Postcard from Toledo

Toledo is an ancient city built on a rock above the Rio Tajo, and has been on our ‘must visit’ list for many years. The Star attraction is the Cathedral with its religious treasures and paintings, with ‘El Greco’ being the most famous name associated with Toledo.

Armed with a tourist map, we set off for the city by 72 bus which took us right to the centre in ten minutes from our campsite. We started with a cup of coffee in the café on the 9^th floor of the city library, which has a stunning view of the old town. We’d read all about what to see in our ‘Rough Guide’, but despite spending 5 hours in the town, we didn’t see as much as we should’ve done. It’s one of those places where the international tourists vastly outnumber any locals.

We, and hundreds of others, queued for our visit to the Cathedral (8€ each, including audio guide). Some of the numbered markers had been removed or misplaced and so we found ourselves listening to the wrong commentary at times. However, we saw the ‘Transparente’, the Tesoro, and in the Sacrista, El Greco’s ‘El Expolio’ and other paintings by Goya et al.

This being Toledo, there were lots of shops selling swords. Toledo steel was famous until Isabella and Ferdinand booted out the Moors who were the ones with the ‘knowhow’. There again, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

After all this site seeing we had a late lunch (MacD 5.90€),and a look out over the city wall, before more wandering down the hill to the Puerta de Bisagra and the bus back to camp. We know we missed out Santa Tome and other attractions, but us oldies had had enough culture by 4pm. Perhaps we’ll come back another day!

We’ve stopped for two nights at Camping El Greco not far from the city. It’s a lovely, well-maintained site at a stonking 30€ a night. There’s free Wi-Fi near reception but the swimming pool has just closed for the season. The reception staff are famed (rightly?) for their indifference, according to reviews on Google and elsewhere.

Tomorrow we’re driving 30 miles east to Aranjuez. We tried to go there 6 years ago but it was being dug up by JCBs! When we find out how to pronounce it, we’ll let you know.