de Aires. The Order entered a literary and historic pantheon of itinerant musings in the city, but it left its own mark on the city by exploring beyond its tourist appeal:Instead of staying in hotels recommended by guidebooks, they [the knights of the Order] stayed in las Posadas de la Hermandad, de la Sangre, among muleteers, donkeys, and cobwebs—all of which were the same as those in the times of the Catholic Monarchs or Cervantes. They ate and drank incontinently, then entered the labyrinth of narrow streets…they made mockery of the consecrated monuments, but were kissing the stones because they had been trodden by generations and races and many people like themselves, the Grecos, Lopes de Vegas, Cervantes, Herreras, Quevedos, Calderones, amazed and restless. They were looking for sites of fear; they were walking expecting surprises. Activities The locale was always the same, but the adventures were variable. Buñuel recounts a late and snowy night when he and Ugarte heard children reciting multiplication tables, then laughing before being rebuked by their teacher. Buñuel climbed onto the shoulders of Ugarte, trying to see through the window, but saw nothing except darkness and heard nothing except silence. Other times, encouraged by varying levels of tipsiness, the members would kiss the ground, climb the bell tower of the Cathedral, eavesdrop on the singing of nuns and monks through the walls of convents and monasteries, or read poetry loudly as they walked, listening to the verses as they “resonated on the walls of the antique capital of Spain, an Iberian, Roman, Visigoth, Jewish, Christian city.” María Teresa León, wife of Rafael Alberti and herself a member of the Order, describes their activities as even more mischievous in nature:The brothers of the Order of Toledo were always talking loudly, proclaiming their opinions, making scenes. They would sing and look at girls or invent words, throwing them like darts against the walls and making up compliments and pick-up lines. We were overflowing with a happiness that was not quite suited for that walled city, which was always on the defensive. They should have thought us invaders. Invaders that were walking on the chest of the history of Spain, just like the bedbugs in the Posada de la Sangre on the chest of Rafael.Activities of the Order came to a sudden end in July 1936 when Francisco Franco took Toledo in the Siege of the Alcázar in