Toledo....not in Ohio

These are a few pic's from Toledo. We were so disappointed when we got there that it wasn't Ohio. Actually it's a medieval walled city built up on a crag, which was occupied by Moors for a long time and reflects their architecture. It was also famous for sword-making. It's got one of many cool gothic cathedrals in Europe, which you can only see from a distance. This is because all buildings share walls and streets are just windy alleys which always smell like pee. So from half a kilometer away you may see the pointy spires. But unless you wander down the right alley you could never encounter the thing. It's a totally cool place to visit and is only a short 30 minute train from Madrid. I almost had a meltdown in the train station. We arrived in time for a train to Toledo, only to find out that the machines do not vend tickets for the high speed trains and you have to go to the ticket office which was a SISBN (Standard Issue Spanish Beaurocratic Nightmare). We actually had to take a number and wait the better part of an hour to purchase a ticket....as a train with empty seats left for Toledo. I felt that having a few more people manning the empty counters would have been a better expenditure of resources than the number dispenserr and digital paging system, but what do I know. We talked to a couple who had tried to get a train ticket to Toledo the day before and had just given up. But its ok we made it.

Anyways Toledo was a month ago, since then the guy I voted for and actually like really got elected. I thought it was the first time ever, but then I remembered that I voted to re-elect Clinton. I didn't really like Clinton, but the guy who ran against him was such a douche that I can't even remember his name. Some old white man. Douche. So that one doesn't count, because I was mostly voting against a douche rather than for somebody.

Turns out voting abroad is a total sham, to make you feel sort of OK like it matters. I got everything I was supposed to receive, and got it sent off. My problem is that the official receptacle for the ballot is an envelope which has both my name and my registered party on the outside. I thought the United States had a secret ballot system. What if the mail carrier is a racist? Or what if I live in a small town and he/she knows me and doesn't like me. Becky was way on the ball, and well in advance requested her absentee ballot. It turns out that her request was sent to the old address of the voting registrations department (or whatever the hell its called) which was changed. Seems pretty important to forward these things right, or notify people that the address changed right before the most anticipated election in decades?? She didn't discover the problem until it failed to show up, and then it was too late. What a load of shit. At least this time it wasn't very close. Maybe my vote counted, and Becky's didn't but in our respective states it didn't end up mattering.