I now have a pretty good grasp on the origins of the saying, "Holy Toledo!" On the one hand, it is holy in the sense that, at one time, three major religions could be found within its walls: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all had their place in Toledo. That didn't last long, because different religions in close quarters, for some strange reason, tends to cause a teensy bit of tension. But there is still evidence of all three in the form of synagogues, mosques, and cathedrals. Saaaaweet.
On the other hand, the first view of Toledo is absolutely stunning. Hence, the exclamation, "Holy Toledo!" First thing, we drove up to the tallest hill surrounding Toledo, and got to see the entire city from above.
Lo que sea.
We had a lovely tour of the city in Spanglish, and our first stop was La Mezquita, and a little overview of Mudejar architecture. Second on the schedule was La Catedral de Toledo. Ummmmmmmm ridiculous. Every single thing in there was so ornate and beautiful, it was unbelievable. Loved it. Took an absurd amount of pictures, but this one shows the vaulted ceiling, stained-glass windows, and the detailed fencing - a little bit of everything.
Next up: Santo Tomé. Home of The Burial of Count Orgaz, El Greco's most famous painting. Let's just say it was crazy seeing it in real life. It was painted specifically to be hung in Santo Tomé, so it was really great to see it where it was originally intended to be, instead of in a museum.
Our next stop was La Sinagoga del Transito. My favorite part about it was the designs in the windows. Each one had a slightly different pattern, and the light shining through was real purdy. Sorry guys, I'm trying to come up with a million ways to say "it was beautiful," because that's my reaction to just about everything here. In the middle of this picture you can see the Star of David outline on the ceiling, but there's also a bit of Arabic around the inside of the walls of the synagogue. ¿Una mezcla de las iglesias, no?
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After this last stop, we were set free, and Anna was dead-set on finding the bridge we passed on our drive in that morning, and rightly so; it was gorgeous. So off we went. We navigated the streets of Toledo (successfully, I might add - we are getting better), and eventually found it. We had some fun with self-timer again, and snapped a shot of us on the LOTR-esque wall. Can't you just picture orks scaling the wall? ¿Somos empollónes? Well, yeah.
The weather was seriously uhhhhmazing. Not a cloud in the sky, sunny, and probably 60ish degrees. In January. Whhhhhhat. It was strange indeed, but I mean, no complaints here.
On our way back to meet up with the group, we decided to stop in this little shop, and thank goodness we did. Meet Andres, the coolest man in Toledo. He hand-makes these little steel plates with gold leafing and gold-thread design. And boy, are they pretty. So we bought some jewelry with the same designs (he gave us a discount, what were we supposed to do?), all the while getting a history lesson from him and just chatting about his family. It was just a neat experience all around.
We of course had to try some of Toledo's traditional mazapán, and after getting some cautionary reviews from some in our group who tried it before us, it was surprisingly good! Not anything to write home about, but tasty nonetheless.
Toledo is now solidly the leader in the running for my favorite place in Spain. Granted, it's one of only three places I've seen. But the other cities have a lot to live up to if they want a chance at the title.
NSP moment:
Saturday morning, the day after we got back from Toledo, we were planning on going to a YSA activity with kids from the ward. Plan was to meet Anna and Aly and the train station at 8:30am. Saturday morning - wake up, look at phone - 8:40am. Uuuuurgh.
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