Toledo!

Our day trip to Toledo actually took place the same weekend we visited Segovia, but things have been too busy lately for blogging. In any case, it was quite a treat! Toledo is Matthew's favorite new city!

From the bus station, we walked to the very grand archway to enter the enclosed city center. It wasn't long before we discovered how fantastically small all the streets within were. It was a wonder to us not only how people navigate the tiny passages, but also how anyone could possibly keep a car unscathed for more than a day or two with the combination of tight turns, steep hills, numerous pedestrians and unforgiving stone walls!

Toledo is an amazing hill-crest city protected by a river that winds around 3/4 of its base. It has been held by both Islamic and Christian societies. From all entrances, it rises above you, promising adventure....But we really had no idea how fascinating it would be, given that we had no idea that the entire city is little more than a narrow-corridor, passage-twisting maze.

While walking otherwise aimlessly through the streets, we gave ourselves small goals, like finding our way to great spires in the distance. It was in this way that we came upon a many-block-spanning Cathedral, whose name, surprisingly, we never learned.

We were boggled by the vastness of the detail...

and the otherworldliness of the precision.

We couldn't pay for entrance into the main cavity of the cathedral, but we were still able to see a small wing of it, through a castle-sized side door...

We checked out a few shops...

And then kept looking around the city....

As evening fell.

Following a restaurant recommendation, we treated ourselves to a delicious and traditional Spanish lunch (an American dinner). The manager really took a shine to us and made sure everything was just right. We had the local specialty, a marsala-sauced partridge, and the traditional Spanish dish, Paella. The "menu of the day" also included cake and coffee. It was a very lucky day.

After our gluttony,

we continued our tour of this mysterious city.

What we wouldn't have given to have a better camera!

We loved Toledo.

But the last bus home was beckoning us...

So we promised each other. We'll go back.