Holy Toledo!

Trip Start Jun 07, 2008

190

Trip End Jun 28, 2009

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Where I stayed

Hospes Madrid

Flag of Spain Madrid, Spain
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The train to Toledo was fast - it only took half an hour. Once we got to Toledo, we had to walk up a giant hill and cross some bridges over a river to get to the town. It used to be a fort town and there were lots of stairs. Toledo is famous because it makes the best swords in Spain, and they say the world. I got to hold a real sword - it was huge and so sharp. I wanted to buy a sword for my grandfather, because he would love it, but my parents said no. Lu and I bought marzapan from a nun - it was like a bisquit with almonds and powdered sugar on the top, and whipped cr�me in the middle. The nuns made it and it was amazing! We also saw a church that was designed by a guy named Gaudi. It was so big and had lots of nuns and stained glass. It was also very quiet and peaceful. But guess what, no rides in Toledo. Just lots of stairs and churches and shops that sell swords and armor and things like that. But it was still cool.

Last night we had dinner on top of the Thyssen Contemporary Art museum

Toledo is a hill town, and we had to climb it!

. At first we saw some paintings by an artist named Miro that were cool, then we went to the roof and had dinner outside on the patio at a very fancy restaurant. We watched the moon rise and the stars come out. Did you know that the first star to come out every night is the planet Venus? That is what my Dad said. I will check this out everywhere we go.

One of the things I liked best about Madrid was walking home late at night. All the streets are very wide and all the buildings are lit up and there are also a lot of beautiful fountains in the middle of the streets. My favorite was the one of Neptune riding on his chariot with two merhorses. Neptune is in one of my myths. On the way home from dinner, usually around midnight every night, Tallulah and I got to run up the sidewalks and there were still tons of people on the streets, including kids like us. That was fun.

The other thing that I thought I wanted to do in Spain was see a bullfight. My parents told me that I could decide, but that I should read about what happens to the bull first. After I read about it, I decided I did not want to go, but I do still want to see some real matadors. I found out that at the bullfight, the best seats are in the shade, the medium seats are in the sun and shade, and the worst seats are in the sun, or sol. The matadors bring out a bull and first tease it by sticking it with pointed spears and things. Then they take out a small red cloth and keep teasing it until they get close enough to kill it. In one night, three matadors can kill six bulls. Apparently, the bulls bleed a lot and it is really painful for the bull. While I know it is the Spanish culture, I think that I like animals too much to watch one getting killed so slowly. But I still want to meet a matador.

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