Blogs from Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, Europe - page 16

Fleury says: In Toledo (half hour train ride from Madrid) we stayed at a lovely little hotel overlooking this beautiful cathedral thanks to recommendation from Kez & Gaz. We went for a walk around Toledo & through the cathedral & although it was really pretty, after a few hours we were wondering what to do with ourselves. So we bought a bottle of vino & went back to our room & proceeded to get drunk while looking at the view from our room & solving the worlds problems. We had a great time. Although it was really pretty, we found it a bit of a tourist trap, the only people that lived there were people that made a living from tourists & they didn´t really seem to like tourists which was a bit of a shame. ... read more

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Prior to working in the archive, we decided to take the first few days and see the historic locations that make the south of Spain so famous. We began our trip in Toledo. The approach to the city is a winding road up a hill, which takes you across the River Tagus and past the more modern neighborhoods outside of town. Once you reach the walls of the town, the Puerta of Bisagra bearing the arms of Charles V stands to the side, as if to show that the king's influence has not yet left this city. Aside from the cars driving--less cautiously than you would think--down the narrow streets and people holding cell phones, the town itself looks largely like you would expect from something so old. Of course nowadays, practically everything in the ... read more

Taking the 30 minute AVE train without any stops made the day trip from Madrid to Toledo doable after over three weeks of travelling with exhaustion setting in! Toledo, the spiritual and intellectual capital of Spain, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. By taxi, we drove past Puerta de Alcantara, the town's oldest bridge dating back to Roman times, as we headed from the train station to the walled town of Toledo, with Roman and Moorish architectural influences. We started our self-guided tour of Toledo at the Alcazar, which is unfortunately closed for renovations, since it is at the highest point and it could only be downhill from there! It is perched on the top of a cliff with panoramic views and its architecture dominates the view of Toledo from below. After wandering the narrow lanes ... read more

So we went to Toledo, Spain which is right outside of Madrid by an hour bus ride. Toledo is most famous for it´s cathedral...therefore, I have a lot of pictures of it on here. Construction began in 1226 and lasted 250 years... can you believe that? We visited Santo Tome, a 14th century church where St. Augustine and St. Stephen were said to have visited for the burial of a local count. El Greco painted a replica of the famous burial which includes both saints, angels, and the keys to heaven. It´s a fabulous work of art, and sorry because pictures are not allowed of anything there. We had a nice lunch at a pizza place of sorts but of course it was ¨Spanish¨pizza only. I had pizza Iberica - cheese, sauce, bacon, and pepperoni. I ... read more