La Vida Reedículo: Holy Toledo.

Friday afternoon I took the bus to Toledo. Having missed my siesta for the day I decided to make up for it on the way to the city. Of course though, being one of the last people on the bus meant I was going to spend the ride next to a woman who must have thought showers were an optional part of living in modern society. My tiredness got the best of me, and I ended up sleeping away the 45 minute trip. Waking up on the shoulder of Pepita Le Pew was not the best way to start my stay in Toledo but it quickly improved when I saw the city.

The bus station was at the bottom of Toledo, which is essentially a huge hill. At the top of this hill is the walled city. I felt like I was a part of El Greco's View of Toledo.

"View of Toledo" from The Metropolitan Museum

Toledo used to be the capital of Spain and was an important city during the Moorish occupation. Much of the architecture is still preserved and looks a lot like how old Spain appears in movies. Many of the alleys are lined with cobblestone and have balconies peaking through vine covered walls.

Photo by Taylor Kunselman

Also, there is a huge number of cats all over the city.

Photo by Taylor Kunselman

Our hostel owner spoke fluent English, which was a shame because that allowed us to understand how terrible his personality was. He spoke with an air of importance, like we were wasting his time for being there. He had a sign that read "take a smile" where you could rip off a tag with a smiley face on it. I made sure to take plenty because I wasn't getting any from him.

The night life was interesting but not as exciting as Madrid's. There were far fewer young people in this city but the majority of the people were very friendly and talkative. I struggled through a conversation in Spanish with this one girl, only to find after several minutes that she was from England and just enjoyed watching me make a fool out of myself.

In the daytime is when the city really opened up. Many of the people in Toledo are there just for a day trip and the streets are flooded with old men with fanny packs, sandals and shorts that are much too short and tight to be considered sociably reasonable. The surplus of tourists was deserved though because Toledo had a lot to offer in terms of sightseeing.

Here are a few buildings I'm sure are not nameless, but I don't know what those names may be: