Last day in Spain

June 30, 2017

Today was our last day in Spain and it was absolutely wonderful. We left early to drive to the old medieval town of Toledo. It has a very old history and beauty beyond measure. Our local guide Rosanna shared that she had just rented out an apartment in the sleepy city right near one of the cathedrals we visited.

First we saw a sword-making presentation, and several workers making fine crafts and jewelry.

The view from outside the city was breathtaking!

Cathedral de Toledo: We learned that this cathedral is the 5th largest in the world, just in this tiny town of Toledo. Walking in, instantly we were breathless and mesmerized by how huge the cathedral was.

We also saw a famous pice by El Greco and visited a Jewish synagogue which, at one point, Napoleon Ier used as a horsen barn/stall! Shocking.

Once we returned to Madrid, we took some time at the hotel to pack our things and prepare for the next day of travel. We headed to Madrid for a final visit of the city and some final shopping. The World Pride Festival is this weekend and the march will be taking place in Madrid on Saturday. The crowd and the atmosphere in the city was electric, though they ended up closing down much of the streets for crowd control and security. The kids were ecstatic. :)

We had our final meal in Madrid in a beautiful little restaurant, which was followed by an incredible Flamenco presentation. Though we could not take any photos, we were completely transfixed by the emotional performance by the four Flamenco singer, guitarist, and dancers. It was sad, happy, angry, and every other emotion in between. Some of us cried, most of us ended up sweating, but we were given a rush of adrenaline by the furious foot tapping of the dancers. Wow.

The ride home was the best experience we've had yet. Nadia (our guide) engaged in a dance party on the metro ride home with the kids. It was such a blast and the other people on the metro loved our joy.