Blogs from Castile-La Mancha, Spain, Europe - page 9

The first stop on our two week exploration of southern Spain.... read more

Another trip, this time to Toledo, the home of my favourite artist – El Greco. Again the rain was pelting down which spoilt some of the views when we were dropped off at the bottom of the town as the heavy mist stopped us seeing the hill top town. Toledo is an amazing place to look at from a distance and it had the best way ever to get into it… a series of very long escalators which are cut into the rock of the hill. By the time we were near the top they finished and it was heavy footwork up very steep lanes which wind through the outskirts of the town and ends at the Cathedral square. The Primate Cathedral is the most important in Spain and I wish I’d had time to go ... read more

Upon our arrival to Toledo we were greeted with snow--lots of snow. While I am obviously aware that I had just left 27 inches of snow in North Dakota, even the sight of barely seeing it in Toledo made me flinch slightly. Wasn´t I in Spain?? We rolled into our hotel and had about an hour and a half of down time before we began our street tour. We met our guide, Mario--a Toledo native who insisted on referring to many large items along the tour as Texas-Size. All of our tour guides use Spanish when they show us around. We had no difficulties understanding Mario--we were still in Castilla-La Mancha, where the accents were much more intelligible than the ones we would be expecting in a week. Mario showed us around the majority of the ... read more

If you love unusual jewellery and swords you will love Toledo. Originally Spain's capital city (until conquered by the Moors in the 8th century) it's now full of shops, all selling the same kinds of things to tourists BUT it is definitely a beautiful town in its own right. It's interesting to discover Toledo's Jewish, Moorish and Christian history. Such a range! The Jewish museum from 1366 is very interesting (and actually has lots of stuff written in English, which seems to be unusual in Spanish museums). I loved some of the old costumes and the film showing a traditional Jewish marriage. Not to mention the beautifully decorated plasterwork in the first room. Probably the best place I visited in Toledo. Early on in my stay I was lucky enough to stumble across a shop where ... read more

After an uneventful trip from OKC, we arrived in Madrid and immediately took our rental car south to Toledo. Toledo has been occupied since the Bronze Age, but gained real prominence during the Roman occupation, when it was the administrative center for the Tarraconensis province. After a period as the capital city of Visigothic Spain, it became an important multicultural center (La Convivencia) under the Caliphate of Cordoba, with vibrant Jewish, Christian, and Muslim populations. When re-taken by Alfonso VI of Castile, the Arabic libraries were not destroyed, and translations into Spanish and Latin of the many Hebrew and Arabic texts allowed that knowledge to be re-distributed throughout Christian Europe. From the 17th century to the late 20th century, economic penury prohibited urban renewal projects, and thus the architectural and cultural riches were preserved. Today, Toledo ... read more