We meet Maria in the lobby again for our trip to Toledo. We got an early start so that we can be at the Cathedral as it opens, avoiding the crowds. After driving around the city to get an overview, the van drops us off at the bottom of an escalator labyrinth that takes you up into the heart of the city that doesn’t allow vehicles. We’re at the front door as it opens so we have the place to ourselves. Maria is ecstatic. She takes us over to view The Monstrosity, a huge ornate relic that they parade around town at Easter. (Click the link for the cathedral and scroll down to the bottom. They describe it far better than I could.) The thing is huge, HUGE! It takes a dozen men to carry it around. We wander through the rest of the cathedral viewing beautiful art works from the likes of Caravagio and El Greco. And the Alter that has a portion of the ceiling missing from above it so that the sun light shines in. So beautiful. We’re probably there 15-20 minutes and as we go to leave Maria points out why she was so giddy. The room with The Monstrosity and the hall leading to it are packed solid with tourists! Seriously, we hadn’t seen that many people in town as we walked up to it. As we left three more tour groups were entering.Timing is everything in life. Next stop in a shop where they do the inlay work for the swords and jewelry that is so well known from this area. Maria leaves us to do some shopping on our own so not only do we shop for souvenirs, we buy more churros and chocolate. ( Yes, we also bought a sword.) By the time we left Spain, we had a very wide knowledge of the quality of these wonderful treats. We wander the tiny streets with Maria pointing out lots of little sights, like the bakery run by nuns, awesome cookies, and the view of the steeple up a stair way. Back down the escalators, watching the hoards descend upon the little town as we head back to Madrid. By the time we get back to the hotel, Ryan is wiped out and Chris and I are hungry. Ryan goes to the room to nap while Chris and I are sure we can manage on our own for one meal. We did but it really pointed out how much we had come to rely on his Spanish. Our hotel is in the same city block asEl Corte Ingles, the big department store in Madrid so after lunch we wander over there to window shop and then back to the room to nap. When Ryan wakes up he’s hungry and feeling better while Chris is sleepy and a little sniffly.There is nothing worse than being sick on an airplane so I send him up for a nap and I sacrificed my self to go out with Ryan and find a neighborhood Tapas bar to get something to eat, and maybe some Sangria. The Resturante Los Angeles was a great find. There was a table of older men watching a fight on tv in one corner, a table of old women kibitzing in the other. A middle aged woman walked in, with her dog, for a beer and a bite and left within 10 minutes. Cup of gaspacho and glass of Sangria for me while Ryan ate like there was no tomorrow. This was just a great low key place with good food. If it had been open on Sunday we would have brought Chris here for dinner. It was that good.