Getting Lost

So this is the story of my 24 hours and 5 minutes in Toledo. I’ll start by saying that, despite the title, this was a lot of fun and I’m really glad I went. But the thing with Toledo is that I asked Elena (who is in no way legally responsible for anything I did in Toledo and gave me advice only in a purely hypothetical manner) what she did in Toledo and what she recommended, and she told me that Toledo is the kind of city where you just get lost in the streets of the city. She was right.

So this blog will come to you in 5 (I think) parts, because I had a lot of clever titles for this blog, and this way I get to use them all. So, without further ado…

A Journey of Just Over 200 Miles

So after class yesterday I went down to the train station and waited for a bit before getting on the train to Madrid. This is the high speed train and it is both comfortable and quick.

 Also,

Really pretty views.

We got to Madrid in an hour and a half and my train for Toledo didn’t leave for almost an hour. At first I was a little bit concerned, because the signage on the train station is a bit confusing and there are two different places wehre things depart, not counting the trains that depart from arrivals or the cercancias or the metro. But I figured it out with time to spare, and as a reward I sat and had a cup of tea, because tea is good for the soul, and read a while waiting for my train.

The train ride to Toledo was surprisingly uneventful. I obviously knew consciously how long the train ride was, but I don’t think I realized how quickly it would be over. Half an hour train ride and we pulled up into the station 5 minutes early. I have to say, the one surprise was how cold it was. I mean, I was fine with what I brought, but Valencia is a pretty warm city. When I left it was 20°, which for reference 23°C is 68°F. So pleasant. When I left Toledo today it was 10°, which I think would be 40°-ish F. And that kids, is what happens when you leave the coast and the warm Mediterranean breezes and then go up towards the mountains.

The next step after arrival, of course, was to get to where I wanted to go. The first place I had planned on visiting in Toledo was the Alcázar, or the castle, because I thought it would be nice to catch sunset from the top of it. I had directions to the Alcázar, but the relevant bit is that the travel site said that it was “situated on top of the tallest hill in Toledo”. They were right.

The Tallest Hill in Toledo

So I walked out of the train station trying to follow the directions I had saved from google maps, but really I was looking out for this castle on a hill, because I figured I could find it, and then I saw this building up ahead and thought to myself, “Jackpot! That’s where I’m heading.

See, castle looking thing on a hill.

And then I saw this

 Oh.

  So that's where I'm going.

Of course. 

So within 5 minutes I was horribly lost and google maps was not helping at all.

There is, however, a distinct advantage to building your city on top of a hill, especially for someone who is trying to get to the top of said hill, when in doubt, go up.

And so I went up.

And up.

And up.

At this point, I was sweating, 10°or not.

Here's my attempt at a panorama by the way:

It was really beautiful. 

But I finally get up to the top

 and try to find the entrance, 

but I can’t. I get confused again, and just wander around the gereral vicinity of the giant castle for a while. Finally, I ask a security guard who informs me that the castle closed at 5, which is not what the website said. Harrumph.

But the thing is that outside the castle there is lots that is pretty too. 

There are gardens 

and a view of the river

 and all sorts of stuff. 

I also took a selfie:

Yes, mother, I know my hair looks awful. It was really windy. 

So after my rejection I wandered for a bit before heading to the hostel to get checked in.

I put my stuff up in the room and then headed back down to go explore the city.

The Spanish Conspiracy to Kill Tourists

So it was right around sunset and Toledo is a city with a LOT of Arabic influence, so it has all these winding little streets and great places to get lost. I found some really cool stuff in my wanderings.
Here's a sample. I don't know why any of this is.

I lied. I know what that is. It's an emperor of Spain that we've learned about in class.
                                               
This looks kind of cathedral-y

I also bought shoes.

 Go figure.

So then I walked around behind the main Plaza and found this stair

(also, a statue of Cervantes. Remember that. That's a plot point in section seven. Five parts, I said at the beginning. Ha. Yeah, I knew that wasn't enough.)
 that went down before it hit what appeared to be the old city walls.
 They were right near the river and quite lovely. I saw a stair leading up to the top and thought, “hey, that looks fun.”

I was right.

So at like 8pm I wound up completely by chance on top of the city walls. Note that these walls were meant to keep invaders out, so they are pretty high.

But there’s no ticket booth or anything. No little gate to stop you from going places. No guard rails.

My foot and a 20 foot plunge,

Guys, I walked across this.

At night. By myself.

The Spanish have it out for tourists. I’m telling you.

And I know what you’re thinking, “but Katie,  weren’t you the one who decided it was a good idea to do this in the first place?” and the answer is yes, yes I was,  but I’m still here, so it’s OK.

Plus, I got some cool pictures

So then I walked up some stairs

A lot of stairs. I always forget that what goes down must come back up.

The stairs end on the roof of the Museo El Greco (museum to honor a famous Spanish painter), which had a nice view of the city,

 and I just sat and read for a little bit. It was nice. It then started to sprinkle a little bit, which isn’t a problem for me, but my Kindle isn’t as fond of rain, so I went and tried to find a restaurant.

