Spain Holidays 10

We spent eight nights in Spain recently. From Madrid we had planned to do a day trip to Toledo. I highly recommend this. We took the high speed train to Toledo. This is a train that President Obama wants to see in the United States. It goes 180 miles per hour which feel like 20 and the seats were so comfortable. There were tables (like an airplane), foot rests, and rather than 1 hour and 15 minutes it took us ½ an hour to get to Toledo. The cost was about 16€ (Euros - multiply by 1.3% to $).


We didn't think the walk to the Old City would be hard but we could tell immediately that it was too far so for 1.25€ we caught a tourist bus. The roads are steep and as all the information said, the city is a maze. Plan on getting lost and having fun with the journey. We literally couldn't find things we wanted to see but people were very friendly so eventually we got to where we were going. The streets are so narrow they are called "the donkey and me" streets. Cars zoom by so you will want to be extra careful on these cobblestone roads.


The two items I would suggest buying are marzipan (delicious candy) and Damascene Jewelry. It is reasonably priced, beautiful and you can't get it any other place. Swords and scissors are popular as well because of the steel used.


If you want to go to a Sephardic Synagogue- the Sinagoga de el Transito- do not go to Toledo on a Monday because it was closed. We should have picked up on that but we didn't and were disappointed.

Pick up a map at the tourist information center. You may then want to go to the free museum, Museo de Santa Cruz. You will see a famous Greco painting of the Ascension.

Walk to Mezquita del Christo de la Lux (Mosque of Christ of the Light), which we chose not to go into. You must go into the Catedral, the most elaborate church in which I have been. The many rooms, each with its own personality, the architecture, and the ceilings were worth the 7€.


You may want to see The Toller del Morro, which is the only surviving, non-religious building in Toledo which dates back to the fourteenth century. After going in circles we found the Sinagoga de Maria La Blanca. We paid 2€. At the time there was a special exhibit but it once was a Synagogue.

We found a great place to eat called Los Lopez de Toledo, which we were told was good at the information center. It was hard to find but it was worth it. We had tapas there. I had goat cheese, lettuce, bread, a few chips and prawns with nuts and guacamole and my husband had razor clams and a salmon sandwich. The dining room wasn't open until 4:00p.m. so we sat at a somewhat uncomfortable wood table with benches and low stools.

You will then get on the bus, which runs regularly, and take the train back to Madrid.


Continue reading: travel to Toledo

Toledo is popularly known as the city of three cultures because they have lived for many centuries Christians, Jews and Arabs in the same space. Thanks to that mix today the city has a beautiful historic legacy and an extraordinary heritage and it is very striking to be visited. Has a charm that no other city can boast to have it.

The heritage of Toledo consists of wide variety of churches, synagogues, mosques, palaces and fortresses that visiting through them it seems that unintentionally you are in the middle age Spain, it is a landscape without equal, therefore the city was declared a World Heritage Site.


Visiting the old town we can reach to get lost down by between its maze of little streets, this space is limited by old parts of the defense wall Toledo, there are many doors that gave the access to the town inside, walking around to see them is a route highly recommended to do there. The busiest center of the city is the Plaza de Zocodover, in Muslim era was an important commercial center, today is the leisure center where you can have some drinks and enjoy the historic environment that surrounds there.

There was a magnificent artist very special that made the reputation of Toledo will expand even more if it is worth, he was el Greco who in 1577 was established in the city and where he died. Today we can find a house-museum in his honor.


There are three emblematic monuments in Toledo are worthy of mention, these are the gothic-style Cathedral, the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, the Alcázar of medieval origin.

Another of the attractions of the area it is given by the Don Quixote of Cervantes. The history goes by some different places of Castilla and La Mancha, autonomous community which Toledo is the capital and, by its big impact, there are routes to visit those place, all these routes begin or pass through Toledo.

Toledo's cuisine is exquisite and worthy of mention, is focused on the game meat where we can opt for dishes such as partridge, quail or deer for example. They are also very typical mushrooms, the vegetable ratatouille and the crumbs. The manchego cheese also enjoys national renown. The wines of La Mancha and Méntrida are the two D.O. (origin denomination) in the zone.