Toledo

Our first day trip was to Toledo. I hadn't done much research about our various excursions in Spain because I knew that Stephen was prepped to be our tour guide. Toledo was one of the areas he served in as a missionary. My lack of research left me unprepared for how awesome Toledo was going to be. The old town of Toledo was preserved in close to Renaissance state. 

Stephen returns to his old stomping grounds

Stephen in front of the apartment he lived in. It was built around the time of Christopher Columbus. You can tell by the wiring that all the modern conveniences were added much later. 

The view from Stephen's old apartment. That's a big cathedral at the end of the ally. 

Us by the big cathedral at the end of the ally

Very intricate stone work on the big cathedral at the end of the ally

We really nailed this Don Quixote pose

Not so much with Sancho- clearly I should have been the belly rubbing one

Toledo is world famous for their sword craftsmanship. There were tons of sword shops all over town.

You can buy any famous movie sword. I think Stephen is holding Gimli's ax from Lord of the Rings. He said there was one shop that sold Laban's sword to all the Mormon Missionaries.

They were much heavier than I anticipated. 

This behavior was not encouraged by the shop owner. 

Knights must have been super buff to wave those things around, especially if they really were that short

Toledo's other signature products are these black and gold plates

Here's one being made. Again with the Don Quixote. All of Spain seems very proud of their one contribution to classic literature, but especially Toledo. I think they get a shout out in the book. 

These street covers looked cool and provided some much appreciated shade

Yet another gorgeous building

Aaron by tall and small doors. 

At some point during the day, we stopped for an unphotographed but still delicious lunch. I got pasta with Jamón, or Spainish dry-cured ham. That stuff is delicious, and I ate it every chance I got. 

We ended the Toledo experience by taking a bus to a lookout point over the city

Brother Buddies- Toledo Edition

Two newly converted Toledo fans

The river wraps around the city on 3 sides, making it highly defensible. They had an abundance of swords to protect the one land entrance.