There was a place that looked good earlier and I tried to find that again, but, this being Toledo, I couldn’t find it. I did find this cute restaurant called “La Flor de la Esquina”, which I only mention because I think it’s a pretty name. It means “The Flower on the Corner” and it was perfect. The waitress was really nice and I sat all by myself in the basement in a booth and it was warm and the food was good. I took a good hour and a half for dinner which was a salad and bread and then afterwards some tea.

HIPSTER FOOD PICTURES!!!!

So tasty. So warm.

I got lost again on my way back to the hostel, but with a little nudge from google maps I got there.

How to Make Friends with an American Accent

So the stuff about the hostel mentioned that it had a rooftop terrace, so I thought I’d go check it out.  I got up there and found one of my roommates: a girl from Thailand, a woman from the Netherlands biking Spain, and an older guy who I suspect of being Italian. They were talking and so I went up and sat with them. My roommate and I had a nice chat, and after a few minutes the Italian guy left and the receptionist, who is from an Island in the Dutch Antilles and a long-term resident from Spain both came up. We chatted and everybody was talking about where they were from and the girl from the Netherlands mentioned that she had spent a year in Australia and that her accent was bothering her, that she needed to go back to Britain to get her British accent back, and I just turn to her and say, “well, it could be worse, you could be permanently stuck with an American accent.” Self-deprication turns out to be a good icebreaker. Also, apparently I don’t have a very strong American accent, which is a WEIRD thing to think about. Normally I judge other accents against a “neutral” American accent, but it is odd to think that my English is accented to other people, or even to think that my accent isn’t very strong. It was just like a shovel to the head in terms of perspective.

So then the woman from the Netherlands and I wound up talking for a good half hour about Europe and Spain and customs and stereotypes and the French and it was really interesting. I quite liked the people I met at the hostel, though I suppose they are voluntarily traveling, most of them alone, and that doesn’t tend to be a boring person.

So then I went down to my room, showered and crashed. It turns out I was really tired and that bed was very comfortable.

Morning Glow

I woke up very early this morning, at least according to the people I was rooming with. I got up at 8 and left the hostel by 8:40. There were a few things I wanted to see a little further away that I wanted to see before the Cathedral opened at 10. I’m not sure I found any of the things I was looking for, because my google maps ran out in about 5 minutes, but I may or may not have found at least one and possibly two of the things I was trying to find. It didn’t really matter, though, I had a good time.

Here are the pictures to prove that

 This may have been one of the things I was looking for.

 It was also the thing that I first thought was the Alcázar, but it's a hospital. Or a museum. Or both?

 THAT'S the Alcázar

 This may have been another thing I was looking for. But it's less sure than the other one.

 It was pretty.

I actually wound up in a park overlooking a river, on what might be the second tallest hill in Toledo. It was really beautiful.

I was listening to my iPod while I walked around and I was standing on top of this hill with this gorgeous view of the sort of morning sun and the river

 and the castle

and the song Morning Glow came on and it’s all about new beginnings and sunrise and hope and it was really metaphorically resonant and cheesy and nice in the way those kind of things are.

So then I walked down to the river

and went through a different part of the park before climbing back up the hill. I hate that hill. It is very steep.

But I took some pictures on the way up.

So back at the top I got some breakfast to go and then headed to the cathedral.

The Dorkiest Audioguide

So I went to the cathedral and was very confused about how to get in, and then I found the shop that sold the tickets and then I tried to go in the wrong door, but the point being I made it to the ticket counter where a very grumpy woman sold me the ticket and two very nice ladies gave me my best friend for the next 2 hours: an audioguide of the Cathedral.

I have to say that I felt at the time that the €8 entrance fee was a little steep, and I considered not doing it, but I am REALLY glad that I followed my father’s advice that he learned from his trip to Jerusalem: just spend the money and do it. It was so worth it.

So I feel like most people would have hated this audiotour, because it was… extensive. It told you the names of the artists and the different parts of the church and it gave a lot of history, of the cathedral, of Toledo, of Castilla, and of Spain. It was great! And the cathedral was a truly magnificent place. It was started in the 1200s and not finished for over 250 years and has Moorish influences

 and beautiful stained glass

and an INCREDIBLE art collection.

 Seriously. It has a bunch of stuff from El Greco,

 and some from Goya,

 Rafael, Titian. So amazing. I’ll just leave you with some pictures

 Mural on a wall. The scale is hard to see, but it was huge.

 I love that opening up there that lets light in.

 Moorish influence!!!

 This is where the archbishop and his council meets (met?)

 One of the first archbishops of this cathedral was also a cardinal, so they have red hats everywhere.

 cathedrals are just so impressive

And this is the little museum they have in the cathedral

 I don't think I was supposed to take pictures of this statue. It is very old and very precious.

 This is the line to get into the treasury

 It took me forever to find this place. The doors were closed, and I've found that wandering around pressing doors and seeing if they open is not the best way to make friends in foreign countries.

