Madrid to Toledo to Madrid again Day 12
Still suffering flu like symptoms we were still scheduled to catch a 9:00 train to Toledo, one half hour south of Madrid. Why Toledo? Because it is amazing!
Toledo began as a Roman settlement, nearly surrounded by the Tagus River, Toledo is heralded as one of the most beautiful cities in Spain and before Madrid - its prior capital. Muslim, Jewish and Christian influences abound. As an adult, Cervantes spent a good deal of time there. It is where world famous Toledo steel blades were made … and that’s just the beginning.
The Madrid train station. Madrid Atoche, is a multilevel, sprawling complex with an interior forest growing on the first floor. A dozen trains coming and going on the first level and a dozen more coming and going on the lower level. Wide spaces but crowded with busy people. Luckily the signage is very good. Caught our train on time. Unfortunately, we were not placed in a Comfort Car this time, still, the cattle car we were assigned was almost as comfortable. If only airlines would allow this much room! Dozed much of the trip but watched the countryside fly by when I was awake.
A word or two on the restroom facilities aboard a Spanish train. Can you picture a cramped airline bathroom? Imagine facilities five times that size. Roomy. Unfortunately, the instructions on most of the necessaries will have been worn off. One button opened and closed the door, one locked it. Another flushed the toilet, but only worked if the lid was down. Trial and error.
Pulling into the Toledo (Pronounce To-lay-do) Train station was an experience. In one way it was a throwback to the train stations of old. Small, quaint, attractive, the small low structure displaying the wealth that railroads accumulated. Inside, the station was decked out with paintings, beautiful tile, and woodwork.
Exiting the train, we picked up tickets to an On-Again-Off-Again Bus Tour that included audio on board the bus, a guided walking tour and entrance to the Alcazar (Fortress), the Cathedral and one of the two remaining medieval synagogues. The Spanish speaking saleswoman interacting with previous customers spoke so fast it made my head spin. I hoped she spoke English. She did … as fast as she did Spanish and almost incomprehensibly. Tickets were 23 Euros and worth it.
The initial audio tour spoke of the Roman settlement and how the river helped make it defensible. It went on to talk of the Muslim invasion and its effect on the architecture and culture of the city and how under Muslim rule, Muslims, Jews and Christians lived side by side with little animosity. We were told the farmhouses outside the city limit were once Arab mansions that have since been turned into hotels. The great fortress on the central heights of the city known as the Alcazar de Toledo was once a Muslim fort that has retained much of its Eastern charm.
We got off at the Alcazar stop, showed our tickets and walked the grounds. The building is enormous and imposing, 60 meters to a side, bordered by four massive 60 foot towers on its corners. The interior rooms of the old fort are closed off but visitors can still tour the courtyard and walk the memorial gardens and grounds outside. The views of Toledo and the surrounding Spanish countryside from the fortress are spectacular.
Exiting the fortress grounds, we happened on a young Spanish tour guide enthusiastically relating her history of Spain in English to a group of eight sightseers. We joined them, madimg the group ten. I did not catch the guide’s name but was impressed with her interactions with the group. She spoke in passable English, asking us questions and referring back to things she had spoken of at previous stops. She spoke of the twisty, windy, narrow roads, many more like alleys than roads. She explained that these were of Arab design, to provide a better defense against an invading foe. She spoke of how Toledo fell on hard times when it lost its place as the capital city to the more centrally located Madrid. Toledo faced increasing poverty and crime when the wealth of Toledo was transferred to Madrid.
Passing one of the old prisons she spoke of the rise of the inquisition and the many terrible tortures that were applied to obtain confessions. She told us that because of the criminality, seven prisons were built in this small city. One became the Inquisitor’s headquarters, used for torture and execution. She laughed – “Today it is a disco,” she said. As we walked, she pointed out stone balls affixed to the corners of certain buildings. These she said indicated buildings with sizeable wells. All or most residences had interior wells, some were larger than others and recognizing where the larger ones were located was essential for firefighting.
Leading us into the Jewish quarter we were told that before the Jews were expelled in 1492 they had a successful population of between 14-15,000 and ten synagogues. Two still remain. Both had been converted to Arab mosques and then later converted to churches. We had an opportunity to tour one. Throughout the quarter we found little blue and white porcelain tiles implanted in the streets and walls. These were the symbols of the Star of David, the menorah, and the Hebrew lettering for L’chaim. We passed a candy store and received a lecture about the importance of marzipan. In the store window we saw a marzipan representation of the Alcazar and inside we found a bigger than life-size marzipan figure of Cervantes’s, Don Quixote.
When the tour ended we backtracked to a medieval brewery we’d seen earlier. Had an outdoorlunch there, a cold cut and cheese platter, a passable IPA and an outstanding lager, followed by two surprises. The owner brought us out a gift of red pepper empanadas. Delicious! Shortly after, an Englishman who sat nearby, brought over a tray of four ham & white sauce croquettes, saying that he and his wife had not expected so many. The kindness of strangers.
We window shopped and browsed our way back to our bus stop, sword and knife shops, sweet shops, clothing shops, and touristy gewgaw shops. I purchased a Knight’s Templar t-shirt and a miniature Templar knight. Jen bought a beautiful necklace and a white gathered peasant skirt with a green and blue floral pattern. We took our purchases to the bus stop where I doom-scrolled until our ride appeared (unfamiliar with doom-scrolling? It’s an addiction to checking the news on one’s phone).
Boarded a bus then train then bus then home again to our hotel. But the adventure was not quite over.
We determined to walk further into the city for our next Spanish supper. After viewing a half dozen posted menus on the street we determined that we were in the high-priced section of the city and kept walking. Still, the name of one lively restaurant stood out – PROPAGANDA. We couldn’t resist. Directed to a streetside table by a decidedly Italian young man, we found the street noise too much and were reseated inside. All around us young men and women were drinking and laughing and much Italian was heard.
One look at the menu and we understood. This was a high-end Italian restaurant. Not a single Spanish wine on the list. The self-assured gentleman who showed us to our seat helped us choose a proper chianti followed by bread and olive oil, an artichoke and shaved parmesan hors d’oevre, and two orders of mussels marinara. Our host, it turned out, was a Roman ex-pat who wanted to introduce Italian cuisine into the heart of Spain (Hence the name – Propaganda). Francesco is an earnest individual who spent a surprising amount of time with us, inviting us to visit a musician friend of his in Lisbon. We plan on it. Our new friend surprised us with a gratis aperitif of Limoncello. We toasted his restaurant. Once the check was paid we found he had knocked $5 off the bottle of the Chianti we drank. A truly nice guy.
Sated, extremely happy, and extremely tired we REtired. Looking forward to a lazy laundry day tomorrow followed by a plane trip to Porto. Portugal here we come.
I am posting a selection of the thousands of pictures we took on Facebook. Look me up there and see what we saw!
Buenas Noches.