Don Quijote de la Mancha es una libro famoso en Espana y el Globo. En mi clase de espanol mi professora Senorita Stuart hable en el libro y el clase miremos el video. Es un favorito video para mi ahora porque yo viajo los "windmills" en Espana.Before we left Toledo, Ahmee needed to check in on her Mosque so she could see what the interior looked like. It turned out to be a running church and we walked in on a very important mass (the speech seemed to be of utmost importance because the man commanded the attention of everyone in the church).
Ahmee became absorbed in the sermon while I looked around at the building. It was a barren church. Very little decoration, and very little sunlight. There were no windows. There were tons of candles. The brick was a lovely orangey-red color, the pillars were all aligned, and there was an arch to the ceiling (sadly I didn't get to look at the ceiling too much because I kept being distracted by the people). When we left Toledo I turned around in the backseat to take another look at the town. I liked being there, it was sad watching it go. I also didn't really want to look at the computer again. I didn't want to write. I wanted to look out the window. I didn't want to do anything but relax and enjoy the view. While on the road I wrote one blog and then we got to get out and walk around.
We went through Consuegra where I put the computer away and watched as we made our way up to the castle and to Don Quijote's windmills. For those of you who haven't watched the silly film or read the book, Don Quixote De La Mancha was an elderly gentleman who was in love with knights in shining armor and stories thereof. He convinced himself of several things: that he was a knight and thus needed to embark on a quest, that he needed to conquer evil and save the good, and that magicians and giants existed and were his enemies to battle. For those who didn't see the things he did he claimed that an evil wizard had cast a spell on them. Some things that Don Quijote saw were: an inn was a castle, windmills were giants swinging sticks, and the chain-gang was a group of unfortunate peasants being driven by a terrible lord. Obviously, he caused quite a stir. Well at the top of the hill there sat many windmills and a castle. These were the windmills that Don Quijote fought (I think that that story is fiction). These were his giants. Of course after we parked Ahmee grabbed the one and only stick she could find (tiny weed-twig that was thinner than my pinkie finger) to use as a sword so we could all battle the "Giants" like Don Quijote did. I went first and I went all out (except for the sound effects). I raced up the rocks, and ran at the windmill (which isn't working by the way so there was no danger of me doing the same thing as Don Quijote and getting lifted up by a corner). Once I reached the windmill I had a really good time swinging at the panel. I never touched the stick to it though, it would've broken. Poppy had some issues taking pictures of this (he said I needed to hold still). I was just having a good time battling the windmill, tehe.
Next it was Ahmee's turn to battle the windmill. Ahmee held still for Poppy and simply stuck the stick through the panel and posed (she was holding her sword like some wizards in Harry Potter hold their wands).
Then Poppy got his picture taken with the windmill. He however didn't battle it at all or stab it. He stuck his head through the gap (to Ahmee's horror).
After this we walked from one windmill to the next, wondering who owned them and wondering how many horses we'd need if we wanted to changed the windmill. Our goal was to go check out the castle (which they were busy renovating). For a bit I walked from rock to rock, trying to imagine being a mountain climber and picking my way along a rough path. I quickly stopped after I twisted my right ankle again (remember in Amboise I twisted it). I went down and walked with Ahmee and Poppy shortly after that.
Inside the castle we got to roam practically where ever we wanted. Many rooms had been remodeled and looked very nice, while other sections didn't have their roof or their steps stopped halfway up. We explored the remodeled section and climbed up the tower and crossed over to walk around on the top patio. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking. We could see the mountains, the valley with the tiny sliver of a rio running through it, the "desert", and the town. We also could see the pidgeons. As I watched I could've sworn I saw a male pidgeon (awfully showy and pushed another pidgeon around) drive another male pidgeon away from his pick of a mate. In animal science class Mr. Schneider talked about how birds mate: "It's just a mass of fluttering wings. Ya can't really see much of anything." Shortly after the male pidgeon was driven off he and his mate got into this mass of wings. I never pointed the scene out to Ahmee and Poppy, I just chuckled when the birds just about toppled off the wall. We went down stairs and realized from the many pictures that the castle was used for it's fiesta, or it's community celebration. Men of all ages get dressed up as knights and reinact life as it would've been in the medieval ages. Well, I don't know about that. If men shot arrows off the top of castles without reason to (all shooting up too I might add), and clanged really really dull swords together just for the fun of it, then yep it's just like it. I didn't see any women in those pictures. Shame there weren't any women who could participate in the shooting match. I know I would've enjoyed it (just so long as I can pull back the arrow). I also know that I would've enjoyed sword-fighting. I know I would've lost though. Why? Well there were swords and spears on display as we were heading out. The swords were really heavy. I could lift it and pose with it, but I don't think I would've had much control over it if I wanted to sword-fight. I just don't have the arm power for it.
