Feb 19 - Toledo

Up late and into the center of town to see the Catedral. Again, another amazing take on Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neoclassical architecture, complete with burial sites of past archbishops, cardinals, and their red hats hanging overhead until they rot and fall down. Pity the poor tourist standing there at the time…might scare the hell out of him or her. And then there is the 16th century skylight added to the arched ceiling after the fact. A deep hole in the ceiling tumbling with angels, clouds, sculptures of cherubs, with feet hanging out illuminates the entire carved back wall of the altar complete with angels holding fill by their gills and the ascending soul of Jesus. The individual choir seats carved in walnut depicting the reconquest of each Spanish city starting with Toledo in the 11th century and ending with Granada in 1492 are so accurate as to be used by historians to trace the evolution of weapons over that 400 years. An amazing 465 pound gold plated silver monstrance is in the Tesoro (treasury), used to hold the Holy Communion wafer that represents the body of Christ during April religious processions around town. In addition, did I mention the 18 El Greco paintings as well as some by all other famous artists from the different eras. The cathedral is a museum all on its own.

Off to Santo Tome to see one of El Greco’s most famous paintings, hung where he positioned it 400 years ago. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz – very colorful and with all the local town fathers fit into it, only El Greco stares out at you from the scene while his son holds a hanky with the Greek name painted on it- the artist’s signature. Then, how about a 1 euro bus ride around town to get our bearings and lift us back up the hill, highlighted by a thread the needle (bus through 16th century medieval arch) maneuver at pace 

Strolling through the labyrinthine twist of streets as the Toledans begin to flow into town for the Saturday stroll, we made the pleasant mistake of pausing in front of a metal working shop window where an old man was doing meticulous gold inlay crafting, hammer and wooden block in hand. In 1973, an old man took Kathie’s hand and led her into the caves of Herculaneum near Pompeii; in 2009, he took Kathie’s hand and pulled her into a dark restaurant; in 2011, that same old man grabbed her hand and took her into the cueva of his shop to show off his metal work of necklaces, rings, scissors, chess sets etc.-all guaranteed to be 24 k gold made by him, not some distant factory. Did we mention knives? “Hey buddy, want a knife? “ Or how about a sword. How to get this into a carry on…hmmm. Every other shop sells hundreds of knives, swords, shawls, mantillas, shoes, or all of the above guaranteed to be handmade by the owner. It used to be the swords were the best in the world, sought by traveling warriors from every country now the stores claim the fame of creating the weapons for Lord of the Rings or Conan the Barbarian….still quality work.

LUNCHTIME “Show mi amigos to a better table in the next room” said el padrone as we strolled in to his Meson Palacious restaurant with Rick Steves under our arm. Lunch was bread, gazpacho soup (cold tomato), veal with pepper sauce, vegetable stew (ratatouille) La Mancha style, chocolate three layered cake, flan, a bottle of wine and – did I mention?- Kathie ate the partridge from the pear tree. Three meals before 2 p.m. may be a record for this trip. Tough to pass the panelaria with great bread on the way up the hill for breakfast and the Two Nuns pasteria with great chocolate, coffee and sweets just off Santo Tome square for a snack.

How do you know when Kathie has had enough wine with lunch?
A) She ate the whole loaf of bread on the table
B) She ordered a double espresso after an entire fixed price menu of the day (she doesn’t drink coffee)
C) She commandeered my wine, then backwashed when she got caught, or
D) All of the above

So, taking the escaleras mecanicos (8 flights which speed up when you step on them) may be an intellectual challenge after the above lunch, but we must hurry before the rain in the distance beats us to the Hotel El Cardenal doors. The rain has kept us inside for the afternoon, but it appears we may take of to Plaza de Zocovoder (used to be the horse market) to see what night life is there. Rumor has it a NJ high school band is playing at 8. We have been crossing paths with them and their parents the whole trip. Off to Madrid tomorrow