Toledo from a student
Written: Jun 11 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The architecture and scenery
Cons: your feet begin to hurt after walking everywhere
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| HunterES44's Full Review: Toledo |
Toledo, unlike many of the other Spanish cities I visited last summer, was safer and more laid back. We took a day trip from Madrid, I think, and arrived pretty late in the morning. Our bus stopped on the balconies that align the roads that lead into the city. It's a beautiful view of the large, Spanish city. The obvious landmarks that can be seen from this view are Toledo's cathedral,Alcazar fortress, and the Tagus River. It's a great spot for photos.
In order for my group to enter the city, we had to walk over Saint Martin's Bridge. I am pretty sure there are other entrances to the city which you can take a vehicle, but I would recommend taking this one for its grandeur as it takes you over the Tagus River.
The cathedral is much like all the other cathedrals of Spain. The window detail inside is stunning and takes up the majority of one of its walls. Generally, it is crowded inside and outside of the building and can make it difficult to good pictures that include the bottom detail of the building. In order to get to the cathedral, the group must walk because the city's streets are not designed to handle the size of a bus. It is definitely a place to visit in Toledo.
My group did not actually visit the Alcazar which I believe is a fortress which housed many of the cities military leaders over the centuries. At one point, Toledo was the actual capital of Spain, so this might be where the court resided until it relocated to Madrid. It rests on the highest point of the city and is by far the largest building in Toledo. Today, it is the home for a museum and other offices.
One of the unique aspects of Toledo was its variance of religious cultures. In a country that was mostly Catholic, the Muslims and Jews were allowed to worship here. I was able to visit on Jewish synagogue in the city. It was unique with beautiful tiled floors and a small garden outside the temple's walls. I don't remember the name of it, but I assume it's probably the one closest to the cathedral because we stayed fairly isolated in one corner of the city. It is probably the Synagogue of Saint Mary the White.
We also visited the Saint Tome Church. It houses one of Greco's most famous paintings, the Burial of the Count of Orgaz. It costs some sort of money to get in to see the painting and the space at different times is also limited. I had to wait thirty minutes before my group was able to fit into the small room. It is still an active church, so tourists are not allowed to actually enter the actual building and must be quiet. The painting is in the small room before the sanctuary.
We ate a small restaurant outside the cities walls. It was on the road coming back up from Saint Martin's Bridge. It was the only restaurant on that road if I'm correct. You may also be able to identify it by the blind man who sits on the steps and blows his whistle whenever someone gets within a few feet of him.
In preparation for visiting Toledo, make sure you wear good walking shoes. Dress shoes of any sort will make your feet hurt terribly by the end of the day. Many of it's roads are cobble or similarly styled. Bring money in a safe pouch, but you typically only need to worry about thieves if you're in a tight space like the cathedral. The roads generally aren't crowded at all. Try to also find a blacksmithing shop or one of the factories which still make swords. Toledo is the place where the best swords in the world are created. Many people from my group came home armed.
My tour group was composed of around 20 some students and a couple chaperones. we had a tour guide follow us all around Europe, so she would take us to the places where we would meet up with our guide for that particular building. It was all pre-planned, so I am not sure of the detail involved with just showing up at any given time at one of these monuments. Generally, I don't recommend travelling with a group like I did, but for Toledo, it wasn't so bad because of the relaxed atmosphere, and also because we weren't hauled around on a bus all day like most of our trips.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
HunterES44
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Member: Hunter
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 6 members
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