Toledo

  Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, June 27, 2008

So I woke up today with my heels still very raw and pained.  As you could tell by my lovely picture in the previous entry, they were very red too.
 
Anyways, in general the day started off fine.  Woke up at 7:30am, packed up my stuff and went down for breakfast.  By 9am we were all off to Toledo ("Toe-lay-doe").  But we had some sites to see first. 

First stop, "Santa Cruz del Valle de Los Caidos" (Saint Cross of the Valley of the Fallen) in Madrid.    On the bus ride there, I talked to a girl in my program who is from Ghana(http://www.luventicus.org/maps/africa/ghana.html) .  We talked a lot about Africa and her studies there.  Very friendly girl.  She's going to be staying with her mom in a hotel in Valencia.
 
  In El Valle de los caidos, there is a basilica that is surrounded by a large forest.  In the basilica are the remains of Francisco Franco, the dictator of Spain from 1936 to 1975 (when he died).  It took many men (prisoners) to build this basilica and its base out of rock  Many died while trying to escape.  In general, not much about the Franco era has been studied by Spaniards because only recently have they started considering it part of their history (as opposed to being a recent occurrence).  I read that most Spaniards my age stopped with their history at the end of the Spanish Civil War (which ended in 1939), much in the same way that most of my American history education never went farther than the assassination of Kennedy (if that far) until I got to college.  Only recently have people started to demand that the real atrocities of Franco be made public.  I think most Spaniards think he wasn't a good leader, but some (like my tour guide Sara) considering him to be a "special person."

El valle de los caidos

 

Although the basilica was very grand.  It included a replica of Michaelangelo's La Pieta, but the one on the basilica conveys mych more emotion than Micaelangelo's.  Also, there's a huge cross atop a hill behind the basilica, the Franco's tomb is very modest (Sara called it humble).  It's in front of the choir inside the basilica.

As seen from the tour bus at the bottom

The grave marker is on level with the floor and it is just a piece of cement that says "Francisco Franco."  Fresh flowers seemed to be placed there everyday and the grave is rope off (but the ropes are low to the ground and could easily be stepped over).  You can't even see the grave from the pews.  If you were to sit in the pews, the grave you would see is that of Jose Antonio, founder and leader of the Falange Espanola, a powerful political party under Franco's regime (Jose died before Franco become dictator though) .

La pieta

 
Outside, I took a few pictures.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside.
 
After the basilica we went to El Escorial, a large monastery and the largest building built in the 15th century (I think).  Our tour guide was an older man who was very funny and made everyone laugh.  He was always touching people lightly on the arm, which is somewhat characteristic of Spaniards.  Most interesting, we went down to the crypt where the past kings and queens of Spain are interned.

El Escorial

  There were around 24 decorative coffins in the crypt.  The tour guide explained that when the king or queen died, he/she's body was set in a room and tended to by monks for a little bit and then when they had completely decomposed to ashes, the ashes were placed in a box and then placed in the coffin, which was placed in the crypt.  There are only 3 spaces left, one for the King Juan Carlos's dad, and grandparents (I think).  The tour guide said no one has any idea what's going to happen with the body of Juan Carlos and his wife after they pass since there's no more room.  We went on to see some paintings by the famous artists Goya and El Greco.  Cameras were not allowed in the monastery (shocker).
 
After the tour we all spread out to find food.  I went with 4 other people to a little restaurant in a cobblestone alleyway (how European of me).  We were all a little nervous and no one had any idea what the foods on the menu were.  There were a lot of items with the word "bocadillo" in front of them, but I didn't know what that meant.  So, I just ordered a bocadillo queso.  What I got was 2 pieces of bread with cheese in the middle, just regular cheese, not grilled.

Alley where we had lunch

  The first thing I thought was "I could have made that in five seconds."  But, I figured out that bocadillo meant sandwich (basically) from that.  The cheese was very dry.  I asked for some salsa and the waiter(in Spanish) asked if I wanted it spicy.  I said I didn't care, but he basically insisted on knowing so I said "No picante."  He brought back ketchup.  When one guy asked for "salsa picante," the waiter brought Tabasco sauce.  2 people from my group ordered "bocadillo tortilla."  I was confused, why would they offer a tortilla in between two pieces of bread?  I quickly learned that a tortilla in Spain is very different from a tortilla in Mexico.  So, at the restaurant, I learned the following:
1.)    Bocadillo is a sandwich with two long pieces of bread
2.)    In Spain, salsa means "sauce" in general, not the specific tomatoes and peppers mixture
3.)    In Spain, a tortilla is not a flat piece of round bread, but rather a potatoes and eggs mixture.
 
 
On the last leg of the trip to Toledo, everyone slept.  The ISA director, Christian, woke us up upon entering the city.  Toledo is much smaller than Madrid, but is very pretty.  The buildings are much shorter and more old-fashioned looking, but in a good way.  I couldn't stop thinking "This all looks so....european!"

