Excursión: Toledo

I can happily say that my first solo excursion outside of Madrid was a success!!

aboard el tren to Toledo!

I woke up early on Saturday morning and took the Renfe train from Madrid to Toledo, about a 30 minute train ride (high-speed AVE train.) Arriving in Toledo around 11:30 (by myself, mind you), it was still too early for lunch (and I had a cafe con leche and a postre at the station!) so I decided the first order of business was strolling the streets and getting a feel for Toledo.

la ciudad vieja de Toledo

Apparently I can't read a map, so instead of ending up in la ciudad vieja, where all the old buildings and museums are, I found myself in the center of the city. It was still incredibly beautiful though, with huge stone churches and  great view of Toledo from above.

future home. NBD.

After an hour and half or 2, I wandered back to the bus station, where I hailed a taxi to take me into la ciudad vieja. There were signs all over Toledo for the Exposición Permanente de Los Antiguos Instrumentos de Tortura, and I went straight there. The Museum was actually a teeny, tiny exhibit, but there were TONS of creepy, fascinating torture instruments from the olden days. Things like the pear of anguish, shame masks, and a guillotine.

inside la exposicion de los Antiguos Instrumentos de Tortura

tapas - un Heineken, pan y carne. Delicioso!

For lunch, I stopped at a small cafe with a terraza (terrace, or outside seating) and ordered Tapa del día, which turned out to be a Heineken and some sort of stew-like dish with beef and peas. Very yummy!

I want a balcony like this at my future home.

Cervantes!

                 After lunch, I spent the next few hours just wandering the streets of la ciudad vieja and taking pictures of practically EVERYTHING. I found this statue of Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha, just chillin' in the middle of the sidewalk on a smaller back street!

beautiful craftsmanship

Mi ESPADA!

Also, since Toledo is the metal capital of all of Spain, I had to buy something to commemorate my trip before I left! Most people leave Toledo with a sword, so I decided to go that route. But instead of one of the huge, 3 foot spades, I bought this adorable, 1 foot blade! I can keep it to use as a letter opener or just as decoration, but either way, I now own a sword from Spain! Too cool!