Toledo - Day 8

We hadn't booked our tickets yet for Toledo because we weren't sure which train we were taking there.  We arrived at the station and only have 15 minutes until the one train left so we figured we'd take the one leaving in an hour.  Nope.  Apparently if you have more than 2 minutes to spare they will put you on the first one. 

Off we ran and made it on our train literally with 3 minutes to spare... not the best way to start our last day in Spain!  But off we went for the 1 hour train ride.

When we arrived the train station was beautiful. 

Inside of the station

I wanted to go to Toledo for many reason - 1. I have planned to study abroad there in college but never did 2. I went to University of Toledo in Oh and found this to be so funny...?  and 3. It was supposed to have great sites to see.

We took a cab into the center of town, which wasn't far but we were confused with where to go based on the map.  We opted to go to Alcazar first, which was my breaking point.  I was already exhausted and this place was completely not what I expected.  It was a museum dedicated to Spain's wars they had won and lost... no pictures allowed, and no joke we couldn't get out.  You had to keep following this terrible map that was so confusing to the next exhibit and go up and down then up and down stairs.  It was so unorganized and if someone stabbed me with one of the swords they had in there I would've said thank you.  I was driving Derrick nuts but I was in full on break down mode and wanted nothing to do with being there.

I'm smiling for camera, not for being happy about this place

So, how to solve my problem?  Eat of course!  We found a cute place for lunch and sangria.  Pricey, but good, and Toledo is so small there weren't many options.  At this point the temp was rising - over 100 - and we were just D.O.N.E.  But we wanted to see a bit more and the Cathedral didn't open for another hour.

Can't take my eyes off of the ice cold gelato

Street of Toledo - Cathedral straight ahead

We wandered around with my melting gelato and got to the cathedral early.  Guess what sign I saw when we arrived?  No shorts, skirts, or tank tops.  Guess what I was wearing... white jeans (perfect for the Cathedral) and a really cute halter top (not perfect).  Guess who almost had another meltdown... yep me.  I was bored and frustrated we came out here anyways and then to top it off I wasn't going to be able to get in!?!

Hang on... I looked around and saw all of these people purchasing their tickets in skimpier and well.. trashier... clothes than mine.  We watched  them get in with no problem.  Alright - let's do this.  We fell between the crowd, Derrick put his arm around me, and WE WERE IN!  Muahahahahaha!!!

University dorms

The Cathderal was so pretty and there was A/C - my stamina was returning.  We spent a long time in here, partly because our return train didn't leave for a long time. 

We loved this image - the light was coming through with the statues shadows also - it was beautiful

We laughed and said I was 'creepin' on Jesus... we were delusional apparently because it's not as funny as we thought it was

Well, after so long we hopped on the bus and headed towards the train station.  We sat at a bar for a long time reminiscing about our favorite parts - me naming my favorite sites and Derrick being sweet saying 'spending it with you'. 

Yep that's celsius - conversion is 105!!!

Cruz Campo baby beers - loved them

We headed back and went to.... big surprise... the tapas market.  I wasn't feeling great, dehydrated for sure, so just Derrick ate.  We then heard huge screaming and music - there was a HUGE parade led by the church and priests through the street right by where we were.  Again... I didn't have my camera because we were just eating dinner, but it was amazing,  I loved it.

We headed back and debated on how to get home.  Would we make it back tomorrow on the flights?  If not, we cleared it with the hostal to stay another night - he had space - and Derrick would stay because he would at least go out and about and enjoy another day where I would stay holed up in the room alone and worried I'd get lost.  We saw that the flight we wanted wasn't oversold but there were a lot of people listed, but to our surprise there was an Irish company that we could fly on through United that was WIDE open with no one listed!!  As in... first class was WIDE OPEN along with coach - what a dream that would be, we thought, to top off our trip and get first class home......