 I like this picture.

 This is incredible.

 It's supposed to hold the Eucharist.

 So I took a selfie in front of it

Yeah, basically I just took 2 hours to dork out about religion and history and art and it was great.

Afterwards I went into the cathedral shop to return my audiguide and bought a picture to frame when I come home. I am excited about having space to put art up! I was running out of room in my old room!

So then I went to a café and had a tea and rested my feet. I really like tea. I think this is a problem. I drink a lot of it.

Something Quixotic

So there are some things I should mention, and to help me, here is a map of Spain:

To which I have added some annotations. These are the autonomous communities of Valencia. States, basically. As you can see, Valencia (red arrow) is in the Valencian community, while Toledo is in the community of Castilla la Mancha. Note that there are two Castillas. Also, I drew that big red line. It roughly marks the border between what used to be the Kingdom of Aragon and what used to be the Kingdom of Castilla.

So as you can see, Toledo is in the province of Castilla La Mancha, which has its own set of connotations, but right now I want to talk about the most famous person ever to come out of La Mancha- the Man of La Mancha himself: Don Quijote.

In fact, the first line of Don Quijote is: “En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme”, which in English is roughly “In a place in La Mancha, whose name I don't want to remember”. And those are pretty famous lines here in Spain. Like, is “two households” from Romeo and Juliet famous, or do I just have a Shakespeare problem? But if those are famous, it’s like those, if not, it’s like another famous opening line.

So needless to say in Toledo, which is the capital of La Mancha, Don Quijote is a big deal. There are dummies in shop windows and statues of both him and Cervantes, his author.

So the Alcázar, as it turns out, houses the military museum of Spain, and in a really nice move, students get in free. So I spent the afternoon wandering through rooms full of swords and armor and uniforms and muskets and flags.

 And then I get to the room that houses this stuff:

And I had this moment that was absolutely, literally quixotic. I know I've talked about how my sympathy is with Don Quijote, but there was something about being in La Mancha, which by the way, the countryside sort of looks like this

 in this city and seeing this armor and for this quixotic moment, I not only sympathized with Don Quijote, I empathized with him. There was something about that place and those surroundings that for a split second made it feel like grabbing a sword and finding a horse and running off to save damsels was completely possible. And obviously it only lasted a moment, but it stuck with me for the rest of my trip through the museum. It's a powerful feeling.

I even picked out my sword:

I think it suits me.

So, yeah, I wandered around the museum for a while longer, saw some cool military stuff:

 They said that those were cannonballs, but I almost don't believe them

 I love horse armor

 Some of the detailing on these pieces was incredible.

 I sent this to my dad and told him it was the Horn of Boromir. I mean, it looks like it.

 This is an old negative of a photograph. ... or proof of supernatural activity.

 I could use a katana too, though, as my weapon of choice.

 Miniature soldiers!!!

 So the museum is housed in a historic building, so have some architecture

 Siege implements

 This is an important thing that was here when the Arabs were.

 DETAILS!!!!

 I would like to pause here and explain to you why this is my favorite flag.
It's this
                                    
The flag of Castilla y León.
It beats the simplicity of the Japanese flag, the epicness of the Welsh flag, and even the serene beauty of the South Carolina flag, because this flag is a pun.
So in Spanish the word for castle is "castillo" and lion is "león" and for the flag of Castilla y León, they put a castle and a lion. And I giggle every time I see that. They saw an opportunity, and they took it.

 This is the dagger I will pull out of my boot when someone inevitably disarms me to heighten the dramatic tension of the story, and then we will duel with them holding a sword and me holding a dagger and I will emerge victorious.

 Funny story, this is the castle in Segovia that we climbed up to the top of.

 Actual cane sword. I want one.

 This is a double-barreled pistol

 with lizards on top of it. What?

 Ornamental swords

are impressive. 

There were also some ruins from the Visigoths and the Arabs:

I don't know what any of that is. It's old. 

So by this time it was getting late and I needed to get lunch and get to the train station. 

The Duke of York 

So other than my chronic inability to navigate Toledo, the other theme of this trip was, well, I feel it best described by the song that was stuck in my head the whole time:

There was the Duke of York

He had ten thousand men

He marched them up to the top of the hill

and he marched them down again

And when you're up, you're up

and when you're down, you're down

and when you're only halfway up

you're neither up nor down

and a lot of my journey was up and down and halfway up. The city is very hilly (or very much built on a big hill) and I walked up and down it a few times, but fortunately after a tasty lunch, it was all downhill.

 By the way, I was on top of that last night.

 A bridge over the river

 You see what I mean about Don Quijote

 It just looks like the kind of place to go on an adventure

 I climbed up those stairs last night too.

 So I had a lovely walk and arrived safely and quickly at the train station

and waited for a few minutes before boarding and saying good-bye to

 .

The ride back was uneventful and I was very tired. I had a small stop in Madrid where I found a garden inside and wandered for a little and then got on the train to Valencia and wrote most of this blog. I then took a bus to the main train station and walked back home. And it was good.