Yesterday was the last day with Dad and Sue in Toledo. In the morning I stayed in because they wanted to meet up at 12:00. I had my usual breakfast in the house, and at 12:00 I was just starting to get hungry again.
12:00 is not a good time to be walking around outside in Toledo as it is normally just starting to warm up at this time, and yesterday was worse than usual because it had been cloudy over night and the city hadn't really cooled off. We decided to drive to a car park on the edge of the casco, and take the lift up so that nobody would have to walk up the hill.
When we got to the top we wandered around for a bit and then sat down outside a restaurant to get something to eat. All we had was a tostada each with tomatoes (I had jamon too), and soon afterwards Dad and Sue gave me a lift back to my house and departed. It was great to see them and I had a lot of fun, and I was sad to see them go.
When I returned to the house I watched TV for a bit and had a siesta, and when I woke up at 4:00 I was starving. Charo had agreed to give me dinner that night as I had skipped lunch the previous day, but that wouldn't be until 9:30 so I left the house again to find something to eat. I ended up sitting inside the Flor de la Esquina, and eating a few miniature sandwiches. It was quite fun sitting at the bar because a lot of big religious groups were turning up and making ridiculous drinks orders like '9 beers and 14 cokes please'. None of them seemed to speak a lot of Spanish, and at one point a group of French people asked me if I could translate for them. They asked me in English, but when I asked if they spoke English they said no, so I don't really know what they were expecting from me.
All through the afternoon I felt a bit bloated, and not hungry at all, but just before Charo called me in for dinner I got my appetite back which was just as well because dinner was huge! She gave me a plate of Caesar salad to start, followed by a rack of ribs for my main course.
After dinner I walked down to the Cathedral because there was a concert happening there. The band were playing pop/rock type music, and I think the songs had a religious theme but I couldn't really understand what they were singing. The music wasn't anything spectacular, but it was quite entertaining to stand and watch the crowd. There were lots of groups of people from different countries, and a lot of them had their country's flag which they would wave around as they danced. The group from Jamaica seemed to be especially enthusiastic! It was also interesting because there were old people, young people, people with push chairs, and at one point I even spotted a group of nuns jumping around in the crowd! I found it quite entertaining for a free event.
Yesterday, I also asked Charo what they were going to do today, and she said that they were going to go to some kind of service in the Cathedral. I asked if I could come with them, and she said this would be fine. She seemed to think that I would be bored and wouldn't want to come because I wouldn't understand everything, but I told her that it was something new for me and I like to try new things.
This morning, Charo, Miguel, Paula and me left the house around 11:00 and headed for the Cathedral. On the way we stopped in a bar for a coffee, and I had a soft drink because my mouth was really dry. I find it very hard to be without water for any length of time here! After our drinks we walked to the cathedral, and Charo and Miguel kept stopping and talking to people that they recognised along the way. All of their friends seemed to be very interested in Paula - I think having a small child here is a great conversation starter!
Before going into the cathedral, we went to a place outside with a series of taps. People were filling up large jugs and drinking the water - Miguel told me that the tradition was to drink this special water before entering the cathedral. I didn't drink any, but Charo filled up some bottles with the stuff to take home, and when we got home Miguel put some black tape around the bottles so that they could tell which ones had the water from the church. I wonder what the shelf life is for holy water!
When we got to the cathedral there were a lot of people there, and it took a while for us to get through the crowd around the entrance. Once inside I noticed that a lot of people were taking photographs, so I took some too. Unfortunately this is worse kind of environment for my camera, because the light level is very low, and it is too big for the flash to be effective. There was also a lot of smoke in the air from the incense that they were burning.
We waited around for a while, and then a procession started around the inside of the cathedral. There were a lot of people in robes carrying golden staves with crosses on the end, and at the end a group of men were pushing around a large effigy of the Virgin Mary. The whole time there was singing and chanting and it was quite interesting to watch.
When the procession was over, I asked everyone if we could stop for a picture and they agreed. I took a picture of them, and then I asked a passer by to take a picture of us. Unfortunately the woman that the took the pictures of us all together was probably the slowest photographer in the hole world! The first picture she took was ridiculous, and the second one was only marginally better. Next time I will try and look for someone a bit younger, because 1 button seemed to be a bit too much for her to deal with!
On the way out of the cathedral, Charo stopped to talk to someone, and Miguel and Paula went off ahead. I tried to follow Miguel and Paula, but there were so many people squeezing out through the same doorway that I ended up getting separated. When I got outside I looked around for a while, and then waited for Charo for a while, but in the end gave up and walked home by myself. They all turned up about half an hour later and explained that they had gone round the corner in the opposite direction to me because there were less people there.
For lunch I had pisto with potatoes to start, followed by pieces of marinated pork. I also had a small portion of rice and seafood cooked in squid ink, as I hadn't tried it before. After all that I had a piece of melon, and staggered off to my room for a siesta. The air conditioning wasn't working so I took the fan up to my room, and it was hot and sticky but I had a great sleep!
Tonight I'm going to investigate the great big stage that has appeared outside the house in the main road. They have closed the road off and installed a massive sound system (which I have been able to hear all day as they've done various sound checks).
Comments
It sounds like you had a good weekend. I am suprised by how busy it is there, probably because I am not used to city life.
Your family look really nice, Paula is very cute. I think you are you going to find it quite difficult to leave them. It will be sad saying goodbye. Maybe you will stay in touch. xx