Holy Toledo!

Alex and I spent this past weekend at home. Of course, home is relative, because we are still living in Madrid, an exciting city with numerous things to do. And even in California, a “weekend at home” does not equal boredom. Actually, I am so very excited to share about our adventures in Toledo, Spain this past Saturday!

But first, I must tell you about another fun experience on the former side of the weekend! On Friday night, we took our adorable Chinese friends out and introduced them to Mexican food.

Last week, Lan bought us noodles commonly eaten in her region in China. At that lovely meal, we agreed that next time we would buy her delicious American food. Alex and I searched high and low for delicious American food in Spain; we found McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, and Starbucks. None of these seemed to mimic the style of food Alex and I prefer. So we altered our search, and found a dynamite Mexican restaurant near our school. Perfecto. The restaurant happens to be owned by a Mexican ex-pat and they do things right!

Lan and Alicia (a new character in the Butler saga) enjoyed their carne asada burrito and chicken flautas. I think Lan was genuinely surprised by the amount of vegetables on the burrito. The rumor here is that Americans eat burgers and fries all day, every day. We were glad to show them a little part of our world! The food was delicious and we had the best time trying to communicate with each other and attempt to learn about each other’s lives here and back home.

Next week, they are going to make us homemade sushi. For real.

I could end today’s entry there, because the time with Lan and Alicia was that special. But I must tell you about Toledo, because thus far, it is our favorite place in Spain!

Remember Pastor Efrain and his wife, Mercy, at the Nazarene Church in Madrid? Well, we have kept in contact with them! They live close to Toledo, and commute into Madrid for work and church. So we heard about the ancient city from them. Specifically, they invited us to come spend the day in Toledo. We obliged, although we knew very little about where we were headed before stepping on the “Directo” bus from Madrid’s bus station.

Toledo is a neighbor of Madrid. The ancient city sits high on a hill about 70 kilometers south of Madrid metropolitan area. It dates back to the Roman Empire. Toledo is so special that the entire community was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. The reason? Historically, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities have coexisted here for thousands of years and have maintained distinct cultures. The American phrase, "Holy Toledo!" comes from Jews in the New World who would refer to this wonderful religious city.

If you want to win my heart, talk to me about harmonious community relations and religious tolerance. I can buy that!

We met Efrain, Mercy, Eunice, Enoch, and Elias in Toledo and embarked upon who knew what?! When it’s just Alex and me, we consult our travel book and literally run from place to place soaking up the sights at lightening speed. Touring a city with locals is much different and much more low key. For the first few hours, we ambled up and down cobblestone streets, admiring architecture and watching street performers. We stopped at a scenic look out and ate our picnic lunch, which gave Alex and the boys time to play Star Wars with empty water bottles.

We met up with some American missionaries and their kids at the El Greco Museum, which is free starting at two. Born Doménikos Theotokópoulos, El Greco was a Greek-born painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. He lived and worked in Toledo. Much of the city in decorated in El Greco signage and memorabilia, especially this year because it is the 400^th anniversary of his death.

We went to another museum with the whole gang, the Sephardic Museum. This museum celebrates the Sephardic Jew population in Spain, which thrived in Toledo. Honestly, it was a blur. Ancient relics and paintings and Jewish style architecture and Spanish and English and kids. Not complaining, though, because it was a joyful blur!

The parents decided their kids needed a little break, so they took an hour to hang out and eat ice cream while Alex and I visited the Cathedral in Toledo. Yet another amazing display of Gothic architecture! Flying buttresses and little gargoyles and all that nonsense! What makes this Cathedral especially cool is that the Christian community coexisted with Muslims and Jews, without expelling them like the rest of Spain. In addition, there is quite a lot of El Greco work in the Cathedral’s Sacristy.

After the Cathedral, we walked a bit more and stopped to browse sword shops and jewelry shops. Toledo is known throughout the world for their metal smithing. For example, all of the swords from Lord of the Rings movies were made in Toledo. We didn't buy anything, but as we began to wind down and walk outside the city walls, we realized that Toledo was our favorite.

But one more thing. Before hopping onto our bus back to Madrid, Efrain drove us outside the city to a high look out to behold its splendor from afar. And wow. Breath. Taken. Away.

I posted the picture on Instagram and am posting again below. Of course, that does not even crack the surface on the beauty of Toledo. What’s more, Alex and I weren’t racing the clock and counting our Euros on Saturday. We were the guests of Efrain and Mercy and were given the back door tour, complete with a homemade picnic lunch. We got to practice Spanish with lovely friends and learn from the kiddos! Que suerte.

 El Greco himself!

Mercy as El Greco! 

<3 

El Greco masterpiece in the Cathedral 

A castle or something?! 

Tourists, but through the back door this time! 

Holy stinking Toledo. I love thee!