Toledo two

Should I wax poetic about a train station? I thought it was such a beautiful building. We saw lots of detailed architecture, but this station (built in the early 1900's, so it was newer) Incorporated both the Moorish and Christian influences, notice both kinds of arches. The details inside were just as beautiful.
Here is the train we rode - my mom has the pictures of my first ride, appropriate don't you think?
Inside the station, the ceiling is carved wood and the teller gates to the right are no longer used but are so intricate they kept them in the station.
The stain glass was so colorful and the sun was shining thru them when we were waiting to go back the Madrid.
Here is my 2nd train ride!! Okay, this was a hooky tram that gave us a canned tour thru and around Toledo. It allowed for some amazing city shots we would not have gotten otherwise and gave some fun trivia.

This is part of a wall left from the Romans!!!

Here is one of the two gates to the city - one is Christian and this one shows the Moorish arch.
Here is the Christian one - I cannot figure out how to turn the picture in this program so bend your head the the right and look.
Some the the materials were reused after the Romans left - they tended to use bigger stones instead of the smaller bricks used by the Moors.

On the tour this was pointed out as a combo of both arches - notice the larger stones around the entrance.
We were walking around trying to find a certain tourist attraction and my Uncle Jerry noticed the hold in the building.
When we used the zoom on the camera we realized it was mortar fire and bullet holes. Probably where the King holed up during a coup.
This was a unique structure right by the river and the Moorish gate of the city. We noticed the foundation is built with the roman stones and the upper part with the little bricks.
Toledo was the most beautiful and friendly city - they had the first Zara store we saw - Zara is the name of our puppy we got last year (compensation for no more babies!). The streets are very narrow and they specialize in the black and gold jewelry we saw all over Spain. When we came out of the cathedral on the the plaza we were approached by a gentleman rounding up people to come the a converted convent and watch the artisans make the jewelry by hand. He built it up so much, both the artists and the convent - Ken wanted to see this convent and of course anything shiny and jewelry sounds great to me. So off we go while Dad and Jerry found and sat at a restaurant. So the convent looks like a warehouse - I don't know what kind of nuns use fork-lift but there you are - and the artisans turned out to be 2 guys sitting in the only heated room churning out trinkets by the 10 or 20 pieces. Then of course the persuasive gentleman takes you to the showroom and then with lots of attention sells you stuff!!! He was amazing with all these people he is pressuring into buying stuff - not cheap stuff - He kept track of those he brought in and kept up the pressure the whole time!!


So being susceptible to pressure this is what we bought. It was the least expensive thing I liked - I really liked the plates they had but at 200 euro ($300) I passed.

All in all we loved Toledo - it was one of the highlights of our trip.

We returned to Madrid and went to find dinner - always hard for us - and Dad and Jerry wanted to go to Burger King - a very short walk from our Hotel but I am in Spain, I don't eat Burger King at home let alone in Spain. So Ken, Mom, Linda and I went up the street and found (even closer to our hotel) A cute restaurant - they of course were not serving dinner yet as it was only 7:30pm so we had tapas - great sandwiches and a salad - but the lady we met was from Wisconsin and had lived in Madrid for 20 years - she was very interesting to talk to and she brought out for dessert the best apple pie I have ever had - we asked if it had something special in it but she said it was good ole American Apple Pie - guess we did not get as far from Burger King as I thought - but it was sooo good!!

One last thought - My mother in law told me to keep a journal every night of my trip - and I intended to - but we were so tired each night and I thought I would have plenty of time on the train but alas that was not the case (I will explain later) and I deeply regret not at least scribbling down something! I should have listened (I know she is amazing and knows the best stuff!) if I had this blog would be going much faster.

I keep looking at my other blogs for new stuff and I love to see updates every one's families and get frustrated to see the same ones and then I realize it has been a week since I detailed my trip - not that I think everyone is waiting on baited breath to see our travel log - but it is nice to see new things if you take the time to log on.