Mi viaje a Toledo y Museo del Prado

Buenos Tardes! So these last few days have been amazing. After the fiasco with my luggage was all taken care of (I received my luggage last night after returning from Toldeo) I have been having a very good time. Yesterday we went to Toledo on a bus about an hour away from where we are staying. It is a very big tourist city and a very historical one as well. It was beautiful, but I was exhausted so I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Mi parte favorito fue el Catedral de Toledo. It’s huge! The 3^rd largest Cathedral in all of Europe. It is in the center of the city and it is also considered the “heart of Catholic Spain”.

Catedral de Toledo

We have our own tour guide that travels with us everywhere we go, telling us about the historical significance of all the different buildings, streets, architecture, etc. That is very nice to have because otherwise I would be walking around looking at all of these beautiful buildings with no idea about why they are so important to Spain. The walking tour of Toledo yesterday was very informational, but like I said I was just really exhausted and still jet lagged so I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked.

Me!... I know I'm such a dork

The Toledo skyline

The food. Ok so most of the food I have been eating is with my 50 person group at various restaurants and I have yet to have a quality meal. I am so down to try new things, however, when the quality of the food is poor I don’t like to venture too far out of the box. I think we haven’t had very good luck with the food yet just because we are such a large group and the places have been mass producing the food. I am really looking forward to going out on my own for Tapas etc so I can really experience some good food.

Last night was the first night that I went out. I was still tired so I ended up just going to a small bar and getting a beer. We met up with some friends of friends that are also studying in Madrid but have been here for about 3 weeks so they know their way around the city pretty well already. So that was fun!

So far I have found the people in Madrid have not been super friendly, but not necessarily rude either. I think its because we have been traveling in a large group (50 plus people) that people aren’t that friendly.

Hoy, fuimos a Museo del Prado. This was a very cool experience. Although I am not a huge art fanatic it was interesting hearing about the history of the different paintings and artists. My favorite were all of the Velazquez paintings. The history behind them and the style of paintings he does are right up my alley. We also had a guide there to tell us about the different works of art.

I have been making friends in the group but not necessarily sticking with one group or person, which is fun because I am getting to know everyone. I can’t wait to get to Valladolid to meet my host family and get settled! I am really enjoying myself but of course I am a little homesick. I miss everyone a lot! I think I am going to take a siesta now, because I only got like 4 hours of sleep last night because we had to wake up so early. Anyway, love you all J

Xoxo

Abby