"Because of Toledo"

Boy, if there was any doubt in my mind about not bringing my camera to Madrid, the millions of pictures from the Toledo trip have assured me that I made the right decision.

I decided (hopefully wisely) to post only the most interesting images from last weekend. The rest will all be available on Facebook for those of you who are friends with me, and those of you who aren't . . . well, fix it! Haha.

Post title is the title of a Kenny Rogers song that's actually about Toledo, Ohio. Don't judge! Nobody makes notable quotes about Toledo, Spain apparently.

This is a high school. In the words of Josh, "Just like Hogwarts!"

Flower power tower!

These guys all matched, so I took a stalker photo of them from the window

I like birds. I want one.

Rio Tajo

These birds stood still for so long, I thought they were fake

We rode seven outdoor escalators from the top of the city to the bottom . . . just to ride back up

A church we passed was having some sort of scary festival that involved an enormous bonfire

Awkward and Awesome Thursday: Unda Presha!

 Hey, guys, sorry for not posting for the past two days. I hate to say it, but it was quite intentional. I didn't forget. I didn't suddenly become overwhelmingly busy. I merely decided that I needed a break from the pressure of blogging, and guess what?

I needed a break from the pressure of blogging!

If for no reason besides the fact that blogging is something I often feel like I have to do every single day, it is one of the most stressful aspects of my life. Add the fact that I have to take and edit photos, come up with tantalizing things to say, and dress nicely so that i can take pictures of myself and talk about why I chose to dress that way . . . and it becomes the most stressful thing on the planet!

Of course, it's only stressful because I take it so seriously. I take everything too seriously. Therefore everything is stressful.

When I keep everything in perspective, blogging is relaxing, creative, exciting, and an incredibly rewarding way of sharing my daily trudging through stresses with the world.

How awkward and awesome is that???

Awkward:

• Thinking that Toledo taxi-drivers were policemen. What? They had matching cars and uniforms. Obviously cops.
• Discussing personal religion in conversation class. Try defending your beliefs to a professor in a foreign language!
• Being called "a little weird" by my Spanish prof because some girls and I went out for drinks at 6:00pm. Come on, it was only because I'm too baby to stay out late! I like sleep.
• Planning travel for upcoming breaks. We still have no money . . .
• The unfood things in my food. Bones, pits, shells, cartilage, exoskeletons, etc.
• Carmen (our host mom) bought me chocolate cereal. She speaks my love language <3
• Every single one of the credit cards my friends and I tried to use getting declined at the bar. We had to go find an ATM. The guy was so surprised that we actually came back.
• Josh's new Spanish nickname is officially . . . Coco. Thanks, Nuria (one of our profs). Not only is this the name of a certain Spanish TV character, it also has an unfortunate double meaning here in Spain.

Awesome:

• My husband :-). Gosh, I love him.
• Um, hello? I'm still in Spain.
• Birthday trip to Toledo. We visited beautiful cathedrals, cozy cafes, and free museums! Yeah, free museums.
• Black-Eyed Peas concert on MTV. Engliiiiiiiiiiiisssshhhh!!!
• The bartender who only took a year of English in high school and still tried to speak English with us.
• My new drink! Malibu rum and coke! The good thing about it is that you can't taste the alcohol, but the cad thing about it is that you can't taste the alcohol . . .
• Hot croissant every morning at the hostal.
• A bird choking on a bug. I love birds, so this was very sad for me.
• Daytrip to Madrid tomorrow with my chicas :-)
• This song. It is our class song. I don't know how it happened, but it brings us together magically :-). Hurray for Kristen who says she can't sing and still belts it with all she's got!

"Let Praises Echo From the Towers of Cathedrals" (Toledo 2)

Plenty more pictures after the jump!

"Home Is Wherever I'm With You" (Toledo)

I know it's the sweet cliche that all people who are truly in love are supposed to live by, but I have to be honest, I've been "homesick" plenty of times during the past year and a half of being married. I have loved my husband throughout all of those times, but I have also felt like a bit of an outsider.  

