Day 3

This morning we had breakfast with our group and took a bus to Toledo. This is one of the oldest cities in Spain and is very important for the Catholic church. Toledo's bishop is Spain's representative for the Vatican and it's cathedral contains the gigantic monstrance used to hold the body and blood of Christ during the celebration of Corpus Christi. We particularly enjoyed getting to see and hear about the various influences on the architectural styles of the Cathedral, which included Baroque, Gothic, and Neo-Classical. There were many paintings by artists in whom we have developed a strong interest, particularly El Greco. There was even a painting by the grandfather of our former Spanish teacher, Señora Tristan. 

The Arabic influence is particularly obvious throughout the city. From the typical geometric ornamentation, which evokes notions of infinity, to the domed towers, one can see how, despite the centuries of violence, coexisting in harmony did indeed take place among the great monotheistic religions. This is particularly evident in the Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca, which was built by Muslims around 1200, became a Jewish synagogue shortly thereafter, then converted into a  Christian church.

In a small church, Iglesia Santa Tomé, we saw one of the most famous paintings by El Greco, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. It was interesting to study a painting that has remained in the exact location for which it was intended over 400 years ago. El Greco's style is, from our point of view, uncharacterizable. Many people say that he painted souls rather than bodies, because his depiction of human figures are always elongated, as if they were stretching towards heaven. There are also aspects of his style that resemble certain trends within 20th century art. He was undoubtedly one of the most unique artists of his day - of any day, really.

We returned to Madrid for the evening, and after dinner we went to a Sangria bar with our friend, MJ, located in the basement of a building near our hotel. The bar was run by three grumpy old men: one waited on customers, one stayed behind the bar, and the other played old show-tunes on the slightly out of tune, but nevertheless pleasant-to-listen-to, piano. The walls were covered with posters from the Prado and hand-painted proverbs and quotes. The air was filled with smoke; there's no doubt it was authentic and almost everybody there was a local (check out the video).  It was interesting to experience a part of Madrid's night life.