Up early, off to Toledo, March 9
Can I take this rain home?
Early on March 9th, I repacked my suitcase and we caught a cab for the main train station in Madrid. As with all European countries, train travel is common. While there are buses, private cars are rare and train travel is affordable and fast. It took us 30 minutes to cover the seventy miles between Madrid and Toledo. The train station in Toledo was built in 1919 and is considered a cultural treasure. It looks a bit like something from the Moorish era in Spain but is 20th century. It is quite a way from the city, so we took a taxi.
Once up the steep hill, we walked to a facility David had found during his last visit where we locked our backpacks and my suitcase in lockers. It is a clever idea when one is day tripping. While there, I realized my phone was not in my purse or my pocket. We walked quickly to the local taxi waiting area and found our cab waiting for a fare. My phone was in the back seat where it had fallen out of my pocket. Whew! And what a nice cabby!
The rain continued all day as we wandered around the ancient city. The city has 42 churches, cloisters, and other church buildings. It is perched on the very top of a steep hill and still surrounded by medieval walls. The streets are steep and slick when wet. We visited the main cathedral which was the main seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Spain for many years. My Spanish is not good enough to decipher the political ramifications and intricates, suffice to say, the cathedral is much larger than one would expect in a town the size of Toledo.
Inside the ancient building, there are many tiny chapels dedicated to wealthy donors and deceased cardinal archbishops who have served the country. At one point in its history, someone said it needed more light. So, a large opening was made high in a wall. Across from the opening, where the sun’s rays would fall at a certain day and time, a beautiful display was created with gilding and silver. A previous trip’s guide told David that a room exists behind that display and the display allows a light show to occur in the small room. He and other guides were invited to view it so they could explain the reasoning behind the hole in the wall. The pictures we took do not really do justice to the Baroque excess and beauty of the display and the window.
We made one more stop before we had a reservation for dinner. One very famous former resident of Toledo was the artist known as El Greco. Dominikos Theotokopoulos was born on an island of Crete in 1541 and died in 1614 in Toledo. Several years ago, a wealthy admirer of his work bought what had been commonly called El Greco’s house and restored it to how it might have looked in the 1600s. Unfortunately, it is not the precise house where he lived, but one that closely resembles where he did live and is just across the street. It is now a museum with a wonderful collection of his paintings. One of my favorite galleries was a collection of copies of his best-known works by his studio after his death. His grandson promoted the copies; however, many are easily identified as copies. They are badly done. The house was very nicely restored and gives you an idea of domestic life during the painter’s time.
We ended with dinner at a unique restaurant in the cellar of an ancient building. The food was excellent. David has a talent for finding such places. We retrieved our luggage and made the quick trip back to Madrid. We had reservations on the high-speed train to Valencia but a wait in the Madrid train station allowed us to have a walk in the botanical garden within the old train station and do some people watching.
Arriving in Valencia, Daivd warned me to be ready to get off the train. It only stopped in Valencia before it went north up the coast to several smaller cities and towns. We found a cab and made a slower trip than one would expect in such a large city. The excuse, a very valid one, was Fallas and a shrug. Ah more to come. Fallas, what a celebration!