We walked down the ramp (me running when I saw a ton of bird-poop) and went out the main gate and then left Consuegra.
To my slight disappointment it didn't take us long to get back on the highway. I looked out the window for a short period (10 minutes) and then I opened the laptop and typed a bit more. It wasn't long before I had to put the laptop up because we soon found a place to eat. It was a hotel called El Patio, and it was a classic example of the phrase "Never judge a book by it's cover". I mean this in a very very good way. The outside was nice enough, it was white and clean but it looked very small to hold a restaurant, a hotel, and a bar. I thought that the restaurant would be very small. I was wrong. The restaurant filled up 2 rooms AND the courtyard. It also had incredible food (just don't ask me what I got).
After filling ourselves up we got back on the road where I looked at the computer, it looked at me, and my eyes said, "Nope not going to do that just now!" Shortly after that I was asleep.
Later I woke up from moving a lot and having my stomach grumble. I opened my eyes and looked out the window to see a green slope. We were going through a windy mountain pass where there were plenty of pine trees and other green plants. I adored looking at these as we got closer and closer to Cordoba. Of course, shortly after we left the mountain pass we arrived at Cordoba where Ahmee and Poppy both exclaimed, "Whoa it's gotten so much bigger in 23 years!" Something they greatly appreciated was the well-paved roads. After driving around on these for 20 minutes chasing after one sign and then the next we all slowly came to dread the large streets. We ended up getting lost when we pulled off into a smaller one-way street.
I know the reason why we ended up lost. My notion was that the hotel we were looking for was in the central square (just across from the main entrance), the Hotel Mesquita. Apparently the hotel we were looking for was not in the center of town, it was in the square that was along the Mesquita. It would seem like that would just make sense to have that hotel right next to the Mesquita, but I didn't know the name of the hotel I just thought that it was in the center square. So, when we were driving around looking for signs I'd point out centro signs, while Ahmee would point out the Mesquita signs (to the confusion of both Poppy and me).
We didn't end up in an awful situation though. Yet again we had a stroke of luck. As we drove through the thin, winding, one-way street we all started to get incredible nervous. We breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the Hotel Selu, a three star hotel that had a parking garage in the basement. This hotel had a room for us, had internet (had to pay but that's ok), AND was situated in just the right place. It wasn't right next to the main streets, meaning we weren't going to hear horns or loud music in the middle of the night (problem for Ahmee and Poppy, not for me), AND this hotel was within walking distance of everything we wanted to see and more. The main things we wanted to see in Cordoba were: the Mesquita, the Roman Bridge, and la Jardin de Los Reyes Catolicas. Our plan was to go up and see a lovely section of town, called the Plaza de Capuchinos. The lady at the desk said it was absolutely gorgeous and that we needed to see it. Well we walked up there and we walked around. We did not see the absolutely gorgeous section, but we did have a wonderful walk and we did like the apartments and the sneek peeks we'd get of Cordobas courtyards which contained ceramic tiles, Orange trees, flowers in pots, and/or pebbles arranged in concrete.
On the way back we stopped in Plaza Tendillas to grab a bite to eat and to sit out and watch the people. The restaurant we chose was expensive (and the food wasn't that great). I got something small, a tomato and lettuce salad while Ahmee and Poppy grabbed Guspacho and something else. The food wasn't the best, I was slightly nervous about schoolwork (and kicking myself for not doing much in the car), and towards the end of the meal the breeze was getting to me. The thing that made this meal amazing was the square. EVERYONE was out and talking to each other and hanging out. We saw Momma's pushing strollers and herding their young ones around (as they played with other kids). We saw elderly women with canes walking together arm in arm. We saw high schoolers laughing and lounging on the benches. We saw wanna-be gangsters driving by in their coches with the music turned up full blast. Everyone was out walking around, shopping, hanging out with friends, or just relaxing. It was the place to be at 6 o' clock at night. We loved it.
I did walk fast back to the hotel though, because I had good reason to. I was cold and I'd finally acquired the drive to do work.
Once back I completed a study guide, wrote a bit, and then went to sleep.
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