Susan's Super Safari in Southern Spain

Let us walk – or read if you don’t feel like walking – through the memories of Susan (since her short-term memory has a problem of not lasting very long).


Stop I: Toledo

My study abroad program began with a traveling seminar in Spain. The “Azahar” seminar introduces you to the Islam Conquest and Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, beginning with 711 to 1492. Before I could settle in Madrid and have access to the Internet, the program made me suffer by forcing me to leave my laptop with them (no YouTube for +2 weeks!) and pack/move every couple of days (I've had much experience with the hustling thanks to our family's yearly vacation via Korean tours). Despite the suffering, it was definitely worth it. We started in Toledo, the capital of the Visigothic kingdom (who were in control of the Iberian Peninsula right after the fall of the western half of the Roman empire in 476) and the first major city in the Christian Reconquest (taken from the Muslims in 1085).

The first thing I remember about Toledo was that it was extremely cold! Perhaps it wasn’t that cold compared to Williamstown, but I left the winter wasteland known as New England in search of some nicer weather. Toledo was cold and small, so we walked to all the tourist sites from our hotel. Also, since Toledo is hilly, I got a nice little workout (if I stayed in Williamstown, I'm sure I would have never left my room during Winter Study - although I rarely leave my room during the semester...).

A must-see list for any future tourists in Toledo/What Susan saw:
- Catedral de Toledo -- highly recommended!!



- Iglesia de San Juan de los Reyes (St. John of the Kings Church) -- no photos allowed :(
- Iglesia de Santo Tomé (St. Thomas' Church) -- holds a Greco painting
- La Sinagoga del Tránsito -- combination of Judaism (it's a synagogue), Islam (Muslim designs), and Christianity (it was a church at one point and an altar with a painting of the Virgin Mary still remains)

All the places were wonderful, but “Susan’s Number One Place to Visit in Toledo” was the Cathedral of Toledo. We were allowed to sit in the main chapel (it's usually closed off to the public), and were faced with an enormous altarpiece. The cathedral took more than 200 years (began in the early 1200s and finished in the late 1400s) to construct, and the generations that helped build the cathedral were part of the "Period of Faith" since the majority of the people died before they could see it finished. They simply had to have faith that the blob they were working on would some day turn into something beautiful and still standing in 2009. Of course, there's always a possibility that the people were forced to work by the Church, but I like to think positively :) and for those who truly had faith that God would answer them, even centuries after they died, that type of faith is quite amazing.

If you're really interested, feel free to go to Wikipedia and read the rather long article about the Cathedral of Toledo. Or you can look at some more pictures taken with my Nikon camera on Facebook and pretend you were with me.

Here are some photos from "Series of Sporadic Shots of Susan in Spain"


Nice background of the edge of Toledo - Asian pose!



Susan in a random "street" - most of their streets did not have sidewalks, which meant my toes were in danger multiple times.




Susan

PS Who is proud of the alliteration? I know I am :D It also helped that my name is Susan and I am in Spain.

PPS It's been quite difficult for me to get on YouTube, and as a result, I've been having quite strange dreams (for those of you who remember my failed YouTube fast sophomore year, the dreams are back!).