Toledo, 2013

After two nights in Madrid we broke camp at Camping Osuna and drove the 40 miles or so to Toledo and its free parking aire by the bus station. This is a huge lot. There were 15 other RVs there our first night. Plus Wifi Toledo is there and also free.

We did Toledo in a day, aided by having spent a day in the city in 2010. First was the great Santa Cruz museum, much enlarged from our earlier visit. Then the Zocodover and on to the Cathedral. The latter now charges 8 euros admission, and thus we demurred. I'd pay 10 euros tops for the Pearly Gates themselves. We saw the cathedral in 2010, and it's not that great, except for the El Grecos that are everywhere and the hilarious hole in the roof to let light in over the altar. And the damned woman with the flaming crotch, but that's another matter entirely. See my posts from 2010. We also thought we'd revisit the Burial of Count Orgasm, but we misunderstood the pricing structure and demurred there too. Been there, done that anyway. So we moved on to the Jewish quarter, the synagogue there—nicely done—and the El Greco museum,which is as much about life in 16th-17^th century Toledo as about El Greco. Then we did the Visigoth museum in another church—very much worth doing I think, mostly for the extant 13^th century paintings on the walls—and then the recently uncovered Roman Baths, the Baths of Hercules, also nearly interesting. After all this, we wandered the older city, well off the beaten track, eventually getting ourselves back down to the aire after a long day.

The aire in Toledo, just a short walk up to the city (we took
the bus)

The Alcazar at night, from our camper

Me and Cervantes just down from the
Zocodover; apparently remembering the
Naval Battle of Lepanto, he wanted to wear
my captain's cap

The Santa Cruz, a great little city museum

In its extensive tile collection

A giant 14th century tapestry of the Zodiac

El Greco's two Johns; the museum has
perhaps a dozen El Grecos and El Greco
Studio works

Street scene and cathedral spire

Cathedral altar view, as far as mendicants can go

We also skipped the Burial of Count Orgaz

And found our way to the former Jewish Quarter

In the synagogue; nice museum adjoining

In the Sillon de Circuncision

We move now to the El Greco Museum, which, as I said, is
as much about life in Baroque Spain (the Renaissance never
got here) as about El Greco; actually quite nicely done

Bathroom signage the Greek might have liked; I did

St. James the Major (Santiago...)

El Greco's very famous map of Toledo

Grave goods in the Visigothic museum

Far more interesting frescoes in the old church that houses
the museum

A rudimentary arch in Hercules' Baths

And, with a short escalator ride and hike down, we are
back at the aire