Spain part 3: Toledo

I fell in love with Toledo when I was there in 2008. It’s a city on the hill, bordered on three sides by a river, and the fourth by a major highway. I wandered around for hours, happily getting lost. It was the end of my 3 week trip and I just couldn’t bring myself to see any of the major sights. So I knew I had to return. 

Toledo is a wonderful city, with its narrow streets and alleys, stairwells, old buildings, churches and museums every 2 feet. There are a number of gates still standing from when it was a Muslim city, as well as some rare remnants from its days as the Visigothic capital. It’s the perfect place to buy a sword or expensive knife, and monastic houses still make and sell sweets, including marzipan (almond paste). Marzipan can be made into sculptures that once graced medieval dessert tables, but now advertise for shops. 

A common way to enter the city is over the Alcantara bridge and gate, which funnels you through a switchback that was the first line of defence against attackers. 

The Jewish quarter has the remaining 2 synagogues in Spain, one of which is now part of the Sephardic museum (pictured below), the other was transformed into a Christian church and is now a museum. 

There’s also a Mosque that was converted into a church. The apse (rounded end) was added later, but the gorgeous ceiling and pillars are original. 

The Visigothic museum, housed in the painted San Roman church was worth a couple of hours. 

And the night views, both within and outside the city are incredible. The churches and castle are lit up and it looks awesome.

Spain part 2: Cordoba

Our second stop was Cordoba. There was enough I wanted to see there that I didn’t want to do it as a day trip from Sevilla. Which turned out to be a good thing, as during the day Cordoba is PACKED with tourists. But at night and in the morning, the old Jewish quarter is blissfully empty. 

The synagogue - recently reopened after renovations - was gorgeous. It's one of 3 medieval synagogues remaining in Spain. It's remarkable that any of them survived, considering the forced conversion and then expulsion of Jews in 1492. It was packed when I was there during the day, so I stopped by in the evening and again the next morning to get more photos. Here’s the east wall (where the holy items would have been stored). 

I went to the Mesquita - the Visigothic church location upon which a Mosque was built, which was then turned into a Cathedral, twice. Once in the morning during the free hour before the service starts, and later in the day during the paid tourist time. Tour groups aren’t allowed in during the free opening time so I thought it would be quieter, but there were still a lot of tourists. I also climbed the bell tower (you need a timed ticket for this, as they only allow groups of 20 to go up every half hour) so I could get photos of the building from above. 

Cordoba’s Jewish quarter is known for its whitewashed walls and flower pots, especially calle de las flores (street of flowers). We were there too early for the patio festival, but we got to see the Posada del Potro, an old inn that’s been converted into a flamenco museum. There were a lot of beautiful open patios attached to restaurants, often with live entertainment in the evening. The quarter is sectioned off by a wall, parts of which still stand. 

At night we saw the Roman bridge and cathedral lit up. The next morning we had the traditional Spanish breakfast: churros con chocolat. The hot chocolate is quite thick, half way to being pudding, and really sticks to the churros. Soooo gooooooood.....