Spain

WOW! That is what I think of Spain in general. It is a great place to visit. Saturday I wondered through the park El Retiro. Found out this is where the young go to rest, read, draw, and just hang out. The older ones walk their dogs, their kids, or just drink a caña (small beer) in the café. It is cool. In the center of the park is a lake, and there are tons of boats with people rowing (badly) but you´re only 5o feet from the edge at any time. I´ll bet in the summer, people are always ¨falling in¨. Kinda neat...huh!



Sunday I left Madrid and picked up my rent car. I thought it was going to be a small one, but I got the european version of a mini-van, so we should be OK when every one gets here in March. I headed to Toledo, famous for it´s steel swords and it´s (evidently) Marzipan! Who knew. Any way, the city is built on the top of a hill. Lucky for me I´ve been practicing! I´m tired, but still going, and there are about 6 centuries of history here. It was Muslim, had a Jewish quarter, and was and is the seat of the Catholic church here in Spain. El Greco did most of his work here, and I´ve found out our version of the pale, saintly Jesus is actually El Greco´s idea. All of his saints, religious figures were pale and thin...it was his style!

Here is a shot of the main cathedral...and can you tell how lucky I´ve been with the weather! The sky is just georgous!

This is the inside of the synagogue. Wow!
THis was inside a monastary, which is HUGE! Amazing carving. I took a bunch of pictures of the carving on the columns. At first you think they´re all the same, then you realize they are all different! Too cool. They have dragons, wierd animals, etc.

Tomorrow I head to Seville I think. I left most of my stuff in the car and just took a few things up the hill to the hotel. Parking in old Spanish towns is a trick, and I´m still learning it! But it is working, and I do like not having to haul all my stuff on and off trains, buses, etc!

Better go...2 minutes left on the timer. Love you all,
Earline