I haven't often felt like I belonged in the big and strange city of Rochester, but upon returning to the hometown where Josh and I both grew up, I realize while sitting on the bed of a guest bedroom, that I don't belong there either.   

Where is my home?

 

Oddly enough, here in Europe, thousands of miles from the familiarity I have spent almost twenty years of my life enjoying, I feel happier than I ever felt "at home" in Sayre, PA. I'm happy because I am home, and I'm home because I'm with Josh.

My new front door?

As excited as I was to visit the beautiful, historic city of Toledo this weekend, I had a hard time convincing myself that rushing off to spend three nights in a strange bed when I had just gotten used to my bed in Avila would be worthwhile. I just wanted to relax and unwind somewhere where I didn't feel like a stranger--a foreigner. 

But when Josh and I finished fumbling with the ancient lock of our tiny hostal bedroom and collapsed into our separate beds in a suburb of Toledo (after being lost for half an hour), I felt strangely un-foreign. As I looked at Josh on his bowing springboard mattress (and ultimately ended up climbing into the tiny bed with him) I felt more relaxation, more acceptance, and more belonging than I have in my entire life.

Mmmm, European breakfast

I used to think that travel was only fun because you could always go home and rest when the excitement was over. Vacations away from home were always more stressful for me than they were restful. Tomorrow Josh and I are going to spend another day in a city that is not our own, return to a room that is not our own, and after that ride a train back to an apartment that is not our own. 

The next three+ months will be filled with trains, planes, hostals, hotels, and unfamiliar streets, sidewalks, and cities. 

And I couldn't be happier. 

The world is our home now.

Title from "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Awkward and Awesome Thursday: Shiny Showers and Homey Hostals

 

Whew! What a day! I am currently on a spontaneous birthday vacation to the beautiful historic city of Toledo.

Yeah, I know. The picture above doesn't really reflect that. Let me explain.

Well, we just got here, and it's dark . . . so not pics of Toledo yet. 

But much of this week's awkwardawesomity (hey, I'm trilingual now. I can make up words if I want) revolved around the various bathrooms. Pictured above is Josh inspecting our new enclosed shower that will prevent the previously all-too-common leakage of water onto the floor every morning. This is a definite awesome, but was preceded by a whole lot of awkward.

Awkward:

• Trying to shave in a shower that barely has enough room to stand up straight
• A weird flusher on the very top of the toilet that pulls up instead of pushing down and causes such a voracious cascade of water that one can only hope to duck for cover in time . . .
• Toilet bowls with almost no water in them. What do you call a large, concave, porcelain area without water in it? An amphitheater.
• Buying anti-plaque toothpaste which I cannot use because of a genetic receding gum disorder. Thanks, dad!
• Josh pretending to be in a relationship with our (male) professor for an object lesson about foreign cultures . . .
• Doorknobs smack-dab in the middle of doors rather than off to one side
• Being so lost in Toledo at 9:00 at night. Uh . . . just kidding, Mom! We got here without any problems whatsoever. It was great. Had a ball and stayed very safe :-/

Awesome:

• New shower in our little apartment!
• Super classy (clean) private bathroom in the hostal that cost us only $25 dollars a night!
• Rocks. I've never been so appreciative of rocks. Out here they are enormous, colorful, covered in coniferous vegetation, and just generally cool.
• The Library of Avila. I've never seen such a selection of movies at a library.
• Easter break plans? Done. Tickets purchased and everything. I should be a travel agent!
• Writing a poem in Spanish! I might find out someday that it makes no sense, but it sounds nice.
• Turnip festival in the north of Spain. Not a joke. The political leader of the province was on the news kissing giant turnips.
• Buying cereal for my cereal-themed birthday party on Sunday.
• Oh yeah, my 21st birthday is this weekend and I'm on a romantic getaway to Toledo!