Madrid and Toledo (1/20-1/22) written by Brooke ( with prelude/preface by Brad)

Preface: Alrighty, welcome back to some awesome blogging. Let me seee.. First things first:

Which one of these is not a law/practice in Mykonos:

There can be no chain stores/restaurants - CORRECT (just found out you can manipulate text color/size)
We actually came across a starbucks sitting atop a hill. It was glorious and very american.

Houses must be painted white with colored doors/windows -WRONG
All those pretty pictures of white houses with colored doors/windows are beautiful by law! The law also guarantees that....

Houses must be 2 stories tall or less - WRONG

Everything is closed on Wednesday afternoons - WRONG
In addition to Sundays everything closes on Wednesday nights. Hard to say why.. i feel like i asked at the time but since it's been so long since we've actually been in Greece i seem to have forgotten the reason.

Nextly, i would like to thank all 4 of you or whatever poor showing we had for the previous contest in which the best blog reader would be mentioned for eternal fame in this very blog. Of the few attempts that were made a couple stood out. The runner up will remain annonomous but (s)he posted:

doc in the back sippin on yac.

Very inciteful and concise.

And the winner with the unanimous vote (from me) is my very own Aunt Donna with her poem 'Untitled.' A very excellent piece using the classic ABAB construction typical of the quatrain poetry.

And now I present to you the fabulous Brooke L. J. :

Hey all of you blog fans. Sorry about the lack of contact with you all. Things have been busy and exciting, which is great news....we can assume.

The theme of this blog has changed slightly now, to less of a “play by play” of our travels, and more of our thoughts, special events, and views on life (we are deep like that). The other side note is that while we are in Spain, the keyboard is a bit different, so I am going to start utilizing the upside down question mark...?¿?

Anyway, as for Madrid, it was fun returning to Spain from Greece. While it was difficult to transition from the Greek phrases such as “parakalo,” “efaristo,” and “ya sas” (which means hi, but was used by Brad for pretty much everything such as “hi,” “bye,” “follow me,” “please,” and “I love the Greek scenery, it´s amazing!”) and back into Spanish.

We decided that we were going to stay in Madrid for our two nights before we headed to Malaga, so we immediately searched for awesome activities in the city (although very little could top Bella y la Bestía) and we found out that Real Madrid was playing Atletico Madrid that night! For those of you who aren´t up to date on your Spanish fútbol standings, Real Madrid is 1^st in Spain right now, and Atletico is 4^th. CRAZY COOL!

So we found this amazing sports bar and restaurant called “Locos para Fútbol,” the craziest and most awesome place to ever watch soccer. There was a 10 euro cover charge to get in (with a free drink), but it was well worth it for the atmosphere inside, and the opportunity to watch the game, which otherwise we would have not been able to because literally every bar or restaurant with a TV was packed with fans from both teams. The game was amazing, and it ended in a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid. After the game, we went to a horribly over priced restaurant, where the glass of Sangria that I ordered came back as a pitcher. Best 10 euros I ever spent?¿? (side note, that sentence was written solely for the use of the upside down question mark...(side-side note: i liked the restaurant, though the portions were small. I shared some sushi and terrayki chicken in case Ken was wondering - Brad))

The next day we took a 30 minute train ride to Toledo to spend the day exploring. Nathan had remembered visiting an incredible cathedral and a Jewish quarter, so we were pumped to see it. (side note, the trains in spain are AMAZING and all who want comfort travel should do so by train...this is not sarcasm. The seats lean back without intruding on the personal space of the person behind you...increíble!) We got off the train and went straight to the cathedral. When we walked in, we were absolutely in awe of the mere size of it, not to mention the beautiful art work, details, and oh so much more. (sorry to say, photographs were not allowed, so we have no examples, but OMG...amazing.) The best way to describe it...an alacrity!

Afterwards, we headed over to the Jewish quarter. It was nice to see Jewish paraphernalia in Spain, along with the synagogues. Unfortunately, since it was a Monday, the major synagogue was closed to viewers, but we were able to visit another one. From an historical viewpoint, it was interesting to see the changes from what was a synagogue to the current view, being that of a church. From a Jewish viewpoint, it was sad to see the few remains of what once was a lively and prosperous culture.

We then continued our walk around Toledo (after stopping for Mazapan) in search of the Parador, an incredible hotel that is government owned and in many Spanish cities. The walk took us on a beautiful sunset tour around the city. There was a spectacular view of the inner city, a city full of castle-esk architecture and beautiful bridges, amazing!

We finally found the Parador, snuck inside for about 3 minutes, and then had to book it back to the train station (another beautiful walk...if only we had known about “paseos” back then, it wouldn´t have seemed so bad---paseos are spanish walks that are taken regularly for fun). We made it just in time to grab some more mazapan “to go” and headed for Madrid.

Tomorrow is Malaga...