Holy Toledo!

A nice thing about living in Madrid is the ability to visit surrounding cities like Toledo, which is only an hour away by train. This ancient perched city on a hill was Spain's political capital until it was moved to Madrid in the mid 1500s, and is now a charming, picturesque town to visit. In addition to its Christian and Muslim, Toledo was also a haven for Jews who were not welcomed in other European cities, making it one of the holiest Jewish cities. I was told by a local that Jews who migrated to the United States, referred to this city as holy Toledo, which eventually became a popular expression – Holy Toledo!

On my day outing, time was limited so I had to chose only a few sites to visit: the impressive Cathedral Primada, the Army Museum, the Alcázar, and my favorite site, a small El Greco Museum, where I discovered the artist's remarkable portraits of the twelve Apostles lining the wall of a long hall.

Me and my sister in front of the El Greco Museum.

The altarpiece in the Cathedral.

Toledo is a labyrinth of small, winding cobblestoned streets, going up and down hills, which made walking very tiring and painful on the feet. By the time we stopped for lunch, I was so hungry I could have eaten a bull, and I did! We had the regional specialty, Rabo de Toro, other wise known as bull tail stew, and it was surprisingly delicious. However, looking down at my plate with the slices of meat, cross sections with the bone in the center, took a me a while to get accustomed to.

Rabo de Toro.

After lunch, we treated ourselves to the local specialty of marzipan at Pasteleria Santo Tomé, considered by many to be the best in the world. All the different shapes and varieties of marzipan are astonishing at this shop, and the selection we picked was delicious.

Buying marzipan at Santo Tomé.

Wandering through the streets of Toledo, it is impossible to miss all the merchants selling dasmasquindo, which are steel items, such as plates, swords, and especially jewelry, decorated with thin gold or silver threads. The intricate designs represent an art form associated with Toledo's historical past.

As we left Toledo, walking down the hill and over a bridge, our rations of marzipan began to dwindle. Holy Toledo, that was tasty!