Monday, August 4, 2014

Holy Toledo!

Today was without a doubt a busy one! We got up bright and early in order to visit the beautiful city of Toledo, the original capital of Spain and home of world famous artist El Greco. On our way to the city we were able to learn about some of the history from the fantastic tour guide that led us on our adventure. Our first stop on the tour was by far my favorite. We were able to get a hint of what the city is famous for, its weapon making.


As we walked the cobblestone roads it was sometimes possible to see how the buildings had been modernized; which I must admit was impressive, but not as impressive as the Cathedral of Santa Maria. The mixture of the different architectural types, especially the arches between the classic Roman keystone arch and the Moorish horseshoe arch, was interesting to see and learn about the history.  Did you know that Toledo is known for being a place of co-existence of several cultures: Jewish, Arabic and Catholic until the time of the Spanish Inquisition when harsh persecutions were held.


After a long walk around part of the city our guide was gracious enough to let us young athletes take a break for lunch. Sadly the tour had to come to an end, and we had to say goodbye to the amazing city and all of its art and architecture.

On our way back to the hotel on the bus we had the privilege of listening to two of our teammates (Brandon Bolger, and Chris Ganhao) give presentations on the topics of Spanish cathedrals and Real Madrid, respectively. Then to finish out the trip we took our first quiz in the battle of the "coaches vs players". Needless to say, we are anxiously awaiting the results. Rumor has it, Coach Sullivan has an eidetic memory. This seems a bit unfair, but we'd appreciate your support.

After we reached the hotel there was a quick break before getting ready for our last training session in Madrid. The session went well as we worked on speed of play, combination passing, and 2nd and 3rd man defending. It seemed like the time flew by because as quickly as we got there we had to leave again. It was a mad dash back at the hotel in order to try and look presentable for dinner. It was well worth it because the staff prepared a great meal. A mixed greens appetizer, followed by chicken cordon bleu entree, and an ice cream dessert. What happened after dinner was up to us as we were given the night off to make the most out of our last night in Madrid.

Signing off for tonight, today's guest bloggers: Lucas Hayden (Biomedical Engineering major and midfielder) and Brandon Bulger (Industrial Engineering major and center back)

1 comment:

  1. Hey:-), I loved this place. Spain is most happening and beautiful place for visiting. I was there couple of times and enjoyed equally each and every time.
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