Holy Toledo

This is us waiting in the train station in Madrid. Buying tickets isn't easy. It seems like I spent ten hours in line trying to get tickets to Toledo (only a 30-minute train ride), because by the time we got to the front of the line, the train would be full. We had to come back several times, but we finally got things together. The train station itself includes a jungle complete with a pond full of hundreds of mating turtles.
Toledo is a beautiful town on a hill surrounded on three sides by rivers. It was a fortress occupied at different points by pretty much everyone - Romans, Visigoths, Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The complicated architecture and lore make it a fascinating city. The bridge was originally built by the Romans, destroyed in the 11th or 12th century in a flood, and rebuilt. We liked it so much that we came back, and we'll be visiting one more time before we leave since it is such a cheap and beautiful trip. There's a corny tram ride that goes through the city's narrow streets and tells stories about the buildings, weaving in bits of myth and poetry. My favorite part is when it says that Toledo has been a "harmonious crossroads of cultures" and then follows up with how "The church is built on the site of the mosque" and "This arch was built from the tombstones from the Muslim cemetary". My second favorite part is how it tells that the pelican was used in sacrifice symbolism because it is the only bird that will eat its own flesh to feed its young.

Partly because of its crusade history, it is also famous for its swords and knives. Sarah's dad found a knife and sword shop and bought a knife for carving violins. He was also nice enough to buy us a beautiful kitchen knife that I have been enjoying ever since. I've become a chopping addict though, and I'm finding ways to add vegetables to things I wouldn't have bothered with normally. Who thought that a knife from Toledo would be good for our health?