Blogging means I have to remember things that we've done

Hola,

So it's been a full week in Toledo! Time to record the important goings-on.

Thursday Brynna and I decided to wander, and get to know the city better. We walked all around the Old City, and discovered a great area with a bunch of little shops with fun local items. Toledo has a lot of cool things to buy, and we even managed to find a place that sells a plate especially made for cooking tortilla! I can't remember if I've mentioned my love of tortilla, but it is my new obsession. It is an egg/potato concoction, and for those that haven't had the opportunity to eat Spanish tortilla, here's a picture:

Not only is it wonderful by itself, but it can also be in Bocadillo form, aka on a baguette. It is almost always delicious, can usually be found for less than 4 Euros, and is really filling. Brynna and I have attempted to make this 3 or 4 times. The tricky part is that it has to be flipped. This is always comical, as it involves attempting to flip this heavy, semi-cooked mixture out of a frying pan, and onto a plate, with nothing to grip the plate by, thereby making it a job for two people and several oven mitts. The tortilla plate has a handle on the back which means we could make tortilla without the risk of severe burn! For 16 Euros, I think I'm going to have to invest, and then make tortilla for everyone when I come home.

Apparently finding the tortilla plate was the most exciting thing for me on Thursday! Oh, and there were spectacular views, etc etc etc, not as important. More on that later anyway.

Friday was the trip to Segovia, which was fun, though occasionally rainy, because that's just how it wherever we go! We went to Alcazar, which was impressive, and I think it really could have been interesting to learn about, if only our tour guide had known any English. So he lead us around, and was very informative for the people that could understand what he was saying. I felt bad for him, because every time we were about to leave the room, he begged us to ask questions, at one point asking us if we actually had the ability to talk at all.

We did find pamphlets after the tour though, so I can tell you that the Alcazar was built in the early 12th century, and was a favorite home of the monarchs of Castile, a fortress, and then a state prison for a couple centuries, and then used for various government activities until 1951 when it became a national historical monument.

Alcazar also has a tower that you can reach via a ~366 step staircase that is mostly circular, very narrow, contains almost no windows, and is complete with a rusty chain for a railing, that in addition to giving you tetanus, may also slow your fall. It's such a long climb that I was seriously considering making camp and attempting to reach the summit the following day.

I decided the view from the top was definitely worth it (though not everyone seemed to agree).

We also went to see the Catedral de Segovia, but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so it wasn't as good for blogging purposes. I would talk about it a bit, but not only was the tour in Spanish, the pamphlet we got was as well. Maybe I'll let you know at the end of my Spanish class what this Catedral is all about!

We got to wander around after the Catedral, which was fun since it wasn't raining for once, so we went to see the Aqueducts.

While the Aqueducts were very cool, almost more interesting was the incredibly creepy French carousel that was right in front of them.

Note the ridiculously scary, red-eyed, angry looking bird, as well as the pissed off looking half of a horse, not to mention the tangle of metal and spikes involved. I don't even want to know what inspired the French to make this disturbing carousel. Punishment for the bad children?

After returning from Segovia, a few of us wandered over to this fair that apparently is only 2 days out of the year, and we happened upon it at the right time. It was very cute, and had lots of hand crafted items and products: cheeses, aloe vera products, soap, wooden kitchen utensils, some really good tasting pork (?) kabob, creepy people in costume, a bagpiper, toys, and lots and lots of jewelry.

Wandering around after the fair we found some good sites, and got some good pictures of the aforementioned views.

Yesderday we walked around, had dinner, went shopping, and then a bit past 12 (because the fiestas don't start till late here) we decided to go out. It was pretty fun, with drinks and some dancing in a couple clubs really close by to the university dorms. We drank something called Ruavieja, which is a local liquor from Spain, that is dubbed an "Herbal Liquor."

Now, if you ever encounter this Liquor, you may think "Oh, it's something native to the area, it'll be fun to try". Let me save all of you the trouble of thinking that and just say that you probably want to pass on this stuff. At I believe 9 Euros per bottle (which is the first clue to its quality), this local drink tastes like a mixture of tea, mint toothpaste, and rubbing alcohol. So yes, not something I'll be missing about Spain.

Despite the somewhat unpleasant first drink, the clubs were fun. They played a decent amound of music that was in English, and there was lots of dancing and general fun-having. The only major downside was that smoking is allowed in pretty much all the clubs (and restaurants), so everyone came home smelling of cigarettes.

Sunday consisted of homework, discovering the difficulties of Spanish restaurant-going at lunch, and attempting to wash my jeans in the sink, since the washers and dryers here are unpredictable and don't work too well. One of the washer doors got stuck so badly that it had to be pried open with a knife and a fork.

This week we only have 3 full days of classes, with Corpus Christi on Thursday, and a day trip to Madrid on Friday.

On a more random note, I've heard that the suitcase picture was appreciated! I'm so glad, because when I saw that mangled suitcase making its sad, sad way towards me on the luggage claim belt, right after thinking "oh shit, that's mine!" I thought of how hilarious the family would find it! I took more photos of the incident, so I figured I'd share them at the end of a couple posts, just because I still laugh at them.

Hasta luego!