Did you know the expression “Holy Toledo” came from the hilly town of Toledo, Spain?  It was one of the few places Jews weren’t persecuted in Europe. They thought of it as a holy town . . . hence, holy Toledo!

Well, holy Toledo, it was hot in that little town today! Katie and I took the high-speed train out from Madrid to Toledo. The ride only lasted 30 minutes, but Katie and I almost missed it. We had bought tickets for the 10:30 train and had stopped near Puerta del Sol for some breakfast first. We had planned to take the underground Metro to the high-speed train, but the nice people at the breakfast place told us about a faster train (Renfe), which would get us to the high-speed train in only one underground stop. Good thing because by the time we figured out where to catch the Renfe and then where to find the high-speed train we were running between stations with only minutes before our departure.

Murphy’s Law was in action as our train was, of course, on the very last track (Number 16, thank you), and our reserved seats were on the very last coach. We sat down in our seats just moments before the train took off.

Thirty minutes later, we were in Toledo. If you’ve been in any of the small hillside towns in Italy (Assisi, Siena, San Gemignano), you’ll have at least an idea of what Toledo is like.

It’s that old medieval town with the wall around it and narrow, winding streets that are easy to lose your direction in.

After grabbing a quick coffee for me and juice for Katie, we headed off to the cathedral. Toledo used to be the capital of Spain, so its cathedral was of upmost importance. Hence, it is extremely impressive and took over 200 years to build. Katie and I used the free audio guides that came with our admission tickets.

There is so much detail in every  piece of artwork in this church that it’s hard to fathom how many people spent thousands upon thousands of hours creating everything for this church. Everywhere you  look is something amazing to gaze at and contemplate.

After our cathedral visit, we stopped at a place Katie used to go to when she was a student here in Madrid. We had a light tapas lunch with a sangria-like drink and then snacks that included fries with ketchup and mayonnaise as well as little ham sandwiches.

When we walked out of the bar, it was so incredibly hot it felt like we were walking through walls of heat. According to our calculations, we believe the Farhenheit version of the temp we saw displayed outside was 106 degrees. Katie wanted to take photos of a bridge she remembered going over the river, but we couldn’t stand walking along the river for long with the sun beating down on us.

Finally, we decided to try another Rick Steves’s suggstion and take a city  bus that looped around the city and offered views of the gorge around it. The bus stop was nearby so we hopped on, glad to have abandoned the heat for a bit.

Before long, we had circled most of the city and had traveled a bit south. We looped around a hospital and then started back on the route we had come down. One other girl had gotten on the bus at the hospital. Other than that, Katie and I were the only other two people on the bus.

In Spanish, the bus driver yelled back at us, “What stop are you getting off?”

Katie explained that we wanted to go right back to where we had started and that we were just taking  pictures of the city. The bus driver made us each pay for another ticket. We only spent a total of 30 minutes on the bus, but had to pay twice!

After our bus ride, we decided to visit the Santa Cruz museum. It was another way to escape the heat. Sadly, only half of its exhibits were actually open, but we did get to see some more El Greco paintings (we had seen some in Madrid yesterday).

Then we got ice cream and did a little shopping. We tried to go to a Rick Steves’s suggestion for dinner, but it wasn’t open. Then we tried to find a monastery where they sold mazapan, but they  were closed.

Hot and exhausted, we found a coffee and tea shop open and each had some iced tea. Then we tried the recommended restaurant again. The automatic door slid open when Katie stepped in front of it, but there was only one man seated at a table inside. There was a hostess standing near the back.

“Abierto?” (Open?) Katie asked.

Yes! They were open! As a bonus, the hostess spoke both Spanish and English, and we got a really good deal on a yummy  tapas dinner with wine and dessert. A really nice final dinner for our trip!

Another 30-minute high-speed train ride, and a short Renfe ride, and we were back in the heart of Madrid.

It’s back home to Chicago tomorrow! I’ll have some wrap-up and bonus posts when I return.

Thanks to everyone who’s been following along!

You would think that with temperatures in the 100s that Katie and I would be taking it easy in Spain. Despite drinking lots of water and walking slowly, we still managed to fit in a lot today.

This morning for breakfast we stopped at a cafe right next to our hostel for churros with chocolate and coffee (caffe con leche for Katie and cappuccino for me). The churros were not as sweet as the Mexican-style ones we see a lot in Chicago, and the chocolate wasn’t inside the churro. It came in a mug that you dipped your churro into. It was good, but after a while, my stomach told me I’d had enough fried goodness for one morning! I was actually glad the cappuccino was a little more bitter than the ones I had in Italy.

After breakfast, we walked through the Plaza del Mayor again on our way to church. This morning it had sort of a mini flea market feel to it. There were lots of tables of people selling collectible stamps and coins, as well as currency from various European countries before the Euro took over.

We arrived at church (San Isidro) about 20 minutes early, so we had time to walk around. It’s a beautiful church with lots of statues of Mary.

Two things I’ve noticed about churches in Spain so far:

1) They have a lot of saints that I don’t recognize depicted in their churches, which is not something I noticed in Rome. Why is it the Italian saints are well known, but the Spanish ones aren’t?

2) They seem to like dressing up Mary in a Spanish sort of style, which isn’t really surprising. Think of how many Renaissance artists made the holy family look like they lived during Renaissance times. Every culture seems to adopt Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to look like one of them.

After Mass, we went to the big flea market that’s only open on Sundays and just down the street from the church. It’s so big we didn’t even see all of it before we tired out and stopped for some fruit, snacks, water, and juice at a local supermarket. The flea market is pretty much what you’d  imagine a flea market in Spain to be like. It’s hot, it’s crowded, you get elbowed from time to time, and there are lots of different tents selling goods, but a fair number of them seem to be selling the same kinds of things and you wonder if the guy at the next one is going to sell that folding fan with the flamenco dancers on it for less than the guy you just bought one from. Other things being sold: Spanish t-shirts, kids’ clothes, Levis jeans (no kidding), jewelry, paintings, key rings, magnets, and hats.

Then we headed off to see the Royal Palace. Along the way. we stopped at the cathedral, which is called the Catedral de la Almudena. Katie and I stopped in for a few photos and a little more time to pray.  The church is really pretty and bright inside. Also, they had some recorded music playing (chanting kind of music), which I think helped maintain a prayerful attitude inside.

 

Then we headed to the royal palace, which is really just next door. They don’t let you take pictures inside, but we saw a lot of the old royal apartments. The current king of Spain (Felipe VI) became king on June 19, 2014, so he’s only been king for a little over a year.

After the palace, we got some tapas and sangria at a nice neighborhood pub. Basically, we had toasted bread with either salmon or tuna on top. Surprisingly good for a small establishment.

Then we walked the royal garden for a bit and sat in the shade fanning ourselves with the fans we bought.

Then we found a Haagan-Daz ice cream shop. We stopped in for dessert, air-conditioning, and the free wifi.

Finally, it was time to head out for flamenco dancing. Katie had ordered us tickets for the 8:00 show. We ended up with front-row seats in this theater that would remind a lot of people back home of a stand-up comedy club.

The dancers were really good. Their feet moved so fast they reminded me of a mix of Irish dancing and tap dancing.

After the show we visited the nearby park and then slowly made our way home. The sun stays up late here in the summer. Even at 10:00, it was still rather light out.