MY TIRED FEET WERE GLAD to say good-bye to Madrid—walking 6 to 8 miles on cobbles really took a toll. But they shouldn’t get their hopes up—Toledo may not have as many cobbles but the narrow streets and alleys are seldom flat!
Toledo in 32-minutes
The high-speed train to Toledo takes just over 30-minutes and costs less than $15, making it easy for day-trips from Madrid. Since this is John's second and Connie's third visit to Toledo, we decided to stay through the New Year holiday. We found a spectacular two-bedroom apartment in a 16th Century Toledan palace with a courtyard and all the modern conveniences through AirBnB. One complaint, though—the single pillow on the queen bed is the size of a log, and about as soft. Europeans!.
Our16th Century Courtyard
Nearly Perfect
Eat your heart out, MyPillow Guy!
It’s easy to get hopelessly turned around on the crooked streets, impossible not to, actually. When we were here in 2013, people stopped to squint hopefully at maps of Toledo. Today los perdidos stare at cell-phones. We used both to locate the Carrefour Express, only ten-minutes away. It seems to have everything we’ll need—even Cava for New Year’s Eve.
How to get lost in Toledo, 2013 versio
And you can get just as lost today!
La Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz was more difficult to find. Even with both map and cell-phone we walked by the narrow alley several times before John asked directions in Spanish. The reply, surprisingly, was in English from two guys from LA who actually live in Toledo!
Mosque of Christ of the Light—easy to find once you know where it is
First there were Romans, then came the Moors
Christians got the final say, Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz
Once there it also took a while for the significance of the name to register. Mexquita, meaning mosque, hardly equates with “Christ of the Light.” The original mosque from 999 was converted to a church in the 12th Century after the Christian conquest of Toledo. To make matters more confusing, the entire structure is built upon a Roman road!
From Puerto del Sol...
Past Puente de Alacantara...
Along the Tagus to the Bridge of San Martin
Finding the 13th Century Puente de San Martín was a snap. From the Puerta del Sol just continue downhill towards the Tagus River past the Puente Alcantara and voilá! Or we could have followed signs for the Zip Line. Of course all this downhill walking meant that our route home through the Jewish Quarter was mostly an uphill grind. On cobble stones!
Welcome to Toledo's Jewish Quarter
It's uphill all the way home!
