Yesterday was the sunniest, warmest day we’ve had since we left the coast of Almeria. According to the news, there has been heavy rain and flooding in other parts of Spain and France during the last 10 days or so of a mix of weather where we’ve been.
We walked up through the Plaza de Zocodover, the main square, to the Alcazar. The Arabic word for fortress is “al-quesr” so that’s why all these old fortresses have the same name. Although this one has been through the usual incarnations, it is now Spain’s military museum. It was only 5 euros each to get in, which was a bargain considering the extent of the displays.
We first saw an old car riddled with bullet holes in which some politician had been assassinated. Beside that display was a door out to a plaza where a helicopter and some big guns were located. We went out there first because we craved some open space. Toledo is a great place to visit but it’s very constricted. It’s difficult to get an exterior photograph of any important building because there’s no space. We’re used to open vistas so we find this a little claustrophobic.
After some sunshine and open space, we wandered through the whole museum eventually. We learned of Spain’s history through the displays of battles and conquests from the Visigoths to the present. It was very interesting but by the end we were ‘museumed’ out. We took photos of some of the weapons and armour of which there were lots. We also took a photo of a painting of Queen Isabella receiving Columbus after his voyage to the new world, where he presents some treasures and some captives. Beside all of the European battles, there were many displays of Spain’s colonial adventures in the Philippines, throughout the Americas, Africa and even Vietnam.
The Alcazar itself is massive and the displays were very good. The real things, like a Royal tent from 1534 used by the king on the battlefield, were intermingled with very lifelike re-creations. This museum houses an incredible amount of artefacts
By the time we had seen the whole museum, we were exhausted. We walked up to the Mesón Palacios restaurant for a tapa and a drink. After regrouping in our room, we had some tapas and a 1/2 racione of the stewed beef with bread that we like at the Almucen 51 bar.
During another walk around in the late afternoon sun, Anita took a photo of a bakery display she liked of nuns baking. Toledo is also famous for marzipan. Finally, there’s a photo of me in the street just outside our hotel. It wasn’t long before we were done for the day.
We walked up through the Plaza de Zocodover, the main square, to the Alcazar. The Arabic word for fortress is “al-quesr” so that’s why all these old fortresses have the same name. Although this one has been through the usual incarnations, it is now Spain’s military museum. It was only 5 euros each to get in, which was a bargain considering the extent of the displays.
We first saw an old car riddled with bullet holes in which some politician had been assassinated. Beside that display was a door out to a plaza where a helicopter and some big guns were located. We went out there first because we craved some open space. Toledo is a great place to visit but it’s very constricted. It’s difficult to get an exterior photograph of any important building because there’s no space. We’re used to open vistas so we find this a little claustrophobic.
After some sunshine and open space, we wandered through the whole museum eventually. We learned of Spain’s history through the displays of battles and conquests from the Visigoths to the present. It was very interesting but by the end we were ‘museumed’ out. We took photos of some of the weapons and armour of which there were lots. We also took a photo of a painting of Queen Isabella receiving Columbus after his voyage to the new world, where he presents some treasures and some captives. Beside all of the European battles, there were many displays of Spain’s colonial adventures in the Philippines, throughout the Americas, Africa and even Vietnam.
The Alcazar itself is massive and the displays were very good. The real things, like a Royal tent from 1534 used by the king on the battlefield, were intermingled with very lifelike re-creations. This museum houses an incredible amount of artefacts
By the time we had seen the whole museum, we were exhausted. We walked up to the Mesón Palacios restaurant for a tapa and a drink. After regrouping in our room, we had some tapas and a 1/2 racione of the stewed beef with bread that we like at the Almucen 51 bar.
During another walk around in the late afternoon sun, Anita took a photo of a bakery display she liked of nuns baking. Toledo is also famous for marzipan. Finally, there’s a photo of me in the street just outside our hotel. It wasn’t long before we were done for the day.
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