Visita a Toledo

Yesterday, I took a trip to Toledo, Spain, with the Universidad de Salamanca.  Toledo is about 3 hours southeast of Salamanca, as you can see on the conveniently provided map below!

Toledo is just south of Madrid and to the southeast of Salamanca. 

The bus was scheduled to leave at 7 am, so I had quite the early wake-up call, especially for a Saturday.   Luckily, we were able to sleep some on the bus.  PHEW.

Toledo is a particularly interesting city due to its design: it's surrounded by walls and a river, which made it a desirable location for a nation's capital (fun history fact for you, Dad!) In its history, it has been ruled by Muslims, Jews, and Christians, and the city displays influences from each of these groups.  Its layout is not only practical for medieval times but makes for some gorgeous views.  On the way in, we stopped to take panoramic pictures. This one is my favorite.

Kinda ugly, Spain. Let's work on that. 

We arrived around 11 am and immediately began our tours, starting with el Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. It had a really beautiful courtyard; otherwise, it was a pretty standard church.

One of the hallways lining the courtyard at the convent. 

Immediately following the tour, we walked a bit to la Iglesia de Santo Tomé to see El entierro del Señor de Orgaz, which is a famous painting done by El Greco.  We weren't allowed to take pictures of the painting and I know little to nothing about art, but it's supposedly an important work. Google it, I guess!

Since Toledo is an old Spanish town it obviously has a cathedral and of course we went to see it. But  seriously, it was one of the more beautiful churches I have seen in my life. It had that musky, cold smell that I love and some really lovely paintings and chapels.  

Jesus

After the lovely cathedral, we had free time, so Leilani and I got lunch at a bar (great spaghetti, by the way! If you're ever in Toledo...) and then went looking for marzipan.  I had no idea Toledo was famous for marzipan...or even what marzipan is! I still don't, actually.

At the end of our free time, we were told to meet in Toledo's biggest square, la Plaza de Zocodover. I have to say: it's got nothin' on the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca. To me, it didn't really stand out from the other parts of town, which were all pretty and interesting, but there did seem to be lots of people there.  

Plaza de Zocodover 

As I mentioned before, Toledo was once a Jewish city and had dozens of synagogues; when the Christians took over, many of these were destroyed. However, two still exist and we visited la Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca (note that it is named after a Catholic saint...what?). By that point, it was over 100 degrees outside and we were dragging a bit.  Fatigue and dehydration were winning, but we had enough energy to take a few more pictures of the river and surrounding hills.

Just a short ride later, I was back in Salamanca in time for Spain to beat France in the fight for the Euro Cup!

Though the day was tiring and warm, I am so glad I went and explored some more of Spain. It gave me a better sense of the country and re-sparked my love of this beautiful place.  I leave in less than a week, and find myself wishing for more time.  If I could have an America day to tide me over (see my family, eat a burrito, etc.), I would love to stay and explore more of Salamanca and more of Spain.

¡Mucho amor y hasta luego!