the city that literally might never sleep.

The rest of my time in Toledo was well spent for sure. First we went to Franco’s tomb. Now, I don’t know much about Spanish history but this guy was big time apparently because they blew out the inside of an entire mountain and built a giant monastery/tomb/church type thing. Really, this thing was ridiculous. They don’t let you take pictures inside most of these places which sucks because its hard for me to recreate the vastness of some of the things we see. But I at least got some exterior shots!

After that we went to El Escorial which was also, very very ridiculous. This place is a monastery/school/basilica/pantheon/palace/gardens built on about 9 acres. Most of it is closed off to the public because monks still live there and like 1200 people go to school there. But the parts we saw were amazing. They have the second most important Catholic library after the Vatican with books earliest from the 5th century and latest I want to say 17th century-ish. We walked through and looked at paintings and artifacts from the 15th century up. We saw beds that kings slept in, chairs they were carried in and most importantly—where the Kings and Queens of Spain from Charles V to present day are buried. The tomb room was ALL marble. Neat little fact: they put the bodies in another room for approx 25 years or longer for them to ROT. When they are done rotting, then they put their bones in the tomb and put them on the wall. If you can, google this place because it’s pretty awesome.

Despite all the amazing sites I saw, I might have to say that one of my favorite parts of Toledo was the night spent at the hotel bar. Some other girls and I had dinner and then decided just to hang out in the bar. I wasn’t going to get anything because it was dang expensive. Then a huge group of Spanish men ranging from older than my dad to guys in their 30’s walk in and bust out a bag of ingredients for making mojitos (apparently BYOB is appropriate?) They offered us some and they were bringing us some homemade alcohol made from cherries (which was gross) and telling us they loved America (see, the whole rest of the world doesn’t hate us). Anyway, the night turned out to be 7 of us singing along with about 30 Spanish men (and one woman) to Beatles songs, some Frank Sinatra, and my request: La Bamba. They were teaching us Spanish songs and dances and it was probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen/heard. Don’t worry Mom and Dad, despite how it sounds (30 Spanish men?!) it was a completely safe environment ;)

So now I am Barcelona which is seriously an AMAZING city. it is so huge and i have walked a good 10 miles within these few days but i love it. the area i'm living in is somewhat far but i hop straight on the metro and get right to school which is really nice. we've done one tour of the city and a 2.5hr bus tour today. we had orientation for all our classes and our language and my business class start on monday! ahhh. mostly what i've seen of the city has been walking from here to there and back again. you look at a map and say "its not that far," then you start walking. haha. i swear i have shin splints and my back/neck/shoulders hate me. the lady i live with is a masseur but i think it might be a little weird to ask her for a massage. haha.

and seth-- my exact words were "I am like harry potter living in the cupboard under the stairs!"

pics won't upload. bahhhhhh. ill have to try again later.