#30 Back in Madrid

Toledo was a great town to visit and it was a good three days. I stayed at a Hostel that turned out to not be my favorite, but when I told the manager that I wanted to check out, he got so upset I accepted his offer and stayed. Spanish men are very emotional, I need not say anymore. But I won't recommend the place to anyone and I showed a young German student (Sophia), my roommate, where the better hostel was so she doesn't book anyone at the one we were staying in. Sophia will be there in Toledo for 5 months and will be having people visit. She would have checked out too except she already paid for 10 days while she is looking for an apartment to rent. The two highlights of the Toledo trip were going to all the tourist sites, six places for 8 Euros if you buy a bracelet which I did. One place, the Jesuit Church I went twice because it had towers with a spectacular view. Also went to the Santa Cruz Museum that was for free and was one of the best museums I have ever visited. And the second highlight was the German girl Sophia is also a vegetarian so we went out to dinner and found a place that offered us several vegetarian entrées and she and I shared different choices. After the Camino and I still haven't learned that food is for nutrition, not an entertainment. I'll attach some photos now. And finally I have my travel arrangement made. August 28th I leave Madrid and go to Athens, Greece. September 4th I leave Athens and go to Istanbul, Turkey. September 14th I leave Istanbul and go to Kolkata, India, but it will take two days for me to arrive, on 9/16 at 3:00 a.m. I am traveling by the seat of my pants, no idea what I will be doing so far except for my first night in Greece, I have a reservation for a hostel. I also met a Turkish woman this morning in Toledo who lives in Istanbul and has given me her email address and phone number. I will be contacting her before I book my first hostel to make sure it is in a good location, although she seems to think it is as safe in Turkey as it is here in Spain. I asked her if I was dressed appropriately for Turkey and she said yes, of course not for the Mosque, but I had on shorts and a sleeveless blouse and I thought it was not acceptable for Turkey. Glad it is.

I've included a cute graffiti drawing I saw. They are definitely BIG on the Man of La Mancha here in Toledo. That's a photo I took of the city from the Parador Hotel on the other side of the river. Then Marie taken by a Japanese lady as I left the Parador Hotel. We were waiting for the bus together. And my favorite church, besides the Cathedral of Santiago, it's the Jesuit Church in Toledo that opens it's towers to tourists. I went back to it twice. That's Marie taking a photo of "QuasiMarie", not Quasimoto in Notre Dame, up in the bell tower. I have a few more days here in Madrid without anything to do, really, so I will probably catch up with adventures I've had or insights I've made. I've got my private room again at the same hotel I had before Toledo so I have access to the internet and lots of privacy. Talk to you all soon. Love, Marie