Beat the time, live forever, Travel and don’t stop ever!

For many, Spain is about Barcelona, Madrid and maybe about Tenerife, Ibiza or Majorca if you are a Viva la fiesta guy. For me, Madrid was just the beginning of my journey.

I stepped off the bus in Toledo, the old capital of Spain. Coming from Madrid, it seems like I travelled hundreds of years back in time in only half an hour, in a perfectly conserved, self-sufficient world.

If Madrid is a symbol of the golden age, Toledo is the theatre of a medievel feast...however, still ready to adorn an entire army of knights.
It is 10:00 o’clock and I am in Plazza Zacodover, the central point where all the narrow, cobbled, twisting roads come together. In the old times, the roads were bringing the merchands in the market to sell their goodies, now they are bringing the tourists to rest on a terrace.

I could easily recognize the muslims’ touch on the market buildings (setting disturbed only by the ‘traditional’ american McDonald’s).

On a road towards the hill, the fortress of the city (Alcazar) is standing prideful. Now it houses The Museum of Army (Museo del Ejercito). Just imagine knights, conquistadors, kings, soldiers dressed in plastrons, iron hats, with a famous Toledo sword in their clenched hands…Well, and there were hundreds of swords, one most precious than the other, all sizes and shape. After the tour, I am sure that I could hear the sound of the swords striking and the smell of gun powder.

As I was wandering through the city, another museum was revealing in front of me. This time it was an open-air museum, made of all the buildings dedicated to the different gods of the three cultures. The well-crafted domes of the roman cathedrals, the Star of David from the synagogues and the tall columns of the mosques make from a simple walk through the city an inroad into three different worlds and cities (Maroc, Ierusalim and Rome - at a glance – good deal, isn’t it?).

I was completely swallowed up for a couple of hours in Toledo. Hence, I run my best to the train station…imagining all the way how a horse would fit the atmosphere and help me to get in time. Miracles did not happen, but I still caught the train.

From a medieval sketch with the old city walls protecting the citizens’ peaceful lives from the rocky bluff, Toledo became a point in time and Madrid was becoming more a reality. Back to our times, to nowadays’ land!