At 9 am this morning the group mustered in the Atocha train station to catch the train to Toledo, which took about 30 minutes. After disembarking in Toledo, we had a bit of a walk (uphill) from the train station to the city, which, while a bit tiring in the rising heat, offered a beautiful first view of the city.
Our first stop, as usual, was at a café in one of the city's plazas, where we relaxed and recuperated with "café con leche" (coffee with milk) and some pastries. From there, we explored Toledo's Medieval, winding, cobblestone streets while Mrs. DT explained some of Toledo's rich history (a mix of Moorish, Jewish, and Roman/Christian influences).
Eventually we arrived at Toledo's cathedral, called Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada, and purchased audio tour guides (only to be used in Spanish, of course) to aid in our exploration of the cathedral. The cathedral is quite large and magnificent, home to many smaller chapels, sculptures, and other artwork.
Satisfied with our tour of the cathedral, we continued our exploration of the city by visiting a small (literally) underground artisan's workshop, about which one of the artisans had informed us beforehand. The artisans pride themselves on the fact that all their crafts are handmade, as opposed to many of the machine-manufactured goods sold in souvenir shops in Toledo. We watched the artisans at work while their boss gave us a side-by-side comparison between handmade and manufactured crafts. Afterwords, we browsed the array of black and gold pendants, earrings, bracelets, cufflinks, etc. sold just beside the workshop.
After a delicious lunch on the sun-sheltered terrace of a café, where many of us enjoyed typical Spanish dishes, we continued to the Casa del Greco museum. The museum was constructed to model what the Greco's house would have looked like during his time living in Toledo. We explored the cool (in both ways) cellars beneath the house first, before continuing to the first floor and upstairs to view some of the Greco's work and learn more about his life. I loved the museum because it offered a mixture of modern and ancient architecture as well as history. It was also small and intimate, and not as crowded as the cathedral.
On the way out of the city, we stopped in the Santo Tomé sweet shop, which sells some of Toledo's famous marzipan sweets. Everyone in the group tried some, and I think we were all pleased. I guess we were enjoying ourselves a little to much, because we were halfway back to the train station, contented and strolling leisurely, when we realized the train was leaving in 5 minutes. We had to sprint (hats off to Mrs. DT) back to the station, and just made the train. Hot and panting, but nonetheless onboard, we collapsed into our seats and within minutes everyone was enjoying a well-deserved catnap after a fun and adventure-filled day in Toledo.
Here are some photos! (not in order):
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| Artwork inside the Catedral |
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| Domed ceiling of one of the Catedral's many chapels |
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| Catedral interior and stained-glass window |
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| Catedral interior |
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| The group outside Casa del Greco |
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| View of Toledo's surroundings from the city |
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| View walking to Toledo |
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| View of Toledo, approaching from train station |
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| View of surroundings from Toledo |
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