Holy Toledo!

June 12, 2011. Sunday

Now that I've settled unto a home in Sevilla and we're not running around all the time, I can write about our day in Toledo! We traveled to Toledo on Sunday, June 12. After one of the most solid nights of sleep I have ever had. I was so tired! Andrea woke us up in the morning and we prepared for a day of turing the city of Toledo. We took the metro to the train station and caught the Renfe train. Andrea had worked hard on booking us tickets before our trip and that was such a plus when we got there – we were all set to go already (not to mention she got a deal).

As we were giving our tickets to the officers to board the train, there was a group of people also from the US in front of us. They were having some trouble figuring out what line to be in which caused some problems with the tickets. As they tried to explain the situation to the ticket guards, they kept talking louder and slower in English, once in a while throwing in a Spanish word like seis which they pronounced "seez" while holding up seven fingers. It frightened me that I might look like that so some people. I hope I'm a more sensitive communicator. They were pretty nice people though, we talked with them a little one the train. One big difference I noticed about train travel here that I appreciate - they check your bags before you go on. You are not allowed any sharp or dangerous objects. In the US, you just hop on a train with whatever you want in your bag which has created some frightening situations for me in the past on American trains. They're not picky, just don't try to bring a big scary knife on board.

The trip was speedy, only 30 or so minutes before we were welcomed to Toledo. When we got off the train, we were in awe at the beautiful train station! We wondered, if this is the train station, what does the rest of the city look like? We weren't disappointed.

This is the shockingly lovely train station. 

After catching a taxi to the Plaza Zocadover in the center of Toledo, we sat down and had some breakfast. Our waitress was rather surly but this is not uncommon because wait staff aren't tipped here according to good service. She was especially confused when Jill, Andrea, and Megan ordered big bocadillos – lunch food – at 9:30am. Oops. I guess we didn't know that when we ordered. Did I mention that all the orange juice here is freshly squeezed? It's ridiculously good.

The square where we ate is very old and famous. It's a funny hodgepodge of architectural styes because so many different cultures have lived in Toledo. During the inquisition, public executions and bull fights were carried out there. During the Arab era, it was a fresh food and livestock market. It was crazy to sit there sipping my café con leche, imagining all the lives that existed there.

Toledo, I'm told, is Spain's “Rome.” It has been occupied by Jew, Muslims, and Christians, and fought over fiercely. The huge cathedral there was once, like many cathedrals in Spain, a mosque. The phrase “Holy Toledo!” comes from all the conflicts that have gone on there over religion.

After breakfast, we went exploring. We really had no concrete plans, we just wandered and looked and read. We shopped a little, walked around the cathedral and got lost a couple times. We had an ice cream to refresh ourselves and walked some more. Andrea had a guide book that served it's purpose really well – it had a lot of good information for us about the things we were seeing. A couple nice knowledgeable peopled helped us out too. For example, we found this traffic device at an intersection. For one of the streets on the intersection, there was a red light that never turned green and a big road block in the middle of the street so that cars can't pass. We were puzzled by this and so we fiddled with it for a long time. I bet we looked like little squirrels examining a nut or something. We were poking it and scratching it, whacking it and just staring. We must have looked pretty dumb because a little old lady from Toledo stopped and explained to us that you put a ticket in a little machine in the wall and the light turns green and the road block sinks into the street. We get it now.

Toledo has these smart canvases strung across the street to provide shade for the pedestrians. We were very thankful for this clever invention. 

After walking for a long time, we took a little bus tour. That was a great plan because it was shaded on the top deck, we didn't have to walk, and it told us lots of fun information about both the old city, and the surrounding area that we also toured. As we were coming back into the city, the bells of the clock tower were chiming - when I say bells, I don't mean they ding like in Holland. They sounded like the wedding bells in The Sound of Music. I felt like Maria Von Trapp!  

One things that I noticed (and continue to notice as we continue to travel) is how all the most beautiful parts of culture – the art, the architecture, the literature, things of this nature – used to come from religious motives. Religion used to be the leader of culture back when Toledo was in it's hayday. Now, it seems just the opposite. Religious people are seen as stiflers of culture – who fight against culture and art. Sometimes, I think this stereotype is very accurate. I think it's interesting how the pendulum swings.

Along those same lines, I loved looking at the religious splendor all around the city and marveling that at the beauty that was made for the love of God. The intricate stonework, the wall reliefs, the murals, to me, seemed like acts of worship. Halelu!

When we got back to Madrid, we shopped a little. By the time we got back to the Hotel Villar that evening, we were very tired but we had lots of time left in the night. We took showers and little naps and then got dressed in our nice clothes (or new purchases of the day) and went to the Plaza Mayor area for a special treat from the Nyhofs. We ate dinner at the oldest restaurant in the world! It was so completely cool. I had the roasted lamb, a house speciality. I couldn't believe how good it tasted. Our waiter was a fun guy who seemed to like his job. He knew a little English and practiced a little with us. It was such a exciting treat to each such high quality restaurant with such high quality food and a high quality history!

Jamón Iberica is very delicious when paired with honeydew melón!