Taking the Tren to Toledo

Toledo, Spain


Up in the morning and down to the subway to the Atocha train station. The bullet train from Madrid to Toledo takes about 25 minutes. Toledo seems to thrive on tourism. Our book says to see it in the evening after the tourists have gone home. Unfortunately, this didn't work for us because we had to go home.



Toledo is noted for swords and knives. A lot of the tourist shops offer them for sale.



We saw the big Cathedral on the hilltop of the old city. No pictures allowed. This is a case where it's an advantage to be a Japanese tourist. They can't read the signs so they're popping flashes everywhere. The admission was seven Euros each, which must help with maintenance on the impressive interior.

The Bridge of San Martin was built in the early 14th century. It has defensive towers at each end and is still used for foot traffic. This was a lucky shot from a fast-moving bus at the right time of day.



Everything is uphill and downhill in Toledo. We went for the Synagogues and Jewish barrio after the cathedral. We paid to tour the remaining two Synagogues. Mrs. Phred has stopped complaining loudly about paying admission to European Synagogues (which used to embarrass her non-Jewish traveling companions).



They had a museum of medieval torture instruments. Some of them were fairly gruesome. This is the home of the Spanish inquisition.



We got fairly lost in the rabbit warren of unplanned hilltop streets without a city map or a clear idea of where we were to catch the shuttle back to the train station. My idea was to keep moving generally uphill, thinking that surely we would reach a vantage point from which we could see our destination. Ultimately this strategy paid off, and, once oriented, we kept the afternoon sun at our backs. Mrs. Phred was thinking we might have to spend the night under one of the bridges.



We're still looking for tapas this evening back in Madrid. The street outside is insanely crowded on Saturday night. Mrs. Phred tells me that it is very unfashionable to dine before 10PM in Spain, so we bide our time until the appointed hour.