Friday, May 18 -- Day 6

** Holy Toledo! (No pun intended, however, Friday was a day of mixed cultures.)


Today we set off for a journey to another World Heritage City.  The Imperial City of Toledo is an amazingly diverse location that is host to all the cultures of Spain, Christians, Moorish, and Jewish.  It's a wonder that all of these cultures have lived together in this one city so well and is easily seen through the diverse design styles in architecture, decoration and most importantly symbolism.  Toledo was a major cultural, esoteric and philosophic center of free thinkers in times when the rest of Europe was shadowed by the dark ages.  

 -We had the absolute pleasure of being led through the town by our most "charismatic" tour guide yet!  Mario, a huge lover of Elvis, Memphis and well  anything Jerry Lee Lewis, kept the jokes rolling and the information coming.  The tour started with the Cathedral of Alcazar.  We were immediately humbled by the gorgeous ornamentation that adorned the church.  Clad in gold, wood carvings and stone work, this church combined the art of both classic and gothic styles.  

Mario schooled us on the culture of the city as we walked through the old streets to find the town "decking the halls" for a great celebration.  This was the celebration of Corpus Christi to honor not a particular event in Jesus' life, but the blood and body of Christ.  So imagine walking through a village that looks like it was taken straight out of a Medieval history book, look up toward the sky to see a solid ribbon banner hanging above your head allowing sun light to filter through the sides.  We are so grateful for the charm and knowledge that Mario showed us as he welcomed us to this great city.  

--Food. Nothing excites this group more than tasting the cuisine of Spain and today we sat down for a bite of Tapas underneath several ancient Oak trees.  Let me tell you, the food was great but the views were right there with it.  
After lunch we got the chance to stroll through the streets to look at the impressive craftsmanship of talented goldsmiths.  Weaving threads of gold and silver in just about anything (jewelry, plates, swords... yes swords, I'll get there in a minute) some of us got to witness the art in progress.  Now back to the swords... a very popular item around town in the gift shops we thought it would be a bit hard to bring one on the plane back home, so lucky we've all avoided the chance of being detained by customs for sharp objects.

Onward to Cordoba!  Our travels continued through the agricultural lands of the La Mancha region of Spain.  Rolling hills of olive trees & fields of grain stretched for miles leaving us speechless. The Windmills of the lands of Don Quixote are an amazing sight to behold...