Today we said goodbye to Madrid. It was lovely and we enjoyed it but it was time to have our last desayuno aqui and head south. We picked up the Audi A4 wagon and drove the mere hour south to Toledo in the province of Castille-La Mancha – famed home of sword makers and a certain knight errant created by Cervantes.
It took some creativity (and our GPS system) to find our way into the walled city but it was well worth it in the end. Toledo is everything that you could want in a medieval city and then some. There are as many ways in to the city as there are convents (today’s nun count stands at 4) as well as a couple of monestaries, a cathedral, a synagoge and a mosque. Frank thought he was “Jesus’d out” yesterday after the Catholic art extravaganza at the Prado but we added a few more bits today with a visit to the most ornate cathedral I have ever visited (and that might be saying something!) It wasn’t that there was too much gilt (the Russians probably win for that) but that there wasn’t a single surface that wasn’t engraved, sculpted, inlaid or painted. Absolutely unbelievable! It was well worth the visit (even if this old cathedral has also resorted to lightbulbs as votive candles…. sigh….)
We then proceeded to try to procure the one thing that we had come to Toledo to buy: a real sword. I have been assured by my spouse that none of his toy weapons will be used as such but still…. we wound up with a beautiful example of a rapier with a swept hilt – hand made in Toledo of course where the university still teaches sword making. I have no idea how we’re getting it home but I’ll worry about that later. For now I am comforted by the fact that my spouse is happy and I am off the hook for a birthday present next month!
Then lunch at a small cerveseria in the center of the town where I had the most amazing lunch (white wine, melon with Iberian ham, roast chicken and chips and creme Catalan) for only 9 euros! The rest of the family agreed that it was the best meal of the trip so far and then we were off again for more sightseeing. This time to the monastery of San Juan del Reyes which is right by our hotel. Beautiful old building with a special chapel dedicated to the martyrs of monestary killed in the Spanish civil war.
After all that religion, it was time for warfare: off to the el Alcazar, the fortress that dates back to the Roman era with hints of Islamic occupation. It was really an interesting military history of Spain but I am afraid that we were too tired to truly appreciate all of it. We had an early dinner of tapas in a square by the hotel before retiring to take advantage of the jacuzzi bathtub in the room… woo hoo!
Three interesting things we noticed today:
- Toledo might be a busy tourist spot but they are catering to Spanish, not American, tourists. We met very few people who spoke English (yippee for Duncan again!)
- Marzipan is the royal treat in this town. Nearly every second shop has “royal” marzipan for sale – usually shaped like some bread product even though it’s really just almond paste and sugar.
- Cobblestones are really hard on your feet and lower back. I changed shoes twice today and was still completely done in at the end of the day after climbing up and down cobbled streets that are all on hills.
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