Our second day in Spain continued the frantic pace that started our journey. We left Victor’s house and went on a walking tour of the city. Here are some of Toledo’s famous sites:
Notice the holes at the top of tower, remnants from gunfire during the Spanish Civil War:
Decorations in front of the cathedral remaining from Corpus Cristi, a religious festival:
Overlook at the edge of the old city:
The View:
The New City:
We walked outside the city walls along the Route of Don Quixote. We also walked along the river.
The Route by the River:
The Route by the River:
The City Wall (Translation: On a dark night,/Kindled in love with yearnings/Oh, happy chance!/I went forth without being observed,/My house now being at rest.)
We walked back up the very steep hill to the city’s centre and were welcomed by Puerto de Sol (the port of the sun):
After our walk, Victor fed us a huge lunch that he cooked for us and his friend, Cristina, and it was time for a siesta.
A brief cultural lesson about food and sleeping schedules:
The meal schedule for Spaniards is very different from the schedule that Americans have. Breakfast in Spain consists of very little: toast or a small pastry and coffee. The coffee is also an espresso, so unless you request café Americano or café con leche, you are not going to have any coffee to sip on for a long period of time. You can also forget about something as heavenly as a Biscuitville Ultimate Ham ever being served here! Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and is served around 2:00 or 3:00. That doesn’t sound problematic until you eat one piece of toast in the morning at 8:00 and sightsee for six hours. Lunch seems very far away when you are a starving tourist! After such a big lunch, a siesta is required. It is also required due to the heat. It was in the mid-nineties to hundred degrees during our stay in Toledo, so after we ate lunch, there was little point in walking around in the heat. Furthermore, all shops close down for siesta and lunch from 2:00 to 4:30 (sometimes 5:00, depending on how long it takes the clerk to eat, nap, and smoke). After siesta, Spaniards spend their evenings socializing at bars where a tapa (small dish) is often served as an accompaniment to any alcoholic beverage. The idea of tapas originated hundreds of years ago in Spain when innkeepers did not want people “drinking and riding” (their horses :) ), so they put a small plate of food on the top of any glass in which ale, beer, wine, or cider was served. The tapas had the second function of keeping flies away. The tradition has continued today. Tapas can be as small as a couple of olives (which I still hate…) or as large as chicken wings, fries, and mini pizzas served on one plate. If you are still hungry after socializing and grazing on tapas, you can eat dinner around 9:00-10:30. If you want dinner prior to 9:00, you will have a very difficult time finding a place that will serve you. Spanish children are also up very late. Since dinner is so late, children are out at all hours. It is not uncommon to see kids playing soccer (futbol) in the plaza or eating ice cream while their parents sip wine at midnight or later. After such a full day, they go sleep, get up early, and start the cycle over again!
In the evening, we drove to Madrid to hang out with some of Victor’s friends from when he studied in London. They were two couples from Chile and Spain. Understanding them was very difficult for me. There were multiple conversations, multiple accents, and a lot of background noise. Unlike when I speak with someone one-on-one and can understand half of what they say, I could understand less than a fourth of what was being discussed. Victor and J. Santiago were very good about translating for me!
First, we went tapas hopping at a couple of different bars. Some of the tapas were very unusual—squid, eel, blood sausage. We finally ate dinner around 11:45. The dinner was delicious! We had jamon y manchego cheese, calamari, sardines, and clams. I also tried a drink that I really enjoy called a clara. It is a small glass of beer with soda. It sounds disgusting, but it is really light and refreshing. You should give it a try!
At the Restaurant in Madrid:
A brief cultural lesson about food and sleeping schedules:
The meal schedule for Spaniards is very different from the schedule that Americans have. Breakfast in Spain consists of very little: toast or a small pastry and coffee. The coffee is also an espresso, so unless you request café Americano or café con leche, you are not going to have any coffee to sip on for a long period of time. You can also forget about something as heavenly as a Biscuitville Ultimate Ham ever being served here! Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and is served around 2:00 or 3:00. That doesn’t sound problematic until you eat one piece of toast in the morning at 8:00 and sightsee for six hours. Lunch seems very far away when you are a starving tourist! After such a big lunch, a siesta is required. It is also required due to the heat. It was in the mid-nineties to hundred degrees during our stay in Toledo, so after we ate lunch, there was little point in walking around in the heat. Furthermore, all shops close down for siesta and lunch from 2:00 to 4:30 (sometimes 5:00, depending on how long it takes the clerk to eat, nap, and smoke). After siesta, Spaniards spend their evenings socializing at bars where a tapa (small dish) is often served as an accompaniment to any alcoholic beverage. The idea of tapas originated hundreds of years ago in Spain when innkeepers did not want people “drinking and riding” (their horses :) ), so they put a small plate of food on the top of any glass in which ale, beer, wine, or cider was served. The tapas had the second function of keeping flies away. The tradition has continued today. Tapas can be as small as a couple of olives (which I still hate…) or as large as chicken wings, fries, and mini pizzas served on one plate. If you are still hungry after socializing and grazing on tapas, you can eat dinner around 9:00-10:30. If you want dinner prior to 9:00, you will have a very difficult time finding a place that will serve you. Spanish children are also up very late. Since dinner is so late, children are out at all hours. It is not uncommon to see kids playing soccer (futbol) in the plaza or eating ice cream while their parents sip wine at midnight or later. After such a full day, they go sleep, get up early, and start the cycle over again!
In the evening, we drove to Madrid to hang out with some of Victor’s friends from when he studied in London. They were two couples from Chile and Spain. Understanding them was very difficult for me. There were multiple conversations, multiple accents, and a lot of background noise. Unlike when I speak with someone one-on-one and can understand half of what they say, I could understand less than a fourth of what was being discussed. Victor and J. Santiago were very good about translating for me!
First, we went tapas hopping at a couple of different bars. Some of the tapas were very unusual—squid, eel, blood sausage. We finally ate dinner around 11:45. The dinner was delicious! We had jamon y manchego cheese, calamari, sardines, and clams. I also tried a drink that I really enjoy called a clara. It is a small glass of beer with soda. It sounds disgusting, but it is really light and refreshing. You should give it a try!
At the Restaurant in Madrid:
That's all for now. Time for another clara! 
While at the university, we met one of Issac's friends and Victor joined us. We then headed out for my first taste of comida tipica: tapas y cervezas. The first restaurant was similar in architectural style to the university, a fusion of new and old. Multicolored mood lighting changed shades as it reflected off the ancient Moorish wall of the city that was excavated behind an old plaster wall as the bar was being renovated. It was surreal to see neon green, pink, red, yellow, and blue illuminate a thousand-year old remnant that is enclosed inside a very modern, chic restaurant.
After all the food and socializing, we headed back to Victor's house for some much-needed rest. However, to our surprise, we were shortly greeted by two more of Victor's friends who wanted to welcome the Americans as well. Eventually, thirty-three hours after we first woke up in North Carolina to begin our travels, it was time to lay down our weary heads and get some rest... 
