This past weekend two of my girlfriends, Emma and Taryn, and I went to Toledo for the day. Toledo is an ancient city just about an hour outside of Madrid. It was the capital of Spain during the rein of the Muslim kings until 1085 when it was conquered by the Catholics. The design and architecture of the city are still greatly influenced by it's Muslim history.
I think my favorite part of the day was simply walking though the steep cobble stone streets and getting out of the city. I like Madrid but a city of five and a half million people becomes overwhelming sometimes. We also went to the gothic cathedral, built between the XIII and XV century. There was a display of the crown jewels as well as a collection of Greco’s paintings in the cathedral museums. Greco lived in Toledo for most of his adult life. Unfortunately the Alcazar, Toledo’s fort and palace, was closed due to reconstruction. Luckily it is such and easy day trip that I will be able to return to the city when it reopens.
Toledo is also famose for it´s steel work and all the gift shops are packed with intersting knifes of all different sizes. I´m thinking souvenir for my good older brother.
3 comments:
Great picture!
Toledo was a pretty cool city.
The guy at the pension we stayed at had a postcard of Wisconsin up behind the counter! He owned the place now, but got his degree from UW in Ag engineering.
Have you figured out the origin of the expression "Holy Toledo"?
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