Spain: Holy Toledo!

 On the 4th day of our trip to Spain, we left Madrid for a day trip to Toledo, a medieval city about an hour away.  We were excited to finally get a chance to see something outside of big city.  Unfortunately, the drive to Toledo was not exactly a scenic one.   There was literally nothing to see.  The drive through the plains of La Mancha was dreary, just flat land with dry yellow grass, no trees, with scattered bushes here and there, and a whole lot of ugly big box furniture stores along the road.

But when we neared Toledo, things got really scenic really quick!  This was our first peek of Toledo from the bus.

The city is situated on a bluff on a bend of a river.  I suppose the river served as a natural defense against enemy invasion.

 This area reminded me a lot of Italy!

 Before entering the city, the bus took us first to an overlook on the other side of the river where we could get an amazing view of the rooftops of Toledo.

 A top view of the narrow winding streets of the old city.

 Toledo is a fascinating place that was founded in the Bronze age, and has been ruled by Moors and Christians and fought over for centuries.  In its heyday it had a population that was about 1/3 Christian, 1/3 Jewish, and 1/3 Muslim, and the three religious groups got along and worked together to make Toeldo one of the great cities of the period.  So Toledo has not only a great cathedral, but also an important old synagogues and mosques.

 After the bus dropped us off outside the old city wall, we took a series of escalators up to the top of the hill to the center of the old city.  So glad we didn't have to climb!

 The old architecture was beautiful, and quite different from the buildings in Madrid.  You could see the influence of the mix of European, and Muslim cultures in the architecture.

 Beautiful Moorish arch!

 There was so much to see: up, down, and everywhere!

 Our tour guide, Olga, was so tiny that she had to hold up her unopened umbrella as she walked so we could keep track of her as we made our way through the windy cobblestone streets.

 I love the old writing on the walls!

Positively medieval!

 There was so much to see, but when I came around one corner I saw Dennis, and everyone looking up.  This is what they were looking at...

...the great cathedral of Toledo!  It was incredible!

 Because the streets are so narrow, you really can't get back far enough to get a good picture, or even to take it all in with your eyes.  The huge gothic church literally looms  right over you!

 We entered into the cathedral and it took our eyes a while to adjust to the darkness.  It looked even bigger on the inside.

The colorful stained glass windows were spectacular!

 It was clear that this was not just any old church.

There was a large empty space in the back, and the huge choir box sat in the middle right in front of the altar.  The rich and the powerful people got to sit in the small space between the choir and the altar, and the poor masses had to stand in the large space back behind the enclosed choir box where they couldn't see a thing, but could only hear the services.  Therefore, they would say that they were going to the church to "hear mass."

 We were brought into one small room at the back of the church that was actually glowing from the gold it contained.

 The ceiling was also a grid work of gold, and absolutely incredible!  So were the old hand-painted bibles with gilded pages.

 But my favorite artifacts in the room were the bejeweled royal crown of Queen Isabella herself that was just covered in huge rubies, emeralds, and pearls, and this amazingly intricate tower that is meant to be carried in processionals.  It was made from the very first Gold that Christopher Columbus brought back from America!!  How cool is that!  It was probably 8 to 10 feet tall, and made with so much gold that it is almost hard to look at!

After our eyes readjusted from the glory of the gold room, we made a visit to the choir loft. The seats were intricately carved with strange, spooky figures, each different from the next, that were supposed to represents the nightmares and despair.

In the center back is the seat for the cardinal which was fancy like a throne (above right).  We were told that "cathedral" means "seat", and that the difference between a cathedral and just a church is that a cathedral has a seat for a cardinal.

The podium

The gilded pipe organ was amazing!

I fell in LOVE with this statue!  It is one of my favorite religious statues ever!  Just look at that sweet baby holding his momma's face and the way she looks at him with such love.  I love, love, love it!  I just could take my eyes off of them.  I decided right then and there that I had to find a small replica of that statue here in Toledo!  I found one - a beautiful hand-carved olive wood one that I will add to my nativity collection!

Here they are again.  Sweet baby!

 The altarpiece was truly spectacular!  Those Spaniards sure don't skimp any when it comes to gold, do they?

On the ceiling in the area behind the altar there is a window(above right) that, with the use of sculpture and fresco painting, is made to look like a hole had opened up right in the ceiling that leads directly to heaven.  It is a very, very cool effect.

The adjoining sacrisrty had a beautifully painted ceiling, and a large collection of the great works of El Greco.

El Greco is famous for his elongated figures in deep jewel tones and dark backgrounds.

They also had a large collection of intricately embroidered ceremonial robes that were really amazing.  How many hours must have been put into each one!

The cathedral again from outside.

Toledo is famous for two things: their swords and their jewelry.  During the 15th to 17th centuries, the finest Swords in Europe came from Toledo.  Moorish steelworkers from Damascus had settled in Toledo and brought their skill with them.  They used to decorate there swords with a technique called Damascene that they use now to make jewelry instead.  In the shops we could see the craftsmen working on the fine details of the damascene jewelry, which is made by pounding thin sheets of gold and silver onto a black oxidized steel surface, and then carefully carving delicate images of birds and flowers or geometric patterns out of it.

We had too much fun shopping in Toledo!  I got a whole ensemble of damascene jewelry, and Dennis, who could not decided between 4 different swords, got all 4!  He also got this fabulous conquistador helmet to go with them!  he looks like a regular Don Quixote in that thing.

Cool round windows on the old monastery.

After thoroughly winding ourselves through the narrow streets of Toledo, we made our way back to the escalators that took us back down to the city wall with its towers and turrets.

A view of Toledo outside the wall.

The guide was excited to bring us to the place where we would be having lunch, The Hacienda del Cardenal.  We would see why the moment we walked into the courtyard!

They were famous for a regional speciality: suckling pig.  We never actually tried it, and I think I am kind of glad about that.

We ate outside.  What a beautiful day and a beautiful venue.  I felt like we had crashed some really fancy wedding.

There was a fountain on the floor between the tables!

For being such a fancy place, the food was really quite rustic: pork chops, applesauce, and potatoes with custard for dessert.

The old city wall runs along one edge of the courtyard.  While the others were eating I decided to walk along it and check out the views.  Stunning!

Could there be a prettier place in Spain to stop for lunch?

So romantic!  A Spanish paradise.

Holy Toledo!  That old city was spectacular!

Leaving Toledo we were exhausted, and since we knew there was nothing to see on the plains of La Mancha, I think the whole group of us slept on the bus the whole way back to Madrid.

A great day!