Toledo

Now I know why people use "Holy Toledo!" as an exclamation. The place is incredible. It's just a day trip from Madrid, so lots of tourists. You know what luxury is? It's being driven to incredible places in a car with friends, rather than taking a bus with hordes of other tourists. Ahhhh!  Juan got us all the audio guides to the cathedral, and wow, I learned so much!  I think I'll always get the audio guide from now on. All this time, I've been wandering around these gothic cathedrals in ignorance, just admiring the scale of the beauty, oblivious to the intricacies of the history.

Scott loves to find a ray of light to take pictures in. I think he got it from that one picture my dad took of my mom in Rome. Doesn't Juan look stately?

Being Holy Week, all the cathedrals had their procession floats on display inside. Each cathedral has a certain time and theme for their procession.

Every single street is a quaint little mystery.

The grandeur is staggering.

I love that these kids love this stuff, or at least have a knowledge and appreciation for it. When Ruby and Golda met Victor in Paris for a week with no adult supervision, I was proud of them for hitting so many museums. They've been taught well.

Oh, and the art!! El Greco lived here in Toledo. He is one of my favorite Spanish artists, and now I have an even bigger appreciation for him.

Sofia gave us a guided tour through some of the ancient ruins while Juan took Victor to the train station. One of us had to take the train to Toledo (Sofia) and one from there to Badajoz, since we could only fit 5 in the car. It's hard to describe how incredible it was to see all of these historical buildings, ruins, etc. On our travels around Extramadura with Juan as our knowledgable guide, we really started to develop a sense of the history of the area, and it is rich. The week before we went to Spain, I had taken the kids to the Pueblo Indian ruins at Mesa Verde. Some of the things we saw in Spain were from the same time period. Indeed, some structures that are still in use today are from the 1100's. The United States is such a newborn baby. We have virtually no known history on our own soil, compared to other parts of the world, and only a page in the books as the United States, comparatively speaking.

When we arrived at Sonia's house in Badajoz, she had a wonderful dinner prepared for us. At home, we are terrible at sitting down to dinner, as are most Americans. I'll try to take the time to do that more often, but it's easier said than done. In Spain, it seems so natural to sit and eat. At home, it's more natural to eat an apple or a cheeseburger in the car on the way to whatever pressing thing is next. It's sad. Needless to say, we very much enjoyed every meal in Spain, where they really know how to treat and enjoy food.

Madrid

Our flight from Amsterdam to Madrid arrived in Madrid at 10 pm. Juan said that was perfect, as it was just before dinner time. Spain is on its own time zone! Juan and Victor picked us up at the airport and we met Sofia at a restaurant Juan had selected for tapas. It was super crowded, so we went across the street to another place where we discovered the delightful option of...non-alcoholic beer ON TAP! (Mahon Sin) Sign me up. After awhile at the first place, we crossed the street and ordered more tapas at the place Juan had chosen. Juan knows a lot about food, and he's very discerning. We were happy
to let him order whatever he thought was best, after he peppered the servers with questions. Everything was delicious. There we were, in a packed and lively tapas bar, at one o'clock in the morning in Madrid. As we left the restaurant at what would be considered the middle of the night in Kaysville, Juan said, "Where should we go next?" I love Spain. We opted for going back to our luxury airbnb right next to the Prado that Juan found for us. He really spoiled us with accomodations, and also with his vast knowledge of everything in the museums. It was so great to have our own personal guide!

We opted the next morning to walk through the Retiro gardens then the Reina Sofia Museum. It was excellent, of course. There was a Picasso exhibit focusing on Guernica, so we got to see that mammoth. The exhibit was well done, with Guernica surrounded by works that demnstrated the political and social climate as well as the art movements of the time, before and after Guernica. I learned a lot. Lunch was at a typical Galician restaurant. Juan's mother, Abuela Juana, joined us. She was the life of the party. Just a spitfire. The most memorable moment was when the waiter came to tell us about dessert. Victor had warned us that Abuela Juana can't have ice cream, but that she would do anything to get it. When the waiter mentioned ice cream, Juana's face lit up. She said, "Helado!!" I'm glad I'm not responsible for telling that woman no! She is persistent! We loved meeting her and dining in her sparkling presence.

 

At Retiro

Our plan was to see the Prado in the afternoon, so we were waiting outside to see Víctor and Sofia's aunt and uncle, Victor and Paloma. They were late, you know Spain, so we got to enjoy some afternoon sunshine before whizzing through the Prado in one hour, with Juan as our expert tour guide, steering us through the unimportant things and giving us an abridged version of the master works. It killed me to move so quickly, but I was grateful for the opportunity to see some amazing art.

Did you know there are two Mona Lisas?

When the Prado kicked us out at closing time, we met Victor and Paloma and their adorable little girl for drinks. The afternoon sun was bright and warm, and we took our time just relaxing. For me, it was so good to catch up. It was a bit of an emotional moment for Scott, as "Uncle Victor" had a starting role in our college/mission young adulthood as the guy I "Dear Johned" (aka dumped) Scott for. As we were on our way to meet the Correas, I said to Scott, "The great thing is that it was all so long ago that it doesn't even matter!" He looked at me dubiously and said, "WAS it?" We had a good laugh over that. Well, we all have our pasts, right? The important thing is how you integrate the past into the present, and I must give Scott huge kudos for handling a potentially fraught situation with dignity, aplomb and good nature. In fact, he loves to tell the story of how our kids have spent the past four summers with the family of his wife's college boyfriend. Kids, always choose a guy just like Scott. The end. :)

There's our fearless host, Juan, ordering more tapas for us! We had so much fun in Madrid, it was hard to leave, especially since our airbnb was so nice, and we had a private guide to all the museums. Then there was Abuela Juana. Who would want to leave her?! There was more to see, and we left Madrid en route to Toledo.