Like so many other friends whom we've stayed with during our big long adventure, Andrea has been eager to share her city and the rest of her beautiful country. (I feel the same way about sharing Maine and all of its fabulous attributes with newcomers.) Luckily, two amazing medieval cities, both UNESCO Heritage sites, are within striking distance of Madrid: Toledo and Segovia. On Thursday, the three of us took the train to Toledo for a day trip, and on Sunday Andrea drove us to Segovia in her little Hyundai.
Medieval entrance to the city of Toledo
Toledo is about a half hour southwest of Madrid. For two reasons, we were very lucky that day - the weather was a bit cloudy and cool, which made it perfect for touring, and the city was beautifully decked out in flowers and aromatic herbs on the occasion of its annual celebration of Corpus Christi, a religious holiday. Toledo is famous for its Jewish, Muslim, and Christian heritage. Remnants of all three religious traditions can be seen in the architecture and the historic buildings of the city. The narrow streets and the ancient ambiance are incredibly charming and sweep you up into another time.
Building facade decorated for the Corpus Christi holiday
Flags hanging from the buildings in a square
Like most, if not all, strong medieval sites, Toledo is located high up on a hill, which gave it strategic advantage over any attackers. For many years, the city was renowned for the craftsmanship of its knives and swords, which explains why we saw so many stores selling shiny metal swords - and suits of armor.
Since it IS all about the food, on our upward trek, Andrea (who is a "foodie", just like us), stopped to introduce us to one of Toledo's culinary treats, tiny marzipan pastries filled with almond paste. Yum! For lunch, we settled in to one of Andrea's favorite outdoor cafes and ordered a platter of food that is typical of Toledo, mostly meat, including braised bull's tail!
A sampling of typical Toledo foods
Our day was spent following our knowledgable guide's lead for the most important places to visit in the city. Andrea began referring to us as "Dona Leenda" and "Don Bruno", introducing us to "our" palaces and special sites. These included the amazingly huge Cathedral, including the cloisters (usually my favorite part of a cathedral); two ancient Jewish synagogues; another lovely Catholic church, and an old house, renovated back to the time of the artist, El Greco, who came from Greece to live in Toledo in the 16th century. We saw a collection of El Greco's portraits of Christ's disciples, each with unique and emotional facial expressions.
One of the ancient synagogues, now called Sinagoga Santa Maria la Blanca, was built at the end of the 11th century and was the principal synagogue in the city at that time. Its name is owed to the fact that, three hundred years later, it was converted to a Catholic sanctuary. The simple white arches, topped with ceramic pine cones, are stunning.
Looking up at Sinagoga Santa Maria la Blanca, Toledo
The church known as St. John of the Kings Monastery was a special church for Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. It has a lovely two-story inside courtyard-type garden, the cloister, where the monks prayed. Inside the sanctuary is a memorial to 36 priests who were killed in the Spanish civil war in 1936.
Looking down into the enclosed garden of St. John of the Kings Monastery
Incredibly, we spent about 7 hours touring Toledo, at a relaxed pace. Andrea's leadership was invaluable. We left at the end of the day with a profound sense of history.
Segovia is about an hour's drive northwest of Madrid. The first sight to greet us was the towering Roman aqueduct, dating back to the first century and built without cement or mortar! It is so simple in design and yet dramatic in size and purpose. It's hard to conceive that it's been standing for nearly 2000 years!
Roman aqueduct in Segovia
Segovia was a bustling place on this Sunday, with many kids dressed in first communion outfits - white dresses for girls and suits for little boys - as well as a fair taking place, with lots of artisanal foods being sold in tents along the streets. Andrea went on a buying spree, selecting sheep's cheese, pates, chorizo, Serrano ham slices, and crusty bread for our last feast that evening at her apartment. We toured a bit, winding our way up the hill, past artists and interesting buildings, but soon decided that dinner was in order. On a sunny plaza outside the beautiful huge cathedral, we shared a selection of foods typical of Segovia and Aragon: crispy roast leg of baby pig, a selection of roast vegetables, and huge white beans in a light tomato sauce - with wine, of course. We certainly ate well under Andrea's guidance!
Artist en plein aire in Segovia
Andrea selecting some delicacies from a vendor
Textured designs on the walls of Segovia
Little girls in first communion dresses playing in the plaza
Our two destinations of note in Segovia were the beautiful, grand Catedral, of course, and the castle. Otherwise, we just roamed and absorbed the medieval atmosphere of narrow winding streets, windows with iron grill work, and the lovely textured designs of the walls, which are typical. Being a senior citizen in Spain has its advantages, and Don Bruno and I were pleased to find that admission to the castle was half price for us - and a very reasonable fee. We explored this fairy tale setting and really enjoyed learning more about Isabella and Ferdinand's home.
Isn't this a lovely cathedral?
