Toledo, a UNESCO World Heritage site, makes for an easy day trip. It's a 45-minute bus ride from Madrid. This magnificent old city sits on top of few hills, which makes this place a marvelous scenic area to visit. Taking an escalator into a city center may be one of the more unique ways to make an entrance. We entered the historic center from Puerta de Alfonso VI, there’s an escalator that allows the steep walk to be avoided. This is one of those cities that you hear about long before you ever make the time to actually visit. When we arrived, we were not only presented with a gorgeous ancient city, but the balconies, narrow cobble stoned streets and plazas - oh my! My first glimpse of Toledo as seen from the Puerta de Alfonso VI. The steep escalators can be seen in the lower right side. The cultural history is reflected throughout the city’s architecture. Medieval works are found in the roads, walls, and castles, such as the Castillo de San Servando. Moorish roots are revealed in several mosques and the Toledo Cathedral, dating back to the 13th century, displays the city’s Roman Catholic history and is one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in all of Spain. Museums are found throughout the city, with the Museo de Santa Cruz and El Greco Museum showcasing some of the finest works of the famous artist, El Greco. The Church of Santiago de Arrabal greets the visitors from the Puerta de Alfonso Lanterns and banners festoon the streets of Toledo. Between the churches, museums, restaurants, and shops offered in Toledo you might expect to feel overwhelmed with options that couldn’t possibly be fit into a day-trip’s itinerary. But you don’t have to see every museum and cathedral here to get the most of this place. Just popping in and out of shops, walking through the tight pebbly alleyways, and marveling at the gold and brown bricked buildings — their potted plants hanging from elegantly designed Juliet balconies below their ceramic tiled roofs — will keep you captivated for hours. Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo (Toledo Cathedral) is ranked among the greatest Gothic structures in Europe. 15th century central portal of the Toledo Cathedral. The architecture of the cathedral was inspired by the Gothic cathedrals in France. Hmmmm…..that's why this looks familiar. Almost similar to the Notre Dame Cathedral's portal. As soon as my feet begin to tire from trekking up and down these hilly paths, it’s time to slip into one of the many cafes or restaurants found amid the labyrinth of roads. Bakeries are found throughout the city with boxes and rows of different sweets and treats presented in bright displays behind their windows, but without a doubt the most coveted of the sweets here — that every visitor to Toledo must try — is the marzipan. It’s a rich treat, made mostly of sugar, honey, and almond. One of the bakeries selling local treats. Toledo's oldest and one and only "grocery' where the locals buy their daily basic needs. Toledo has a rich history in sword making. If you are interested in these, you will find decorative swords, daggers, even kitchen knives and forks in many souvenir shops. Toledo used to be renowned for it’s impressive sword and knife makers, and the Lord of the Rings movies actually used swords that were crafted in Toledo! You can also find hand painted ceramic items like flamenco dancers, Spanish bulls almost everywhere. I bought a few mementos of traditional Damascene jewelry (named for its Damascus origins) and even had the good fortune to watch an artisan tinker away at a new piece in his shop. Inside one of the souvenir shop and factory selling swords of all kinds. Demascene artisan busy in a shop in Toledo One of the shops selling ceramics in Toledo Toledo is the land of Don Quixote, the Man from La Mancha…..almost every shop in Toledo has one of this. Fuente de San Martin (San Martin Bridge) -- this is a pedestrian bridge that was constructed in the late 14th century across river Tagus. There are defensive towers at the both end of this bridge. You can see the surrounding mountains, old buildings, and the city from this bridge. The bell tower of Santo Tome, one of the fine example of Mudejar architecture in Toledo, is best known for housing El Greco's most famous painting - The Burial of Count Orgaz. There is a lot to see in Toledo -–- impressive cathedrals, monasteries, temples, ancient roads, Spanish history—but it’s all within a few square miles so it really can all be done in one day. Toledo was one of my favorite parts of Spain. I will remember those tiny streets, the Toledo Cathedral that rivaled the Notre Dame in Paris, and the city walls for the rest of my life.
