The First and Last Day in Toledo

In an attempt to recover from the jetlag, I slept for a healthy amount of time. This morning I made my way downstairs to meet everyone for breakfast provided by the hotel. It was delightful; there was a plethora of options including fresh meats and cheeses, pastries, fresh fruit, a trusty coffee machine and many others.

After breakfast, we reunited with Beatriz, our tour guide, who picked up where she left off and continued guiding us through the city. Beatriz knows everything about Toledo, as she showed us around between some of the more well known sites in the city, she regularly stopped us at a seemingly inconsequential spots on the street to point out a small architectural detail that revealed a much deeper history of what the site used to be. Some of the outstanding places that she showed us include: La Puerta del Sol, La Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz, Las Termas Romanas as well as La Catedral Primada Santa Maria de Toledo which is an enormous thirteenth century gothic cathedral that, including itself, contained many stunning work of art.

After a long walking-filled day, we said our goodbyes to Beatriz and the group split into smaller groups to find a meal. To no one's surprise, we each ended up choosing tapas restaurants and the food was tasty. This was our second time that day having tapas, as it was what we had lunch as well; this was right after having a piece of Toledo’s traditional marzipan from a marzipan bakery which we were able to tour. All in all it was a good day seeing and eating what Toledo has to offer.

Cristo de la Luz is a mosque later turned church whose original architecture has survived since 999 A.D.
A very large arch with three falling gates that were formerly used to keep enemies out during a siege
Las Termas Romanas is a now subterranean bath house that showcased the complexity of the city’s early subterranean waterways, which we were able to see in multiple locations thanks to Beatriz