Fairy tale castle of Segovia
As the day wound down, we noticed that the streets of Segovia had suddenly become deserted. Everyone was at home - or in a bar - watching Spain play Italy in the quarter finals of the football Euro 2012 championship. Although we could understand little of what was being said, we listened with interest and amusement to the radio as we sped back to Madrid. In torrents of agitated emotion, the announcer yelled bombastically, trilling his R's in elongated, deep-throated descriptions of each play. We all laughed at the intensity of sports in this very emotional nation. The game ended in a tie.
Dona Leenda and Don Bruno are now in Barcelona, an absolutely fantastico city!
Toledo is about a half hour southwest of Madrid. For two reasons, we were very lucky that day - the weather was a bit cloudy and cool, which made it perfect for touring, and the city was beautifully decked out in flowers and aromatic herbs on the occasion of its annual celebration of Corpus Christi, a religious holiday. Toledo is famous for its Jewish, Muslim, and Christian heritage. Remnants of all three religious traditions can be seen in the architecture and the historic buildings of the city. The narrow streets and the ancient ambiance are incredibly charming and sweep you up into another time.
Like most, if not all, strong medieval sites, Toledo is located high up on a hill, which gave it strategic advantage over any attackers. For many years, the city was renowned for the craftsmanship of its knives and swords, which explains why we saw so many stores selling shiny metal swords - and suits of armor.
Since it IS all about the food, on our upward trek, Andrea (who is a "foodie", just like us), stopped to introduce us to one of Toledo's culinary treats, tiny marzipan pastries filled with almond paste. Yum! For lunch, we settled in to one of Andrea's favorite outdoor cafes and ordered a platter of food that is typical of Toledo, mostly meat, including braised bull's tail!
Our day was spent following our knowledgable guide's lead for the most important places to visit in the city. Andrea began referring to us as "Dona Leenda" and "Don Bruno", introducing us to "our" palaces and special sites. These included the amazingly huge Cathedral, including the cloisters (usually my favorite part of a cathedral); two ancient Jewish synagogues; another lovely Catholic church, and an old house, renovated back to the time of the artist, El Greco, who came from Greece to live in Toledo in the 16th century. We saw a collection of El Greco's portraits of Christ's disciples, each with unique and emotional facial expressions.
One of the ancient synagogues, now called Sinagoga Santa Maria la Blanca, was built at the end of the 11th century and was the principal synagogue in the city at that time. Its name is owed to the fact that, three hundred years later, it was converted to a Catholic sanctuary. The simple white arches, topped with ceramic pine cones, are stunning.
The church known as St. John of the Kings Monastery was a special church for Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. It has a lovely two-story inside courtyard-type garden, the cloister, where the monks prayed. Inside the sanctuary is a memorial to 36 priests who were killed in the Spanish civil war in 1936.
Incredibly, we spent about 7 hours touring Toledo, at a relaxed pace. Andrea's leadership was invaluable. We left at the end of the day with a profound sense of history.
Segovia is about an hour's drive northwest of Madrid. The first sight to greet us was the towering Roman aqueduct, dating back to the first century and built without cement or mortar! It is so simple in design and yet dramatic in size and purpose. It's hard to conceive that it's been standing for nearly 2000 years!
Segovia was a bustling place on this Sunday, with many kids dressed in first communion outfits - white dresses for girls and suits for little boys - as well as a fair taking place, with lots of artisanal foods being sold in tents along the streets. Andrea went on a buying spree, selecting sheep's cheese, pates, chorizo, Serrano ham slices, and crusty bread for our last feast that evening at her apartment. We toured a bit, winding our way up the hill, past artists and interesting buildings, but soon decided that dinner was in order. On a sunny plaza outside the beautiful huge cathedral, we shared a selection of foods typical of Segovia and Aragon: crispy roast leg of baby pig, a selection of roast vegetables, and huge white beans in a light tomato sauce - with wine, of course. We certainly ate well under Andrea's guidance!
Our two destinations of note in Segovia were the beautiful, grand Catedral, of course, and the castle. Otherwise, we just roamed and absorbed the medieval atmosphere of narrow winding streets, windows with iron grill work, and the lovely textured designs of the walls, which are typical. Being a senior citizen in Spain has its advantages, and Don Bruno and I were pleased to find that admission to the castle was half price for us - and a very reasonable fee. We explored this fairy tale setting and really enjoyed learning more about Isabella and Ferdinand's home.
As the day wound down, we noticed that the streets of Segovia had suddenly become deserted. Everyone was at home - or in a bar - watching Spain play Italy in the quarter finals of the football Euro 2012 championship. Although we could understand little of what was being said, we listened with interest and amusement to the radio as we sped back to Madrid. In torrents of agitated emotion, the announcer yelled bombastically, trilling his R's in elongated, deep-throated descriptions of each play. We all laughed at the intensity of sports in this very emotional nation. The game ended in a tie.
Dona Leenda and Don Bruno are now in Barcelona, an absolutely fantastico city!
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