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Madrid : My First ImpressionsDo you know this feeling when you get out of the plane, put your feet on the new ground, breathe the air, and smile to yourself at the thought of the adventure you are about to begin? This is what I felt the first moment when I landed in Madrid. Do you know this? When your soul feels at peace? I don't know but it makes me happy. Madrid - the capital of Spain, a cross-cultural city with an amazing architecture and thousands of tourists in every corner of the city. I landed on the Barajas airport on June 3, 2015. Compared to the experiences I had in Luton and Stansted airports in England, going through Madrid's Border Control was pretty quick -- they just stamped my passport and that was it! And mind you, the TSA officers are gorgeous. If that was an indication of things to come, well, I thought I was in the right place. The airport is not so far from the city center, about 20 mins. After checking-in at the hotel, I had a quick shower, ordered an in-room service, took a nap, and met with the rest of the group in the afternoon. While waiting for my ride going to the hotel, I had a quick snack in this tapas bar at Madrid's Barajas Airport. We went on a walking tour in the evening, started at 6pm. The first thing I noticed on the street were the elderly people walking hand-in-hand and young couples kissing publicly. I don't see that very often here in the Philippines. Another thing is that Spanish people, although Spain is in a very deep financial crisis and everybody can feel it, they spend a lot of time eating at the restaurants. Especially in the evenings, you can see that the restaurants and bars are full. That’s because the Spanish dinner time is around 9 pm, they have their "tapas" (small plates) in-between, and they love to accompany it with wine or beer, which is very cheap in Spain. And my Filipino pride kicked in when I learned that the most famous beer in Spain is San Miguel (more of this in my next post, the only thing I can share now is that it has its roots in the Philippines). And of course the Spanish siesta – in the city center it is not so visible, but if you go to a smaller neighborhood, between 2 pm and 7 pm you won’t see a single shop open. This is quite annoying to those of us who aren’t used to it. And I also learned that the banks and all the important offices in Spain work between 9am and 2pm. And everything closes at 11pm. The Spanish timing is… well, they don’t really have a sense of timing at all. That's what I heard, but thank God, never experienced it while I was there. My first glimpse of Madrid's streets -- this one is near the Plaza Cibeles The Cibeles Fountain, the symbol of Madrid, stands in the middle of the square. Behind the Goddess of Nature's statue is the Cibeles Palace (now, the site of the CIty Hall). "Woman With The Mirror" by Botera, renowned outdoor sculpture that adorns Madrid. This is at Plaza de Colon. Once more, I was drawn to the incredible architecture and as we strolled through the town, I snapped the buildings and streets that captured my attention (above and below). Estacion de Madrid Etocha is the largest railway station in Madrid, designed by Gustave Eiffel. We had a great dinner in this restaurant tucked up a side street in the Salamanca area -- Restorante Cinco Jotas. We had some great starters -- ham croquettes, Cristal bread with tomato and olive oil, cod, grilled asparagus with Manchego cheese. Followed by gazpacho and it's loyal companion, Jamon Iberico..!!! Fantastic introduction to the best Iberico Spain has to offer. This restaurant is dedicated to pork but each dish was delicious. All I can remember is how happy I was at the end of dinner. The facade of Cinco Jotas. Iberico Heaven….!!! And the restaurant serves only Spain's BEST Jamon Iberico brand -- 5J…!!! The creamiest gazpacho I've ever tasted -- still at Cinco Jotas. This gazpacho is made of grilled yellow bell peppers and of course, lots of garlic. Yes, that's Jamon Iberico sprinkled on top of the cold soup. Oh, and I thought I would never like cold soup -- but I made exceptions with the Spanish gazpachos. Yummy!!! And we washed all the fatty goodness of the Jamon Iberico with a glass of a cold Osborne's Fino Sherry. Over the next few weeks I’m looking forward to reliving my time there through a series of blogs and reviews of the fabulous places I discovered, explored and will never forget. More to come…..next post will be about my visit to Toledo and more of Madrid.
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May 2020
Lea DalawisA corporate employee by profession, a home cook, an avid foodie, an obsessive cooking books collector, a wanna-be-food photographer, a budding Writer, a DIY fan, and a Traveller. Categories |