Toledo, Madrid, Spain – Day 4

View of Toledo

Toledo

Today is the first day of the actual tour (the group and tour director got together for introductions, explanations, and drinks the evening before).  After a decent breakfast at the hotel, we were on our way to Toledo.  The city sits on a hill, and is generally hilly, and affords amazing views all around.  Here, we had different tour guide.  She knew quite a lot about Toledo and delivered the information in a conversational, easy manner so it didn’t feel like a class.

Toledo de Ohio

She also told us of real estate problems; it’s hard to sell/buy apartments in the center of the city because of so many hills and young families don’t want to schlep strollers, groceries, and small children up and down hills, and these apartments are also more expensive since the center is a more desirable area.  So, this contributes to many people moving outside of Toledo, or at the very least, purchasing an apartment closer to the river, which is less hilly and less desirable.

Toledo Street with the Cathedral in the background

One of the things she mentioned is that this Toledo is the sister-city to Toledo in Ohio.There’s even a street called “Toledo of Ohio”.  She also mentioned that Toledo has many churches, and the saying “Holy Toledo” probably referred to the quantity of churches, and thus religious fervor of the residents of the city.  There’s still a Cathedral and a Bishop’s Palace here, both of which are still in use. But we didn’t go to the Cathedral because it was closed that day (maybe it was only closed to visitors but open for mass, since it was Sunday morning).

The tour also took us through the old Jewish Quarter, as Toledo used to have a decent-sized Jewish population before the Inquisition.  In some areas, you can still see the ghostly past like the name of a street or a square.  Toledo’s old neighborhoods have very narrow, serpentine streets and a certain antique charm about them.  I really wish we had time to amble about this charming city and soak up the atmosphere.  Next time.

El Greco in Santo Tome Church

We also visited the church of St. Thomas (church of Santo Tome) to see the El Greco painting there.  The fascinating fact about that painting is that it has always been in that church and not in a museum (now it’s just in a different spot from where it was originally).    The local tour guide we had explained the painting and that both El Greco and his son are actually in the painting (the man looking up at heaven and the little boy, respectively).  She also explained about the various styles El Greco used for painting it, with a stark difference between top and bottom portions of the painting.  I hadn’t realized that El Greco painted such vibrant and delicate paintings. The gold brocade of the bishop glitters as if it were made of real gold, the translucent white gown of the priest (lower right) looks as if it’s made of spider’s web, the rich reds and blues of the Virgin Mary, the glistening metal of Count’s armor… It felt like a photograph printed on canvas.  Amazing work.

Santa Maria La Blanca

We also visited an ancient synagogue, which of course, was converted to a church (Santa Maria La Blanca).  During the Inquisition, synagogues were either destroyed or turned into churches and the ones that are left standing are now “churches”.  The interesting part about this one is that it’s still used for Jewish events (weddings, bar-mitzvahs, and Bat-mitzvahs); they just cover up the crosses and icons.  LOL.  The synagogue was built by the Muslims for the Jews and thus features many of the elements of Moorish architecture.  The arches, the carvings in the door, the decorative plaster work, they’re all exceptional.  It’s like wisps of smoke set in stone; such delicate and enduring beauty.

As we left the city, we walked on an ancient bridge (I’m guessing built by Romans).

Damascene Art in Toledo

Our next destination was a Damascene workshop.  In essence, this was a shopping stop though the person at the shop tried to explain something to us (couldn’t hear nor understand her well enough).   But because I knew about it, and knew that it was handwork of craftsmen, I didn’t mind making a small purchase and really really wished I was independently wealthy so I could purchase one of the stunning vases or plates or boxes.  The artistry and detail are absurdly good and many of the items in the shop are incredibly expensive.  But once you realize that it’s all made by hand, using gold (18-24K), then the prices start to make sense.

Madrid

Out of the workshop we headed back to Madrid for a sightseeing tour.  We drove through the madness of the Plaza del Sol (people were still protesting something; camping out in tents and such), saw the statue of Don Quixote and the fountain in Plaza de Espana (the same plaza I saw on my first day), and managed our way to the Temple de Debod (this was also on my “to see” list, but I was too tired still on my first day to go there, but I might have, had I realized how incredibly close it is to Plaza de Espana).  The views of the city from these grounds are absolutely amazing.  I was also hoping to take photos of the temple at night, as I’ve see some very pretty pictures of it, but I didn’t want to schlep all the way across town after dark, on my own.  So I didn’t.

Fountain at Placa de Espana

Statue of Cervantes

Temple de Debod

Memorial