Today was another warm, sunny day. We decided that we were museumed and churched out for awhile since we’ll no doubt go into some in Madrid. For a change, we just wanted to walk around the back streets of old Toledo and enjoy the beautiful weather.
The streets are very narrow and winding, which would be okay if they were pedestrian only but such is not the case. There are many pedestrians but we still have to share most of the narrow roads with cars. The professional drivers in taxis or delivery vans are quite patient and skilled. Most of the locals are good but a few can be a little too aggressive for the narrow streets. The tourist drivers are usually way out of their depth and often don’t know where they’re going, which is understandable. The result is that you have to watch and listen carefully for approaching cars all the time. Some streets are so narrow that drivers have to pull in their side mirrors.
One of the earlier finds this morning, was a church that Isabella and Ferdinand had built in the midst of the Jewish quarter. They were making a statement. That was before they forced the conversion of about 1/3 of the Jews, the exile of about 1/3 and the murder of the rest around the year 1500 AD or so. In many places in Spain, Jews, Muslims and Christians had lived together peacefully for centuries. Such harmony is fragile, as we can see nowadays.
On one outside wall of this particular church we could see some shackles and chains hanging. These had apparently been used on Christian prisoners by Muslim Moors during the Crusades.
We were doing pretty well at finding our way around. At one point, we rode one of the two banks of escalators down the hill and back up again. These escalators go to hotels and parking lots below the hill. Big buses don’t have the room to manoeuvre on the top of the hill so many pedestrians have to get to the top somehow. The escalators help. The one we rode had six different escalators to get from top to bottom.
After a couple of hours, when we were back in familiar territory, I still took a wrong turn and got lost for a few minutes. When I eventually figured out where we were, it was a long way from where I had thought we were. In our experience, Toledo is second only to Venice for the maze of streets and the ease of getting lost.
After we regrouped in our room, I bought a beer in a little store and we went down to a small plaza to sit in the sun for a while. Then we walked up to the Mesón Palacio restaurant for lunch. For 8.95 euros each (about $13.50 CDN) we got a 2 course main meal plus dessert, bread and a beer or wine. We’ll be sending in a good review. This is a great little bar/restaurant serving typical Castilian food. They have a different set lunch menu every day that has about 4 choices for each course. Although it’s not on the main tourist trail through the old town, it’s always packed with a mix of locals and tourists enjoying the good food, fast service and reasonable prices. In the pictures, Anita is first enjoying the pisto manchego, then the pollo al chilindron and finally some type of custard and simple strawberry cheesecake for dessert.
To end the day, we walked around and sat in little plazas here and there to enjoy more sunshine. Tomorrow we take the train to Madrid.
The streets are very narrow and winding, which would be okay if they were pedestrian only but such is not the case. There are many pedestrians but we still have to share most of the narrow roads with cars. The professional drivers in taxis or delivery vans are quite patient and skilled. Most of the locals are good but a few can be a little too aggressive for the narrow streets. The tourist drivers are usually way out of their depth and often don’t know where they’re going, which is understandable. The result is that you have to watch and listen carefully for approaching cars all the time. Some streets are so narrow that drivers have to pull in their side mirrors.
One of the earlier finds this morning, was a church that Isabella and Ferdinand had built in the midst of the Jewish quarter. They were making a statement. That was before they forced the conversion of about 1/3 of the Jews, the exile of about 1/3 and the murder of the rest around the year 1500 AD or so. In many places in Spain, Jews, Muslims and Christians had lived together peacefully for centuries. Such harmony is fragile, as we can see nowadays.
On one outside wall of this particular church we could see some shackles and chains hanging. These had apparently been used on Christian prisoners by Muslim Moors during the Crusades.
We were doing pretty well at finding our way around. At one point, we rode one of the two banks of escalators down the hill and back up again. These escalators go to hotels and parking lots below the hill. Big buses don’t have the room to manoeuvre on the top of the hill so many pedestrians have to get to the top somehow. The escalators help. The one we rode had six different escalators to get from top to bottom.
After a couple of hours, when we were back in familiar territory, I still took a wrong turn and got lost for a few minutes. When I eventually figured out where we were, it was a long way from where I had thought we were. In our experience, Toledo is second only to Venice for the maze of streets and the ease of getting lost.
After we regrouped in our room, I bought a beer in a little store and we went down to a small plaza to sit in the sun for a while. Then we walked up to the Mesón Palacio restaurant for lunch. For 8.95 euros each (about $13.50 CDN) we got a 2 course main meal plus dessert, bread and a beer or wine. We’ll be sending in a good review. This is a great little bar/restaurant serving typical Castilian food. They have a different set lunch menu every day that has about 4 choices for each course. Although it’s not on the main tourist trail through the old town, it’s always packed with a mix of locals and tourists enjoying the good food, fast service and reasonable prices. In the pictures, Anita is first enjoying the pisto manchego, then the pollo al chilindron and finally some type of custard and simple strawberry cheesecake for dessert.
To end the day, we walked around and sat in little plazas here and there to enjoy more sunshine. Tomorrow we take the train to Madrid.
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