Greetings from Toledo

greatings from the a computer as slow as the pace of life in Spain--no wait, slower. Also, not so much a fan of the keyboard.

HIghlights:

• ¨not sleeping so well on the overnight flight but making it up in power sleep between Munich and Madrid
• Dad´s attempted pick pocketing on the Metro. We got on at the airport station and this guy gets down on the ground and starts frantically pulling at this pant legs. We were all stunned and couldn´t figure out what the hell was going on. They ran out and the doors closed and we saw on the ground dad´s hankie and paper scraps from his pockets. The pulling on the pant legs was a distraction while someone else (who noone really saw and dad never felt) went for his pockets. Rick Steve´s would be proud to know htat we were all using money belts (except for Dad who had his money with mom). Erin an I backpacked around Europe for 7 weeks with no such incident. We´re in Madrid for a half hour and it happens. No harm, no foul
• Saturday night we got a great meal--the kind where you pay 1 price for a choice of appetizer, meal, and dessert.
• After that, we caught a Flameco show that was really great, but considering the price we think we were victims of a tourist trap. Dan said compared to a show he caught in Sevilla, it was about as half as long and twice as much.
• Sunday we caught the Prado and Dan gave us a top notch tour of Valequez, Goya, and El Greco. I through in my own tour of the crazy Bosch paintings. After that, we hit up the Reina Sofia for a quick peak at Picasó´s Guernica. ONce again, Dan gave a top tour.
• had lunch
• walked around--most things are closed on Sundays :(
• took a siesta
• Went out for some fantastic tapas---Soooooo yummy!!

Today we are in Toledo. Dan was sick all night--probably the 24 hour flu and not food posioning because no one else was sick---so he is resting and we are down 1 tour guide. We will make due with Ed´s and mine Spanish and the assistance of Rick Steves. Toledo is such a cute European town--narrow hilly streets, historic buildings, and cute little shops, restuarants and cafes. Can´t wait!!

To give you an idea of timeline: we are going to be in Spain today and tomorrow and then off to Rome