Allie in Spain (and Ireland): Toledo: Marzipan, marzipan, and marzipan

Don't let the title of this blog fool you, there is much more to Toledo than marzipan...

Ok that might be a lie. No but, really, Toledo was great. It's exactly what you would picture for a typical European city - cobblestone streets, narrow alleyways, cute little shops and cafés and all that jazz. We went there with the entire program, which is about 80 kids, so we probably doubled the city's population. Jokes (I am just hating on Toledo because it is so tiny compared to Madrid). It actually has a really interesting history though. It used to be the biggest and probably most important city in Spain, starting in the Bronze Age. It was famous for having a peaceful coexistence between members of the Jewish, Islamic and Christian religions, despite being continuously conquered by moorish peoples (legitimately, those poor Toledoans couldn't catch a break). It was the capital of Spain until 1563. It is now the capital of Castilla-La Mancha and incredibly famous for it's swords and of course MARZIPAN.

Toledo is about a 1.5 hour drive from Madrid, and on the way in we stopped on the highway where there was a panoramic view of the city, which is GOREGOUS (pictures below). Really beautiful, and so historic looking. Then, we spent the morning visiting the enormous Gothic Cathedral there, which was also beautiful. It was constructed in 1226 - think Pillars of the Earth. After this, we had free time for lunch and exploration. After a brief delay which involved a friend of mine getting some sort of incredibly persistent foreign object stuck in her eye and a stint in the McDonald's (yes, as in Ronald) bathroom, we headed out. We explored the streets and went in and out of shops, and actually ran into a lot of Americans who weren't from BU's program. This place is crawling with them. We saw lots and lot of swords (seriously, I think they are still afraid that the moors are coming) and I bought a typical piece of Toledo's jewelry - un anillo de amor y suerte (a ring of love and luck), which has yet to start working but let's keep our fingers crossed. And then of course we ate lots and lots of Marzipan, which was delicious (well more I than "we" because apparently not everyone is so enthusiastic about Marzipan - curious). Clearly, it was the highlight of my trip.

After lunch, we visited La Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz (a mosque), 2 synagogues, la Iglesia de Santo Tome, and la Iglesia de San Jaun de los Reyes. Religious diversity, for the win. All of the buildings were beautiful and it was really interesting to see the different types of architecture. Another fun fact: El Greco lived and worked in Toledo. His famous painting, The Burial of Count Orgaz is in the Church of Santo Tome, ironically, right over Count Orgaz's grave! Who would've thought? So of course we visited that and I got to see my first El Greco (followed by many more when I visited the Prado). What else Toledo has to offer besides an endless supply of religious buildings, swords and marzipan I will never know.