Toledo Part 2

Woke up. Had a good breakfast. Went on a brief tour of Toledo.

Brief Info
We were put up in another 4 Star hotel with armor in the hallways and really expensive gift shops to the sides.

Tour
We broke up into two groups and guided by a woman. We saw several old apartment building riddled with wha the guide said were bullet holes from the Spanish Civil War. As it turns out we had arrived at the end of a local festival where people decorated their patios with Christ friendly images (See facebook.) We also passed a nunnery that makes marzipan (a famous desert in Spain. Essentially breaded pastries covered in almond paste.) year round. The most spectacular sight was the Gothic/Romanic/NeoGothic cathedral. For you art buffs this means a very pretty building which you can see on facebook. She also took us to an old synagogue converted mosque converted synagogue converted mosque converted church. The story behind this is that after the Spanish conquest the Jews and Muslims were given the option to convert or leave (take a guess which one they chose). As a result, there are no residential Jews or Muslims in Toledo at all.
What we saw weren't all cathedrals or works of art. We got see a church. Thankfully, it was interesting enough to warrant my attention. The church was an example of how Muslim architecture and Christian architecture mixed to create something interesting. The cloister had pinnacles that were of Muslim origin. Now Muslim decoration primarily consisted of geometric shapes and writings of the Koran and stars. As well know, trying to represent God or Muhammad in any drawing warrants you getting blown up by a car bomb or murdered. However, the reason is that you are pretending to be God by drawing images of man. (I'm sure you're smart enough to connect the dots if you see any.) And we all know what Christian art looks like.
Next, we went to see a painting of "El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz" by El Greco (The Greek). In Spain, he was a famous Renaissance painter known for using surreal methods such as cold colors, elongated human figures (people say he may have had vision problems.) and was originally from Greece but spent most of his life in Spain (people argue that El Greco was actually Spanish due to having spent most of his life in Spain. However, according to that logic, Picasso is French.)
For the final stop, we saw a white stone. But not just any white stone, the white stone marked the spot where King Ferdinad's horse kneeled in front of a mosque. And not just any old mosque, but a mosque where the King found a beautiful Christian thing after he followed the light (see? good things happen when you follow the light.) into what was an underground (hence, illegal) church that the curator (who was probably killed) went to every morning. There was a hole in the building that let light into the basement at just the right angle that reflected light off of a silver Jesus. The mosque was left standing unlike the others which were either converted or destroyed.
After words, I went to the Infantry Museum to see the Swords exhibit. The actual museum was closed for renovation. Apparently, Toledo is the location for Spain's infantry training ground or a school like West Point. Went to dinner at a bar where the food was crappy. Which is a precursor to the judgment of the guy who chose it. And I finally got my cell phone to work when I got the unlock code for my cell phone. Packed, went to bed and got up early the next day to watch Case Closed before we left for Salamanca. But that's another story. Also, it was cold the entire time we were there.