Watkins is in Toledo

Toledo is incredible! I’m so disappointed we only get like 19 hours here, including sleeping and internet time (Because everyone is EXCHAUSTED! I don’t know how these Spaniards do it! Nights out until 6 in the morning and getting up at 730 or 8? When do they sleep??)

Toledo is a UNESCO protected site, home to over 100 national monuments in a one mile city. It is also built on hills, so the streets are super confusing.  The only way I managed to not be entirely lost was by staying on the same hill as the cathedral. My hotel was right at the top of it, so I could always find my way home by walking uphill. 

Yummm, vegetarian paella for lunch!

The first place we went was the home of El Greco's most famous painting. Here's a picture of a significantly less cool copy. We learned a lot about it; for example, El Greco is thought to be the man fourth to the right of the monk in grey because he's the only one looking directly at the viewer. Also, the narrator is thought to look like El Greco's son, whose 8th birthday is the date on the handkerchief.

Next, we went to the big cathedral!

The Cathedral took 270 years to build, but was restored or added to by every bishop and cardinal to come into power. It was seriously built to last- the original keys still open all the locks! The tour guide told us that it’s basically a “stone skeleton” of the beauty it used to be. I can’t even imagine it being more beautiful than this.

The monstrance is about 440lbs (above the table)
and is carried around the city yearly

a marzipan copy of the cathedral! Marzipan is a big deal here, I had a marzipan soup for dessert that was delicious!

This door weighs a few hundred lbs and can still be opened with the original key!

THAT IS MAHOGANY! 

beautiful choir section

This was an addition to the original structure to let in the light of God during sunrise. Everyone thought the architect was crazy because there was such a high risk of the building collapsing (“The only difference between a crazy man and a genius is success”).

 Went to a silversmith's shop and saw how they make this cool stuff:

he's using a tiny hammer and chisel!

They use this paste to absorb shock and hold the plate still

The basement had cool stuff. Can this be my carry-on?

Then I wandered on my own for a while before collapsing into my hotel bed for a couple of hours before our 9pm dinner. (People here take so long to eat! Our meal took two hours! Not gonna lie, it’s really nice. You don’t feel rushed, and because we don’t have sim cards yet nobody is on their phones at the table). After dinner, I slept the most I have the entire time we’ve been here- 7 and a half whole hours!