Subtitled: Carnivale en Toledo
Friday was a standard working day for JP, but he managed to get the girls to clean, he cooked up a few meals for Shabbat, and brought in the sabbath with trampoline jumping, dogs running around, and a Lord of the Rings movie!
Most of the sabbaths, we’ve been able to get to a syngagogue, however there is absolutely nothing within walking distance of Recas. JP and the girls made due with trampolines, dog walks, eating, and more trampoline. And thanks to the Hadar publications, a bit of Torah study was achieved!
After Shabbat, JP somehow convinced both girls to get in the car and drive to Toledo. It’s only about 17 minutes from door-to-door, almost all highway driving, and it’s dark out.
Driving through the countryside, you don’t see much, until the highway bends and then, suddenly, the castle and old city of Toledo shows up. At night, the old city is glowing in a beautiful way, full of history and cautionary tales.
It was also jam packed and clogged.
WTF
It was supposed to be a sleepy night. Quiet and calm. Easy to get in and out.
Just getting into the city took forever (ok, maybe it was only 15 minutes, but it feels like a long time), and we honestly had no clue where we were going.
Right off the highway, though, is a really cool sculpture (Escultura ecuestre de Alfonso VI) that has Hebrew, Spanish
Somehow JP drove in enough circles and hairpin turns up steep, steep hills, only to find the road narrowed so much, we had to pull in the mirrors on both sides to squeeze through.
Honestly, it was probably for the best that Elyce wasn’t with us. This would have sent her into conniptions.
We managed to find a parking spot in a garage at the bottom of the hill, and then we rode an escalator (actually it was several escalators) up to the old city. The view was gorgeous (albeit dark), as you looked out over the northern part of the city.
Inside the old city, there was a lot going on, and we walked from the edge into the center, where there was a massive Carnivale celebration happening. Lots of people dressed up in costumes, it was like Halloween! Some costumes were very clever, others were mildly entertaining, and some were just trite.
We did find our gelato shop, and armed with frozen milk sugar ice, we went back to the central area and watched a great band with lots of dancers, acts, and songs. It was entertaining, but it as also late. After being in Toledo for an hour, we headed back to the car and back home.
All in all, it was a fun adventure.
¡Buenas noches!
Meanwhile back in Chicago, Elyce and Vered enjoyed a slower adventure. We are not sightseeing in a place we have not been. We are home and “relaxing”. Maybe that’s not completely true, but it’s close. Grocery shopping, more grocery shopping a and school work, talking with siblings was most of Friday morning. After lunch we packed an overnight bag and headed to Hyde Park.
This was a planned surprise for all of Vered’s former classmates. Only a handful of people knew we returned earlier. Huge Thank you to MFP (some day I will write her name out completely but does any one outside her family call her by her first name?), Stefanie (I think I spelled it wrong), Julia, Linguini, and the cat/kittens. We had a lovely quiet and relaxing Shabbat dinner.
Saturday morning we got ourselves up and out to celebrate Felix’s Bar Mitzvah. SURPRISE to all of Vered’s friends! None of them knew, not sure Felix knew (Stina and Reed did) either. Thank you to all for keeping it a secret. Vered was so happy to see everyone. Felix did a fabulous job! After Shabbat we got a ride back home. Also very much appreciated and super unnecessary.
Vered, Ezra and I watched a movie. My father would be so proud Ezra got Vered into Bond, James Bond. 🙂
Shenanigans Crossing Borders 
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