Toledo

Toledo--lots of old Jewish stuff
Escalators of Doom
Trinkets Galore
Did someone say "Arabic influence"--yes I think they did


Saturday was the second trip with the program (me, Jennifer, Serafin the prof, and Gabi) and we went to Toledo. This was a beautiful 2-hour drive south over one of the main mountain ranges of Spain and it really reminded me of crossing the Cascades and gave great vantage points of the countryside. Also, since this is Spain, there were castles haphazardly strewn about the countryside like k-nex toys on my carpet, a big one here, a broken one there, a small group plotting together on that ridge, all over the place:


One of the first things I noticed about the ancient Visigothic and Arabic capital of the Iberian Peninsula were its stupendous escalators. That's right, outdoor make sure you don't get your shoelaces stuck escalators that schlep fat American tourists from the valley floor about 200-400 vertical feet up to the city's mesa.



You also notice how bloody old everything is, a perception which is augmented by the presence of an eminent historian giving you a personal tour (he also looks like the world's most interesting man) (see group picture)


I won't bore you with the history, but Jews were a big deal here and built one of the best Synagogue of all time called La Sinagoga del Transito. In typical fashion the Christians eventually kicked them out and were so impressed with the wall decorations of their 'new' church, they whitewashed it and called it Our Lady of the White. It has since been restored and houses one of the best collections of everything Jewish, and it just plain beautiful. The highlights here are the windows with Moorish latticework and Hebrew carved around the ceiling:

Of course there was also a vibrant tourist section with lots and lots and lots of swords, armor, letter openers, earrings, just about everything made from metal was on sale there.

We ended our day with a glorious vista of the town and a group photo courtesy of the bus driver: