Since arriving in Madrid, Javier has been asking me to stay until Tuesday, so that we could drive to one of the small outlying, historical cities around Madrid. I was game, and even let him choose our destination… afterall, he was driving.
(Javi being Javi)So on Tuesday afternoon, he picks me up in Plaza Sant Ana with his two friends – Assuncion (Assun)and Eduardo (Ed). We pile into Javi’s Ford and in an hour we can see the old walled-city of Toledo. We make a stop at Ana Carolina’s house for tapas and beers before touring. Talk about a view! Ana’s porch overlooks Toledo, offering this amazing picturesque window to what was old-town Spain.
(Views of Toledo from Ana's place)
(Views of our lunch table at Ana's place)With a bit of an afternoon buzz, we head for the old city stopping in every church we see, including the giant cathedral in the center of the city. It truly is a work of art, taking 230 years to build, encompassing both Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance style architecture, and three different religions – Christian, Catholic and Jews. It was truly something to see.
Ed acted as my guide, as none of the literature for the cathedral was in English, and while my comprehension of Spanish has improved, deciphering this bit took some extra work.
(Ed giving me an English guided tour)After the church – which took 2 hours – we stopped for sangria and tapas. It cracks me up what is given out for free at these Spanish "happy hours". Its usually what I consider a meal!
(Ed and Ana)After our "snack" we got a moonlight tour of this amazing walled city before getting in the car and driving back to Madrid.
(the Happy American who LOVED Toledo)Simply. Wonderful.
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