Toledo

 Hi!

 My course offers various excursions around Spain. When I saw Toledo on the list I knew I had to go. It was somewhere I'd long wanted to visit; it seemed stunning and poetic, with so much history.

 I booked my place and when the Saturday came I rose super-early to go to the pick-up point. There were two coachloads of us. I sat with a lovely girl named Gulnur, from Kazakhstan. We chatted as the gorgeous early-morning scenery flashed by us. I was pleasantly surprised at how green some of it was.

 The coach first stopped on the hill overlooking Toledo, so we could take photos of the elegant panorama. It was incredible seeing it in front of me, for real, after having seen so many pictures.

 The coach then carried on to the edge of the town where it dropped us off. We crossed the bridge into the old city and then climbed and climbed - there were so many steps! I know it suited towns in the olden days to be high up so they could spot enemies approaching but still! We were all exhausted when we finally came to a halt in front of a monastery: San Juan de los Reyes.

 Inside the monastery it was lovely and cool after the heat outside. I found it a very peaceful, comfortable place.

Eagles with haloes seem to be very popular in this part of the world. I think it may be to do with the Catholic Monarchs. These ones look stern!

 There is a heavy Moorish (Arabic) influence visible in the architecture and decoration. 

 The Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando, have also made their mark well clear on the monastery their initials and the symbols derived from them which they used regularly: a yoke for Isabel (who alternatively spelt her name Ysabel) and arrows - flechas - for Fernando

The yoke and arrows

F for Fernando

She's kind of like our cat!

 After leaving the monastery - rather reluctantly on my part as I really like it and would have liked to explore it further - we wandered for a bit around Toledo. At one point I thought I had lost the group and was glad when Gulnur appeared. 

 Toledo is very hot and touristy. It has, however, its own unique vibe which I like. Perhaps it's a result of the historical coexistence of three religions and their respective cultures: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

 Having been studying El Greco in my Spanish art class it was a rather surreal and moving experience to visit the tomb of the Count of Orgaz with El Greco's famous painting of his burial on the wall. It is huge and very impressive. 

 I am not really religious but the obvious complete faith in God and an afterlife shown in the painting is beautiful to see. Photos weren't allowed but I recommend looking up the painting, it's amazing.

 We headed for the Cathedral. It faces a little square with some white flowers which gave me lots of nice photos. I had to exercise restraint and only post a couple of them on here - I could have posted dozens! They were heavenly.

Happy lion. I like it when gargoyles or sculptures of animals are happy

 Inside, the Cathedral was very grand and had quite an open layout which I liked but which made it seem even bigger than on the outside! It really was huge. There was some lovely stained glass and two big organs in different styles.

 After leaving the Cathedral I added a coin press coin to my growing collection.

 The group then split for lunch. I went to a little bar-restaurant, most of which was underground making it nice and cool. I had spaghetti carbonara, salmon with spicy strawberry sauce and "pudding" - it's actually called that in Spanish - which is like a flan.

 I am not really a meat-eater so choosing food in Spanish cafés and restaurants can be tricky - they tend to be big on meat - and I often have to pick something a bit outside the box. Salmon in spicy strawberry sauce was certainly outside the box for me - it sounded bizarre - but somehow it all worked together. So far it's one of the most memorable dishes I've had here.

 I wandered and saw a shop whose combination of a Spanglish name and a smiley urn thing merited a photograph.

 I reunited with the group and we did the final item on our sightseeing list: the Synagogue El Tránsito which incorporates a Sephardic Museum. It was a simple, cool, calm space and the museum had lots of information about the Jews in Spain. I took a quick video so you can pick up on the relaxed atmosphere.

 Upon leaving I stopped in a tourist shop and bought a fan for a souvenir of Toledo. 

 We then set off on the long coach ride back to Salamanca. It actually seemed shorter than the journey getting there but still wasn't fun with the sun beating down. 

 Once back at my residence I reflected on the day: it had been intense but very educational. I'm glad I got the chance to visit Toledo.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x