This last weekend we ventured to Madrid and Toledo. We staying in a hotel in Madrid and bused into Toledo on Saturday to tour the city. I must say I liked some parts of Madrid but overall I wasn't that impressed. Toledo however was outstanding and I didn't want to leave. Toledo is such a beautiful city with a lot of history. So our first day, Friday, we left Bilbao in the early morning and drove 5 hours to Madrid. When we arrived we went to the old town and toured there. We got to see the royal palace and the plaza del sol. The next day we went to Toledo and drove along the outskirts of the town which is kind of up on the side of the mountains and looked down at the city. Then we went into a blacksmith-like shop where they made swords and other kinds of specialized crafts like making jewelry and putting strands of gold into them. It was a very cool shop. Then we did a walking tour which led us to a small little shop where they made fresh Marzapan (absolutely delicious) then onto the Cathedral. That night at the Cathedral the Queen of Spain was going to be attending a concert so there was a lot of security but we still got to go through and look at everything. After enjoying time in Toledo we headed back to Madrid and had free time. Our last day we stayed in Madrid and went to the prado museum which is one of the top museums in Europe! I have to say though I'm not a fan of older style art I really enjoyed the Prado. They had Goya, Valasquez, and some Picassos. One interesting thing that happened after going through the Prado was that we went outside and there was a protest happening! It was cool and scary to watch at the same time. There were police and security everywhere and the protesters were chanting and singing with their signs. The one bad thing about this trip was the first two and a half hours on the bus back to Bilbao. Why? Because the air conditioning wasn't working. Thankfully when we stopped for a quick break the driver was able to fix the air conditioning and it made all the difference. I'm really glad I got to experience a bit more of Spain. Though it's not a large country with classes and things it's difficult to make time to travel and really experience everything. Plus being able to drive to Madrid was awesome because the scenery is stunning! Can't wait for our next excursion which is to France!