Panoramic view of Toledo

  A lot of small buildings and houses.  We got off the bus at Hotel Beatriz, which is outside the downtown area where the restaurants are.
 
A few hours later, some of us went down to the downtown area of the city for dinner.  Me and some girls stopped at a small café and ordered pizza and hamburgers (I know, not very Spanish).  The waitress was very kind and patient with our bad Spanish, unlike in Madrid, where I'd heard some people say the Spaniards had little patience for those would don't speak Spanish well.
 
After dinner, 2 of us bought ice cream and we ate it in the main Plaza.  I felt very European sitting in the plaza, watching the people, eating ice cream.

Eating ice cream in the plaza-que european!

Ice Cream Ad with actress Eva Longoria

Oh, however, when I was getting ice cream, I was reminded of something several of my friends, who'd been to Spain, had told me about: Spaniards don't do lines.  I was standing behind a woman getting ice cream, deciding what I wanted.   Then, a man and his family came up and stood right in front of the stand next to the woman being served.   I assumed that I'd be served before the family because I was next in line, but no.  The ice cream worker paid attention to the family first as if I wasn't there at all.   I guess because they were closer to the stand.  After the family left, I got my turn.

The main plaza

 

As we were sitting in the plaza I saw the strangest thing.   An older woman was walking with a little girl in a dress.   They walked over to a grate where a tree was planted.   The woman then knelt down and took off the girl's underwear.   The girl squatted on the grate, pulled up her dress (I could see her butt) and started peeing, right in front of everyone in the plaza!  After she was done, the woman just put her underwear back on and sent her over to her (I think) parents.   I couldn't believe it!  No one said or did anything about it.   I'm not exactly sure where to place that in my understanding of Spanish culture because I definitely don't think that is normal in Spain ( I saw a boy pointing at the girl afterwards in surprise), but it's something I'd be shocked to see in the U.S., no matter how poor the area.  So, I'm not sure if it's a Spanish thing, a poor Spanish thing, something specific to the Toledo or the region of Castile-La Mancha .   Or perhaps, it's as uncommon to most Spaniards as it was to me.   Who knows?
 
Anyways, we walked around for a bit afterwards.  The streets of Toledo are very small and made of cobblestones and half of them weren't shown on the map ISA gave us.  In general, I found it to be a confusing set up, but nicer than Madrid.  And the most exciting thing....we passed a little street called, I kid you not:  Calle de TOLEDO DE OHIO.  Now, for some reason, I didn't take a picture.  But, of course, it is online: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2069204210096753747CFINWn

I figured out in Toledo that street signs are posted on the buildings that are situated on street corners.

We caught a taxi ride back to Hotel Beatriz around midnight.  Only the meter started at 4.33 euro.   I felt uncomfortable asking him if that was the right price, so I said nothing and neither did the other 3 girls.  I'm sure they count on that for tourists.
 
Back in my room, I was alone, Erin and Erica weren't back.  I couldn't figure out how to turn the lights on.   In the previous hotel in Madrid, all the light switches were near the door.   The switches by the door in hotel Beatriz did not turn on the lights for the area where the beds were.   So, I went downstairs and (in English) told the concierge that the lights weren't working.   He called someone up and gave me this serious speech about not plugging in American electronics because they have different voltages (which I all ready knew).   I went back upstairs and the man to fix the lights was there.   I talked to him in Spanish and he was very serious at first.  When I asked him if he was here for the light, he just nodded and looked at me with a "Isn't it obvious?" face.   I tried not to be worried because I've heard around from friends that workers at hotels and restaurants in Spain aren't particularly friendly compared to their U.S. counterparts.  He then showed me that the light switches for the bed areas were, in fact, located right next to the beds.   I apologized several times in Spanish saying "I'm sorry!  Thank you for...nothing.  I'm sorry!"  He just smiled and laughed saying it was all right and then left.   I felt like an idiot.
 
I've also learned, from books and observations, that Spaniards don't say "please" and "thank you" as often as people in the English-speaking world do.  You would say it to waiters and clerks and such, but not as often as English speakers do.
 
I'm sure the worker thinks I'm just another stupid American tourist, which, really, I was in that case.

By the way, I forgot to mention in my previous entries.  When I first got to Spain, there were only three stations I could find in English VH1(or maybe MTV), CNN, and BBC News.  I've never watched BBC News, so I decided I would now.  I was so surprised to see how much the covered.  They covered news about the Zimbabwe elections, women's body images in the UK, and something about the Everglades in Florida and even more.  I've never seen so many different international stories in one hour on CNN or any other American news station.  I hadn't even heard about the ruckus in Zimbabwe regarding what the West believes to be false elections pushed for by Mugabe ("Moo-gah-bee"), the country's leader, but apparently this has been huge news all over Africa.  I've realized for a while now that America's big news stations don't cover international news very (apart from the War in Iraq), but watching BBC news still surprised me in general.