We got up early to catch the bus at 6 am. Since we didn’t get home til 4 am, we did not get much sleep. But being tired on the bus was very worth the night we had. We all loaded up the bus and headed out of Sevilla. I was a really pretty drive to our first stop Calatrava la nueva (a castle). On the drive we were heading straight in to the sunrise. It was really beautiful- the rolling hills, green grass, and tons of sunflower fields everywhere with the sunrise in the distance.
After watching the sunrise I fell asleep along with the rest of our class. When we woke up we were at the Calatrava. The knights of Calatrava build the castle. They were monks who were “defenders of the faith.” The bus ride up there was so steep for our bus and the road was so narrow! It made me verrrrry nervous! The castle was on top of the hill so that they could see two days in advance if someone was coming to the castle. It was built into the natural rock of the hill and was really neat to see. There was a little church in the castle as well. The best view was at the very top! You could see for miles!
I walked down from the bus with Dr. Stratton’s wife and asked her how her and Professor Stratton had met. She told me the cutest story of how he was a big shot basketball player in college and all of her friends were in love with him. She was kind of shy so one day he took all of her and her friends to a dance. She sat in the back while all of her friends flirted with him. But he turned his review mirror so he could see her and kept winking at her- her friends had no clue. They have been together ever since. It is hard to image Dr. Stratton as a buff basketball player, but with his energy and spunk I can completely see it. They are the cutest couple! I am so glad I got to know them both so well this trip!
We walked around the castle for about an hour, learning from Dr. Stratton and taking pictures, before we head to Almagro. There is a very old theater in Almegro but it was being renovated so we didn’t get to see it! But there is a really neat store that they hand-make silk! We rehydrated with some agua and walked around the small city for a little bit. We were in the city of Almagro for just an hour and a half before we headed over to the windmills of Don Quixote. The view was breathtaking- with the windmills and rolling hills and blue sky.
Migeal Cervantez’s book Don Qixote is about this old guy who reads a lot of stories about knights and decides he wants to go on a knight adventure. He was ridding the world of evil for the love of his life. The significant of the windmills- in the book Don believe they are Giants and goes to fight the windmills. It was one of his first missions and he was obviously defeated- The song “The impossible dream” comes from this. The book is about realism vs delusion. It was one of the greatest of the first modern novels written.
We hopped back on the bus and started heading to our final destination for the day- Toledo. On the bus ride there our class decided that we would come up with some cow jokes in honor of Professor Stratton’s love for them. Erica and Laura came up with 5 really funny jokes! We have such a fun class!
Toledo is a town on a hill. There are lots of museums and churches. We basically had the entire day free in Toledo to do whatever we wish. It is a great town to just walk around. When we got there we went shopping and bought… yes some swords! And some jewelry from some shops in the center of town. Toledo was beautiful! It is a medieval town that reminds me a lot of a mix of Granada and Corbada. The town was all decorated because they are going to have a festival to Corpus Christi later in the week.
After shopping we grabbed some amazing pasta for dinner. “I feel like it is always us and a bottle of wine.” We walked over to a street next to a huge drop off that over looked the city of Toledo and the river. It was beautiful. We sat down on a ledge and just watched the sunset. It was a perfect way to take in the city and relax. We stayed up late the night before telling Sevilla good-bye, so we turned in early for the night. We went back to the hotel watched a little Disney channel (in English), took a long nice shower, and went to bed!
We woke up early went down for breakfast, and then Angie, Dr. Stratton, Mrs. Stratton, Erin, and I all went to Mass at the Toledo Cathedral! The mass was one of the only masses that still has its services in the original language (Latin) so it was very interesting! I’m really glad we went! I could not understand much, but I do now know The Lord’s Prayer in Spanish and Latin as well. After the service Dr. Stratton snuck in to the big part of the church with us so that he could show us around! We are rebellious! The interior was amazing! We saw this one area in the ceiling of the church that had been cut out and decorated for the sun to shining through in the most extraordinary way! It was decorated with angles and was really breath-taking. We only got kicked out twice before Dr. Stratton decided that we should go ahead and leave.
After mass we headed over to some shops that Mrs. Stratton wanted to show us while Dr. Stratton went and bought us all a piece of “mazapan.” Mazapan is a little pastry that is very popular in Toledo and taste like a very heavy sweetbread with a dab of almond. It was really nice of him to get that for us.
After our little snack we walked over to a museum to meet the rest of our class and see this one painting. The painting was called “El Entierro Del Senor De Orgaz” (The Burial of Lord Orgaz) by El Greco. El Greco is a famous Toledo painter and this painting was one of the two most important paintings in all of Spain. The painting was huge and absolutely beautiful. It was the first time that anyone had ever painted the soul of a person being ascended to Heaven. The bottom of the painting was the earth and the burial of Lord Orgaz, the middle was angels the soul being delivered to Heaven, and the top was the soul being welcome into the Kingdom by St. Peter, Mary, John the Baptist, and Jesus. I would start naming off a bunch of fact about the painting but I don’t think it would be as interesting to y’all as it was to me.
After viewing the painting for a while we left and decided to go visit the El Greco museum. The museum was a replica of El Greco’s house in Toledo and was full of art by Greco himself and by some of his students. My favorite paintings were the 13 portfolio’s of the 12 disciples and Jesus. Each painting was different and in someway had a symbolic reference in the painting to the individual disciple’s life. The other painting I really liked was “The tears of St. Peter.” The painting portrayed St Peters acknowledging his guilt and begging for forgiveness for having denied Christ three times. It was a beautiful painting.
After the hotel was grabbed a quick lunch and heading back to the hotel to get on the bus. As we left the town of Toledo our bus driver took us out of the city along a route that gave us a panoramic view of the city. It was the perfect view of the city. Professor Stratton surprised the entire class with a little piece of mazapan to try! So nice of him!
We drove for a couple of hours before we got to The Monastery of El Escorial. The city reminded me so much of Colorado: the set-up of the city as well as the weather- perfect. Made me excited for the rest of my summer in Colorado.
The Escorial Castle was a very large, but simple castle. Pictures were illegal so I didn’t get many- but I did get a couple! The view from the castle was beautiful looking out into the garden! In my castle one day I’ll have that pretty of a view to wake up to! We saw a beautiful church with in the castle as well was the tombs’ of many King and Queens of Spain, and a really pretty library! My favorite part was being about to hear this beautiful choir practicing through a window on the third floor as we waited to enter into the church- beautiful!
After touring around the huge castle for a while we headed back to the bus and then into Madrid!
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