castles are romanticized, but the armor and weaponry is very detailed- so much so that historians have studied these carvings to learn about the evolution of weaponry. The bottoms of the seats of the chairs have more sinful carvings- gambling, lusty women, bars, etc. Apparently because they were sat in, they were already considered not holy hence the odd carvings.
The most interesting things: Toledo is El Greco's home. The Cathedral owns not only some of his most famous pieces, but there are some other amazing pieces by other artists there too- it's sometimes known as the mini-Prado. There was a room was that was painted by Fresco and had the seven deadly sins portrayed. Before bishops die, they were/are(?) allowed to choose where in the church they want to be buried- which can be anywhere. Where they are buried, a big metal plate covers the floor, but the creepy part is that the red hat belonging to the bishop hangs from the ceiling above the place where they are buried until it falls apart. The treasury room had so much gold and the carrier for the communion during processionals is made of tons of gold!
After the Cathedral (which took a lot of energy), my friend Luiza and I took a walk back up to the main plaza. Along the way, we stopped at a bakery/confection shop and bought some cookies which were delicious.
After resting some more at the plaza, we made the trek back down the long hill to our bus stop.
On the drive back, I spotted this river in which a lot of people were swimming and fishing. I was quite jealous!
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