Toledo

In Toledo!

Stephen being absolutely CRAZY in the monastery.

In the monastery cloisters.

Inside the Toledo cathedral.

One of the Toledo views.

 

On Sunday, we met at 9:45 a.m. and drove to Toledo (a little over an hour drive). I was worried when we set out because it looked cloudy, but once we got there, while it was rather cool, the clouds were present but not threatening in appearance. I immediately fell in love with Toledo. It is this gorgeous city surrounded by a river like a mote. You have to cross bridges to get to the city. On the very top, a castle stands out in high relief, along with a cathedral, monastery and several church towers. The city is incredibly old and has a lot of Muslim, Jewish and Christian history. For a time, they did live all together in relative peace, but the Catholics later saw that the other two religions were driven out. Now, many of the 1,000+ yr old mosques and synagogs have been restored for viewing (after having been converted into churches in the past).

Afternoon sun.

We bought wrist bracelets for 8 euros which would get us into everything except the cathedral which was 7 euros by itself (unless you were Spanish). We went to the Sinagoga del Tiansito, the Sinagoga de Santa Maria La Blanca, the Monsterio de San Juan de los Reyes, the El Greco Museo and more. There is so much history there, my head was spinning. But the thing you remember most about Toledo is that every building you go in leaves you absolutely stunned by its beauty. The monastery was probably our favorite thing. There weren’t very many people inside – it appeared quite modest from the outside – but once inside, it was breathtaking. The carving work alone (into marble facades) must have taken centuries. It is just so hard to imagine what it would have taken back before electricity or machines to create such a masterpiece of art.

All of us at the Toledo entry gate.

While Enrique went to the cathedral for free, Stephen and I looked at the shops and bought some marzipan bread (Toledo’s specialty). We also went into this church that was not overly impressive until you climb up to the top of the towers – then, you have great views over the city. We met Enrique back by the cathedral, and Enrique got another “native” ticket for me so I could go see it. (I just kept my mouth shut when I entered and presented my ticket). It was so grand (it’s where the archbishop of Spain resides – equivalent to England’s Canterbury Cathedral). Except, being that Spain is Catholic, it was way more showy than Canterbury. It was almost overwhelming with the carving work, gilded gold ornamentation and art work covering everything.

After meeting back up with the guys, the last thing we did was visit a 1,013 yr old mosque built atop a section of roman wall which was probably 2000+ yrs old. It’s just so amazing to me that so much was accomplished in Europe so long before the world was even believed to be round! (It’s also fascinating to me how much more technologically/artistically advanced Spain was than England thousand of years ago – it makes England’s history seem paltry. I guess like comparing the USA to England’s history.)

Upon leaving the city, we drove around the outside of the river/moat/canyon and took photos of Toledo in the late afternoon sun. It seemed almost unreal to look at – like it was actually something out of a fairy tale and I was just dropped into a Disney story.

Toledo.

That night, Enrique made us scrambled eggs with vegetables and shrimp mixed in. It was very good. I then packed a duffel bag that Stephen loaned me for my week-long trip to Andalusia (the southern region of Spain). I’ll return to Madrid on Monday the 28^th after visiting Cordoba, Sevilla, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Granada, Malaga, Antequera and El Torcal.

With the backdrop of Toledo.

Right now, it is Monday morning and I am on the train to Cordoba. I’ll spend the day walking around there and then on to Sevilla where I’ll CS with a girl named Clara originally from Ithica, NY who is living in Sevilla teaching English.

In a really old mosque turned church