Toledo

This past weekend went on a group trip with about 25 other students through my program.  This was such a great trip because: 1- we stayed in a hotel, not a hostel; and 2- all of the touristic sites/activities & transportation were already booked!  This was such a relief, because usually my friends and I are putting together our plans as we head to each museum/catedrál, so it was nice to have pre-planned tours with spanglish-speaking tour guides.
On our first night we had a guided tour around the city where we went 1-2 stories below the current city to walk on Roman ruins and visit the ancient baths.  We spent the days visiting cathedrals, synagogues, and seeing other important sights, while we also had a lot of free time to shop and explore the city on our own.  It was a great dose of culture while we all bonded as a group.
Side notes:

• Toledo was one of the capitals of The Spanish Empire
• It's located about 30 min south of Madrid
• It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO 
• It was a place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures
• El Greco lived a large part of his life in Toledo, and it's depicted in many of his famous paintings.
• There is a discoteca in a church (La Iglesia de San Vicente), and yes- we had to get there

My friend Susie and I on the balcony of one of the hotel rooms

walking the cobblestone streets of Toledo 

The bell tower of the Cathedral

The Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo 

Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca

 Damascene: oriental-style jewelry that has roots in the Middle Ages and was brought by Syrian Arabs to Spain, has remained in Toledo.

An old man making a damascene plate.  He inlays 24 karat, 18 karat gold, and pure silver strands.  He then hammers and manipulates these to perfection, then places this into the oven to harden.  The different strands of gold and silver can be seen in the picture below, the most yellow is the 24k, lighter yellow is 18k, and the silver- well that's pure silver

Famous Damascene jewelry unique to Toledo
on the left is a piece still under construction, and the right is one that has already been in the oven (hence it's darker color)