La Dama Boba, held at the Teatro Corral de Comedias in the Plaza de Cervantes, one of the oldest theatres in Spain, was entertaining, though frankly too silly in costume. It was some sort of futuristic take on Shakespearian fashion, featuring see-through contraptions over neon leggings and elementary cut-outs of hearts and polka-dots, which often cluttered the scene as the actors awkwardly attempted to walk around the stage and through the minimalist sets. In the end, it was simply a story of two boys engaged to the two wrong girls, plenty of miscommunication and secret trysts ensue, and in the end everyone and their servants are paired up with a lover. For a second, you think the father of the two daughters is going to end up with their flamboyant tutor, since they are the only ones left on stage not kissing someone else, but I guess they let us leave that up to our imaginations. It was funny to see gestures that were universal and themes that transcended language. I felt like giving myself a pat on the back every time I understood a phrase or two. I also watched Friends dubbed in Spanish with my roommate Noelia, which, thanks to my photographic (or I guess videographic in this case) memory of every episode, I could actually follow. At least they kept Phoebe’s “Smelly Cat” in English, as it’s deep, multi-faceted symbolism would have just gotten lost in translation.

On Saturday we headed on a bus commissioned by Alcalingua, with one of the secretaries in our office as our guide, to Toledo, about an hour and a half away, with about nine Terps and seven Aussies. A fun exchange of phrases and accents accompanied our tour up and down the winding paths of the very hilly city with some of the most beautiful architecture I have seen yet. Every building we passed seemed to be the remains of castles from our fairytales, which made sense since we were in the region of Castilla de la Mancha.

We stopped for some Mazapan (Spanish spelling, not a typo), which at first I was scared to try solely based on Lorelai and Rory Gilmores’ reaction to it when the grandparents bring it back for them after their European excursion. But it was actually pretty tasty, as Toledo is supposed to boast some of the best Mazapan on this side of the pond. We got to go into a museum with lots of medieval tapestries, swords, armor, and art by El Greco.

We made our way over to Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada, which was, in a word, stunning. If you read my description of the Palacio Real, then you know I’m not very good at painting a picture beyond inconsequential adjectives. But, with all of the chambers, murals, statues, flickering candels, pews and tombs, it was hard not to feel spiritual. On our free time, after eating our lunch, two of us headed to the Jewish quarter to look for some synogagues. Following signs and looking on maps weren’t much help, but after a long trek we finally made it to el Museo Sefardic. There were so many beautiful menorahs, torahs, tallit, and siddurim, not to mention the prayer-engraved pottery and wall remains from ancient temples. We didn’t have time to stick around too long, or more importantly shop though the Jewish jewelry and paraphernalia, so this a definite site I hope to return to with either my parents or my sister on their separate visits.

On tap for the coming week is celebrating Australia day with our Aussie compadres who are leaving after the week, along with another Terp’s birthday, a trip to El Prado Museo back in Madrid, with hopefully another wild night out. I forgot to mention in my last Madrid post that it is quite common to see older clientele dancing up a storm at the discotecas; one man that had to be at least pushing 70 was tearing up the dance floor until 4 a.m., and whether he knew it or not, could Dougie with the rest of us. It’s this kind of stamina that will serve as inspiration to party like a true Spaniard. Finally, I want to hit El Rastro open-air market, which assembles every Sunday, for long over-due shopping. It’s the last weekend of rebajas as well, and this knowledge is definitely burning a hole in my wallet.

In other news, I will be continuing my trend reporting for Collegefashionista.com with my weekly Fashion from Abroad column on Fridays, be sure to check it out! I already have some awesome Aussie fashion queued up, so I am keeping my eyes peeled for some Alcalinos to capture. I added more pictures from walking around town to my Alcalá de Henares post. I also added a new article to my clips section: an interview with D.I.Y fashion blogger Marisa Lynch, whose blog newdressaday.com kept an account of each new outfit she made out of second-hand dresses she would buy for a dollar or less, such an inspiration!