May 5th

This morning began with a train ride to Toledo, just 30 minutes south of Madrid. Toledo is a very old city with a lot of religious history and reminds me a lot of Jerusalem. We had wonderful weather and spent the day walking around the magnificent city. After arriving and a short bus ride we found our hostel and headed out to explore. I took 126 pictures today, here are just a few....

The old part of the city which is pretty large is made up of all tiny cobblestone streets.

We stumbled on the cultural center which looked like a converted church.... that's me! The cultural center's exhibit was political art, here are a few pictures, what do you think they're trying to say!?!

That is poop on lady liberty

                            

Toledo is an ancient city that used to be home to Muslims, Jews, and Christians. We first went to an old synagogue that is now a museum on Sephardic Judaism in general and specifically in ancient Toledo. Most was in Spanish but I got a lot out of it and really enjoyed it.

The ceiling and arch of the Synagogue de El Transito

 There is a Jewish Quarter in Toledo that has little tiles like the ones above in the street and on some walls. The bottom one says Chai meaning Life and is also the number 18, an important and lucky symbol on the Jewish Culture. After we saw the museum we got lost for a long time but saw a lot of the city that way and burned a lot of calories walking up and down hills. Below is the main cathedral in the center of Toledo.

It's very beautiful and ornate and is broken into several sections.

Poor forgotten slinky

They have a train that runs around the outside of the city (it's a car thing that looks like a train, very touristy but we got off our feet and learned a lot of the history, and saw amazing views)

 There are only two synagogues still standing in Toledo (they believe there was once 12 in the old city) the second one is Santa Maria La Blanca. No one knows for sure when it was built but the most widely accepted guess is the late 11th century. In the 15th century it was converted into a church (where it got the name). There is only one Star of David in the synagogue...

Two nuns sat inside and were part of a sect that worked to promote good will between Catholics and Jews, they were very nice and knowledgeable.

Also, Toledo is known for marzipan, I'm not sure why but Amy tried it for the first time and we both really enjoyed it! After a super long day of walking and exploring we couldn't wait for dinner but not a single place started serving until 8pm, this is not something I could get used to.  It is now 11pm and I'm headed to bed four hours earlier then any other night so far. Valencia tomorrow...

Amy and I overlooking the old city of Toledo!