Toledo
Eric and Stewart spent 4 hours this morning trying to send Stewart's suitcases from his mission back to the states. They were trying to find a FedEx, DHL, or UPS that would ship something that big and kept being directed to other places. They finally ended up at the airport where it took them 45 minutes to fill out all the paper work, weigh and measure the bags, and sign their lives away before the bags could be shipped. I suppose we should have expected nothing less from Spain.
After that adventure we drove to Toledo about 1 hour south of Madrid and the former Capitol of Spain. Apparently Toledo is famous for its steel and thus its swords - and because of this there are many swords that are floating around in Missionary apartments in the Madrid Mission. (Stewart bought 2 himself that gratefully he shipped home weeks ago - they were so long they didn't even fit in his large suitcase). Well - of course Charlie needed a dagger (we'll be checking his luggage all the way home) and he and Stewart spent a long time picking out just the right one. While shopping we stumbled into a sword shop where the swords are actually made - pretty cool as we watched them sharpen the real swords (Charlie's dagger is not sharp).
In Toledo the temperature reached 107* - ouch. We dodged the heat by visiting 2 museums and a very impressive cathedral (one of the larger ones in Europe) during the hottest parts of the day and then eating dinner at the Burger King which was air conditioned and thanks to Stewart, very cheap. He knew how to order and get all the 2 for 1 specials with free drinks, etc, etc, etc. So glad my kids are cheap (well at least Stewart and possibly Maren and Sydney - Charlie and Emma don't seem to have any problem spending their money on souvenirs and food).
The museums we visited were the Army Museum - a 5 floor museum dedicated to all the wars in Spanish History, the stuff was cool to look at but WAY too much reading! It was housed in the Alcazar - the old fortress. The other museum was an Art museum with El Greco's, ceramics, and other cool stuff - housed in a Renaissance era orphanage. During the Spanish Civil war these two building housed opposite forces and the outsides are riddled with bullet holes to this day.
To finish off our Toledo tour we hiked to a nearby lookout so we could see the sun set over this pretty hill town in central Spain.
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| Toledo Cathedral |
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