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| View of Toledo from the Alcazar of Toledo |
Christmas is just around the corner! And our first guest has arrived so the Spanish exploration continues!
Yesterday, we got up well after the sun had cleared the horizon, had our first Spanish breakfast and then of course our second breakfast (not because we were up very early but just because that's what you do) before slowly making our way around midday to Madrid's Estascion de autobuses. Our plan was to visit the UNESCO world heritage city of Toledo, located 70kms south of Madrid in the Castile La-Mancha province.
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| Looking at a small church entrance |
The city of Toledo is located a top a mountain and has been occupied by many different groups and forces since long, long ago in the bronze age. We made our way to Toledo via direct bus from the Estascion de autodus and arrived within a quick and comfortable 45minutes.
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| Tapa lunch stop! |
It was a beautiful blue sky day when we arrived but the wind was icy cold, leaving us thinking that perhaps we should have bought a tad more practical clothing. Ek! We assumed that the city was very small so we didn't bother collecting a map at the bus station rather taking the more wild way of heading 'south' up that mountain. By this time, hunger was driving us on and our priorities changed to just finding somewhere to eat!
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| Looking up the East side of the main Gothic Cathedral |
We eventually found and stopped at a small and thankfully warm tapa bar, ate some Spanish Tortilla and drunk a nice cold beer! This boosted our spirits and warmed our bellys so we continued our exploration.
The three of us ventured across the city and clambered up the Alcazar of Toeldo to admire the views, we walked to the city monastery and through the mighty Cathedral. By then it was bloody cold with the wind whipping up through the small cobbled streets, but we powered on!
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| Main Toledo cathedral |
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| Its that way to the mountains.... |
Surprisingly, many of the small Toledo shops were decorated with an array of 'Lord of Rings' memorabilia and merchandise. We read that Toledo was home to many fine sword-makers and blacksmiths dating back to the Roman era. Then between the 15th and 17th centuries there was a large boom wheres Toledo's products became known as the best in Europe.
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| Main cathedral sphere of Toledo |
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| Walking down the lanes |
Today the city keeps the production and interest alive by selling many different Tolkin products, from golden rings to ginormous hand swords .
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| In front of the El Transitio synagogue |
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| Her lady sword holder! |
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| Plates on the walls |
When the sun set and the temperature dropped further we made our way in a barra for a few more belly warming drinks and then ventured back to the Estascion de autobuses to our trip back home!
The highlights of our trip were; the views of the medieval city, getting lost in the unbelievable small, twisty and turny backstreet laneways and trying the Spanish mixta lemon beer!
Tot siens,
John and Kara (and Ryan)
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