Wanderlust: Where I've been in the last week..

Sorry it's been so long! Here's what I've been up to:

Trip to Toledo

I went on a day trip to Toledo that was organized by our BU Program. It's amazing how in just an hour, you can go from the heart of the city of Madrid to a historic small town in the mountains.

On our way into the city, we stopped on the hillside for a picturesque view. This pic is of Marni, Nate, me, and Rex in front of the view.

Toledo!

If I remember correctly, that big building was once a military base. I could be making that up though.

Marni, Me, Danielle, and Alex

First stop: a tour of the churches in Toledo. This is a picture of la Iglesia de San Roman. This church is unique because you can see the fusion of Muslim and Christian influence from the 13th century. The Muslim architectural influences are apparent in the key hole shaped arches and geometrical designs within the church, and the Christian style is evident in the paintings of religious figures on the walls.

Next stop was La Catedral, and enormous Catholic church in the heart of Toledo.

This church was built in 1226 and represents the gothic style of architecture at the time. There are, however, also Muslim stylistic influences like many buildings in Toledo.

Another religious building next to the Cathedral.

Marni, Danielle, Alex, and me in front of another beautiful view.

After lunch we took a tour of the only two synagogues in Toledo. It was funny to see the stark contrast between the elaborate, ornate, enormous churches and the more modest, smaller synagogues. There use to be 12 synagogues in Toledo but of course during the Inquisition they were destroyed or converted into other religious buildings. The remaining two were also converted into churches during this time, but are now restored as temples/museums.

This is the second synagogue we visited that was created in the Islamic style. The keyhole arches and the pillars are typical of Islamic mosques, but it was actually used as a synagogue years ago. Our guide reminded us that unlike other religions, Judaism doesn't have too many strict rules about where Jews can observe and practice. The primary regulations are that men and women can be separate, there is an enclosed roof, and a place for the Torah, eternal light, etc. Because of this, Jews were able to practice their religion even in mosque-looking buildings.

You can't see it here, but there are also paintings of angels and some crosses hanging in this building from when it was temporarily converted into a Catholic church. A lot of religions under one roof. It just shows how much history there is Toledo and how the city, like many other Spanish cities, was essentially shaped by religion.

Human Bodies Exhibit

Yes, it's pretty much exactly the same as the Human Bodies exhibit in the states, but Alex had never seen it before so we took a short trip to see the preserved, sliced up bodies. And I snuck some pics.

Bear skeleton, not human don't worry.

Chapandaz

A couple friends that studied in Madrid in past years recommended a bar called Chapandaz so we decided to try it out. It was so cool because when you walk in, you feel like you're in a cave. Stalactite hangs from the ceilings and rough rock covers the walls.

Drinks even came out of the stalactite that hung over the bar!! So cool, but kinda gross?

The other 'theme' of the bar is that they give you these huge fishbowl drinks. For 40 euro, you can get one this size that is enough for about 7 people. We got one that was a strange mix of milk, cinnamon, and different liqueurs. It was good at first, tasted like a pina colada, but after about 5 sips I was full and starting to get grossed out that we were all sharing one drink....

Visitors!

Our friends Acker, Alki, and Eric, who are studying in Tel Aviv, came to Madrid for a couple days to visit! Madrid was their last stop on their road trip around Spain. Yes, they rented a car and drove from city to city--sounds crazy, but they made it and said they had an amazing time.

We took them to El Retiro, of course, and it was another beautiful fall day.

Exploring El Retiro.

For dinner we decided to cook and have a little dinner party for all of our friends. Lucy's host mom was out of town for the week, so we were able to use her (tiny) kitchen to prepare food. We made pasta bolognese, chicken marinated in this amazing sauce we made, and salad. So much fun!!