September 9, 2019

September 9, 2019

Today we are on the move again. From Granada we drove north leaving Moorish Andalusia. We take several tunnels passing under the Sierra Morena Range into the high plains of La Mancha. This dry windswept plateau was made famous by the author Cervantes when he wrote his tale about Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza. A lot of people in our group have read this classic, so I am putting it on my must read when I get home.

After a couple hours we arrived in Spain’s old capital city of Toledo. Our first stop was at the southern vista overlook. Like other medieval cities looking for defensible positions, Toledo is situated on a hill where a river makes a tight turn. The river and steep bank protect three sides. The old city wall across the fourth side still stands.

After parking, we took a series of modern escalators up the steep slope to the Old City. Instead of eating lunch, Aimee and I use our free time to tour the Cathedral of Toledo. We finish most of the audio-guide tour. We are both glad we visited the interior. It is filled with awesome artwork of all styles. One of the most unusual is the Transparente in the ambulatory behind the altar. A hole was cut into the ceiling to allow light to shine on the back of the altar. This hole was decorated Baroque-style with figures looking down from heaven.

If the church art wasn’t enough, there were several side rooms that contained enough art to be museums on their own. In particular there was a sacristy full of outstanding El Greco paintings and a muraled chapterhouse.

Returning to our group we took a guided walking tour. One stop was back at the Cathedral to view the exterior. It has an interesting sculpture of the Last Supper on the facade. The Old City is a maze of narrow Medieval streets. Interestingly we walked through a secret passage connecting Cathedral Square with the west side of the city. A normal door hides this access point. Attackers gaining entry to the city would need a map to get around!

Our next stop was the Santo Tome Chapel. This small church has one of El Greco’s most famous paintings, The Burial of Count Orgaz. El Greco was a Greek immigrant who moved to Toledo and became a master artist of the Spanish Renaissance.

The west end of the Old City is dominated by the Jewish Quarter. We stopped at Synagogue de Santa Maria La Blanca. This 12th century ruins has Moorish decorations because it was built by Muslim craftsmen. After the Inquisition, it was turned into a church.

We left the Old Town through the western gate along the medieval fortified bridge of San Martin. From Toledo we drove an hour to Madrid.

After checking in, five of us took the subway to the Queen Sofia Museum. We have an adventure getting there as we somehow missed our transfer stop and when we rerouted we were stymied by a closed station. This modern art museum is famous for containing one of Pablo Picasso’s most famous works called Guernica. This painting memorializes the horrific incendiary bombing of the town Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. We then breezed through the works of Salvador Dali. I have to admit I just don't get Picasso.

Afterwards we went searching for a Tapas Bar near our hotel. It seems in Madrid they have been pushed out by hamburger joints. American culture must be taking sway over traditional fare in the big city.