Toledo and the Crazy Night that Followed.

So on Friday morning we reported to school at 8:45 to take an hour bus to the medival city of Toledo. I was not very familiar with this medival city besides what I read of Mischner's Toledo chapter in his Spanish travel book "Iberia". From his description this city was depicted as a loud hotspot for tourists. The gothic cathedral towards the center of the city seemed to hold the only relevance for a visit.

With the panoramic view you are given driving into Toldeo it seems to be all beige / plain buildings yet one tower hovers  amongst the crowd. The Cathedral of Toledo seems so large in comparison to the rest of the city that it could almost touch heaven. We walked around the city starting at a sword shop, where we were greeted by overly grim faces. As my fellow classmates picked up swords and were snapping pictures of various faux sword fights the clerks looked on as to say "When are they leaving?" After that, we went to a Jewish synagouge and saw an original El Greco painting of the burial of a saint (sorry my description is so vague its been a couple of days). I really enjoy Greco's vivid art. His paintings are so colorful and detailed that you feel you are inside of them.

The inside of the gothic cathedral is extremeley striking to say the least. From the colorful stained glass windows telling Bibilical stories, to the all gold alter, to one window which contains El Greco's art around it the sunlight shining through. My eyes darted from the walls to the ceilings to the statues. I found myself overwhelmed by this church's beauty and the eerie silence only made the impact more memorable. I only wish I had the talent Mischner does when describing this place and if you have free time I recommend reading his chapter on Toledo.

That night the roommates and I had planned to go see Fischerspooner (American techno band) at a club a few metro stops from our house. I went to school after our field trip to google the address to the club, but I left without it writing down (strike one Kirstie!). We took naps and got ready and by midnight we ventured out into the Madrid nightlife. Well of course we got lost its 30 degrees outside and the six of us girls in high heels have no idea where we are going. While looking at a map some random Spanish guy on a bike came up and told us in broken English that he had watch a movie that day where a lost girl needed help. I guess he saw this as a sign to help us. I saw it as a sign to run and get the hell home, but I did really want to go to this concert. He convinced my roommates that he knew where he was going and we began to follow him on his bike (I remained at least 100 feet back still skeptical. I guess it did not help that my parents had made me watch "Taken" before I left for Madrid. ")
After about an hour we found the club. Our feet mere stubs from our high heels, but excitement still somewhat lingered. This was my first taste of the Madrid nightlife and I have to say I loved it. It was a blast from the American songs they played (our group singing along loudly) to the flashing lights. We ended up staying until 5:30 in the morning and stumbled home sore, but happy. One of my roommates had to 7 AM Bus to Bilbao and barely made it. Overall a great first weekend in Madrid!



The following are my photos from Toledo and the night of Fischerspooner:

of course I have to put up a Fischerspooner song in memory of my night out:

(on a sidenote we saw a dj set so their show wasn't nearly this crazy but one of the members

did end up taking his pants off by the end of the show)