Toledo in a Nutshell

Hello all,
Well my weekdays aren't too eventful, but last week we went on a tour of Toledo. All the students were taken on a bus across the river to one of the mountains and we got to take pictures of the city of Toledo. The view was absolutely gorgeous!
Here are a few pictures I took:
This is a photo of the river that surrounds 3/4 of Toledo. It was good to protect the city of invasion.

This is the view of the whole city.

This is a close-up of the Alcázar. It is built on the highest point of the city, and it is where the king and queen lived when Toledo was the capital. During Spain's civil war it was used by Crnl. José Moscardó as a defensive base and it was actually almost completely destroyed by the Republic soldiers. It was restored and re-built just like all of the buildings in Toledo, and now it's the home of the library and the military museum. I actually pass it each time I walk to my internship.
This is a close-up of the cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous. We walked to it and so there are closer detailed pictures. The cathedral took two centuries to be finished, but once you see the details of it, you understand completely how it took that long.

This is one of the entrances... I don't think it's the main one that people use to walk into.


I couldn't get over the detail of the designs. I just stood there looking at it for a few minutes.


Can you imagine how much time and patience it took to carve all that detail? It really makes you appreciate it to think of the talent and determination it took.
The next photos go back to the view at the top of the mountain.


This is Maggie and I with the background of Toledo. They say we're attached at the hip, but we can't help it if we're really similar and are even both from Chi-town (she's from Addison, IL and goes to Elmhurst), I mean it's definitely been nice to find someone I can be really close with. Definitely helps with the homesickness.
This is my Arcadia group. From top left are Brian and Amanda. Then Maggie, Me, Mark, Kristie and Jamie. It's a small group, but we've been able to get really close. Maggie, Brian, Mark, Jamie and I basically travel everywhere together, with a few other people here and there.

This is just a street while we were walking. This is how narrow the streets are in Toledo, and the houses are very tall too.

Now this is the entrance to the school. It's down a long, narrow walkway, and the buildings on both sides are homes so we have to be very quiet when we walk home late at night. One of the girls I was walking home with actually got yelled at one night for speaking too loudly.

And lastly, this is the plaza Zocodover, the main plaza in Toledo. To the right on the side of the street I'm on there's a building with a McDonald's. Yup, can't escape the chain even in a small town. Big Mac's here go for like 8 Euros though... so no American really goes there, except for Mark. He's had a hard time transitioning to Spanish food. I on the other hand, LOVE it! Except for the fact that I don't think I've ever eaten so much bread in my life! They have bread for every meal! But it's that irresistible baguette break that they make fresh every day and is just crunchy enough on the outside and so soft and fluffy on the inside.... Can you tell it's almost dinner time here? I'm describing bread. Haha. Anyway, this post didn't have too much writing, but I thought you would enjoy my photos of where I am living.
Until my next post,
xoxo
D