Two days in Toledo

Friday night at 9 pm Esteban´s dad (step mom, two step brothers, step sister, and half-sister) came to pick up Esteban, María and I and we headed off to Toledo. We finally made it at about 3 am. The hotel we have stayed in is AWESOME. It is called a “Parador” and is a restoration of an old famous building here that is owned by the government and it is said to have the best view of Toledo. I must say after 2 sunsets from the terrace and looking out over the city from our balcony that I agree! The city is absolutely gorgeous and charming. The antique buildings seem to be stacked from a distance and are enclosed by the cities tall walls and the atajo river. The inability for the cities growth due to the walls definitely contributes to its charm.
Seeing the painting of(the death of count orgaz by el Greco was definitely one thing that I really enjoyed. It is exciting to see things that you have studied and studied about and have always wondered why it is so great or famous. I now understand why this painting is so famous. It gave me the goose bumps and I PROMISE that one man in the painting was alive. I´ve never seen anything like it, nor do I think I could begin to explain the way that el Greco somehow captured an impossible light.
We ate lunch at a really nice restaurant and I ate olives, jamón Serrano, queso manchego, croquetes and meat that was really really rare. I don´t think I´ve ever been served or eaten something that rare. It was good though.
We visited the cathedral but couldn´t get into the because of construction. We also traveled outside the city and went to the royal palace of aranjuez. It was designed by the borbones so it´s no surprise that it is very similar to Versailles. My favorite room in the house was the one that was made to look like la alambra. When you visit the alambra they tell you to close imagine the colors red, blue, green and gold, that are now barely visible on the walls and ceilings. Here the colors where still there…. and just to see that little room painted so gave me the goosebumps because I could finally almost picture what the alambara must have looked like.