Day 7: Toledo & Madrid

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Today, on the first day of our 14 day Spain tour, we took an excursion form Madrid to the ancient city of Toledo, then returned to Madrid, where we had dinner, took a walking tour of the oldest part of downtown Madrid, and spent the night.

Toledo

The ancient walled city of Toledo.

10,00€ (10 Euros) is equivalent to about $13.35

Toledo has been a traditional sword-making and steel-working center since about 500 BC.

Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo (Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo) is one of the three 13th-century High Gothic cathedrals in Spain. Construction was begun in the year 1227 and completed in 1493 (266 years).

Cats were important in days past to control rats and mice. The "cat door", seen here, allowed household cats to come and go as they pleased.

In 1586 El Greco painted one of his greatest masterpieces, The Burial of Count Orgaz, for the Church of Santo Tomé in Toledo. This work, still in place, portrays a 14th-century Toledan nobleman laid in his grave by Saints Stephen and Augustine. Viewing this masterpiece in person was one of the highlights of our visit to Toledo.

Carol waiting for me to finish taking pictures at Toledo's Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun).
This will become a routine pose for my better half as she prompts me to "come along...":)

Bridge over the Tagus river leading to Puerta del Sol on left .

Evening Walking Tour in Madrid

Following a sumptuous multi-course late-night (for us) dinner, our guide took us on a walking tour (how appropriate) around the oldest section of downtown Madrid.

Santa María la Real de La Almudena (Almudena Cathedral) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid.

Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid) is the "official" residence of the Spanish Royal Family at the city of Madrid, but is only used for state ceremonies

The ancient Egyptian Templo de Debod (Temple of Debod) and reflecting pool. The temple was donated to Spain in 1968 in appreciation for the help provided by Spain in saving Egyptian antiquities from the area flooded by Egypt's Aswan High Dam in 1970.

Madrid traffic on a Friday night at 10:00 pm!