Fun in Toledo

So... It's day three of my stay here in Toledo, and I kind of feel like I've been here forever. The city is interesting. It kind of looks fake, like a movie set, but it's just really really old.

On the first day, we ended up exploring the city and getting lost (the city is just about as big as campus, but with tiny streets and alleyways), finally finding our way back. We tried to go out to a bar at night, but last weekend was a huge festival here in Toledo, and the Toledoians were... recovering. Only three bars in the city are open on Monday nights, and per my suggestion, we ended up at one of them, Pícaro.

Pícaro also looks like it's out of a movie... it's really cool and chill. They give you tostadas when you sit down, which are really great (our whole group has become addicted). Tostadas are a sort of fried corn(?)... I think.

After Pícaro, we wanted to go to another bar... but we didn't know that all of the bars were closed on Monday. On our way back to the Fund, Sara, someone from my group, and I decided to chat up some of the locals. There were two younger guys sitting on a ledge, so we started asking them about where to go in Toledo, what was open, etc. The rest of the group left, but we stayed to find out more and talk.

The two guys ended up showing us another bar, Centro del Arte Toledo, which is an old church that has been converted into a bar. We stayed there for a while, and learned a lot about Spanish culture, just from this random meeting on the streets.

The next morning, we had a placement test and the scheduling of our classes. My Tuesdays are horrible (5 1 hour, 15 minute classes), but the rest of the days are okay. My first class is at 12:55 today... so we'll see how that goes.

In Toledo, we've heard that drinking in the streets is legal. So, yesterday we took to the streets, vino tinto (red wine) in hand, and found a place to hang out. We got some stares from the locals, but we were a group of about 10 Americans traipsing through the streets with wine.

After our wine adventure, we started to walk home, when I saw a staircase through a door in this old wall. I decided to explore a little bit, and ended up in a free museum, with an awesome view of the city. We took some O-H-I-O pictures, and continued back to the Fund.

We had a particularly boring meeting for an hour and a half, which was all about safety and the rules of the building. After that, they had a welcome reception with all kinds of Spanish tapas and bocadillos (little sandwiches). We all ate our fill of what seemed to be a never-ending stream of appetizers, and then got ready to go out for the night.

Enebro, a bar near the school was open, and we discovered a new drink... tinto de verano (half red wine, half lemonade soda). It was really good. Enebro is chill, but they didn't have any music outside, so we decided to find something else. We returned to Pícaro, which may be our place to hang out... the drinks are cheap, and we've sat at the same table each time. We stayed out until about 3 AM, and then went back to the Fund. where I fell asleep watching a new episode of Weeds.

I sort of slept through breakfast this morning, but now I'm just waiting for my class, which starts in a half-hour. I'm having a great time, and meeting people from all over the place. It's not as hot today as it was on our first day, so that's a relief. Some say that when I get back, 75 degrees will feel like it's freezing.