Holy Toledo!

Toledo is a lovely city where medeival Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived in harmony for many years and we are the benficiaries of their shared history. It's also the home of El Greco. A. and I set out to visit it this Saturday.

We took a direct one-hour bus from Madrid at 4.40€ per person each way, arriving at 1 p.m. Our first stop after climbing the hill from the bus depot was the well preserved Puerta del Sol (see picture). We climbed some more and seemingly having arrived at the summit of Toledo, stopped to catch our breath at the Plaza of Zocodóver, anciently a Muslim marketplace, and currently the center of town and tourist activity.

I was anxious to show A. the newly built Army Museum, integrated into the city's Alcázar fortress, but unfortunately the construction hasn't finished. So we went to what is probably the main attraction of the town, the Iglesia de Santo Tomé, which houses El Greco's Burial of Count Orgaz. Afterward, A. breathed, "I don't need to see anything else after that." (By way of trivia, Toledo is the setting for an excellent Spanish film that speaks against domestic violence, Te Doy Mis Ojos. The main protagonist plays a guard at Santo Tomé.)

Next, we decided to hit the Jewish quarter, which is my perennial favorite bunch of city monuments. We meandered through the simulated medieval marketplace, with its Sephardic music, and then entered the Sinagoga del Tránsito. This is a gorgeously restored synagogue with intricate Hebrew and Arabic carving on the walls.

You enter the Museo Sefardí directly from the synagogue, where there are many informative exhibits about Jews in Spain. My favorite part is the garden with gravestones and translations of the inscriptions. The other Toledan synagogue is the Sinagoga María la Blanca (see picture). It is such a serene and transcendent experience to stand among its white columns (just ignore the garish Christian retablo added to the front).

We planned to see the El Greco House-Museum next but it is currently closed for refurbishing through the end of 2007 (another trip, perhaps). We went to the nearby Victorio Macho museum, but it only has a handful of El Grecos on display temporarily during the closure. I was particularly disappointed to not see more of my favorite "caballero" portraits. They are so visceral in real life!

We got a little lost through side streets searching for the Cristo de la Luz Mosque, only to find it right next to the Puerta del Sol by which we had entered. It is undergoing archaeological excavations right now but is open to the public. By the way, the original name was not Christian, but it was changed when the Christians kicked out its former worshipers to transform the edifice into a church. Unfortunately, the second mosque in the city is not open Saturdays.

I dissuaded A. from going into the cathedral, telling him he'd see plenty more (I am not a big fan of cathedrals). But we did poke our heads inside the cloisters area to watch a very frou-frou wedding party (everyone arrived in Audis, BMWs and Givenchy eveningwear). This was only the first wedding we would run into that afternoon.

In our search for the misnamed Plaza Mayor, we encountered a little gem we had been searching for: the Pozo Amargo. According to Toledan legend, the bitter well got its name from a young Jewish woman who supposedly cried out all her tears there over her father's murder of her Christian lover. It is a few meters down a very narrow street that cars still muster the guts to drive through.

From there we followed the stiletto heels to another wedding in another church, this time with a choir! When we were done spying on them, we walked around that area and bumped into the Toledo School of Translators. I would totally go there for my master's (if my language pair were Spanish and Arabic or Hebrew)!

We went in search for a souvenir box (I collect boxes) and found even the smallest gold or silver inlaid box prohibitively expensive. Then we looked at the prices of marzipan and were equally shocked at the prices. So we bought just two pieces. They were delish!
After walking back down the hill toward the bus station, we were thirsty and stopped for some excellent refreshment at one of the summer-operating terrazas within view of the Puerta de Bisagra. Their ice-cold horchata de chufa and limón granizado is to die for!

Back in Madrid, we enjoyed a night of tapas. All the places we hit were standouts:

Casa del Abuelo
Specialty-gambas al ajillo or a la plancha

Las Bravas
Specialty-patatas bravas

La Malaspina
Specialty-"malaspina" (generous portion of toast topped with jamón serrano, melted cheese and oregano, and dressed with olive oil)

It was a wonderful day. Our feet were tired but our tummies full, and we had seen many things in Toledo. Next time, we'll hopefully see what wasn't open today.

Note: We paid reduced student admission that was 1.40€ at each attraction.