Toledo is an ancient city, a real tourist treat just an hour away from Madrid - a combination of european, arab and jewish herritage. As an ancient city should be, its strategic but also picturesque location is an attraction itself - set on a hill, in the meander of Tagus river, overlooking other hills of Castile-La Mancha region. Surrounded by high walls and only accesible by a few bridges, Toledo was a fortress fantastically prepared to defend itself.
Toledo-tour apparently is one of Madrid's top attractions, tourist buses come over every few minutes dropping of a small crowd. Then, a tourist pilgrimage walks up from the bus stop to the city centre and spills over the narrow alleys.
I have already stated my opinion of sightseeing in overcrowded places. Ugh. No.
I can divide Toledo to two episodes: "I hate Toledo" and "I love Toledo". Lets start off with the first:
We arrived to Toledo by train with a bunch of friends. The train station and the bus terminals are not in the old town, so after leaving the train we walked up the hill, crossed a bridge and loved it so far. The scenery was what did it, the sight of Alcazar towering above.
We arrived to Toledo by train with a bunch of friends. The train station and the bus terminals are not in the old town, so after leaving the train we walked up the hill, crossed a bridge and loved it so far. The scenery was what did it, the sight of Alcazar towering above.
Up and up we went. There was an escalator, but we went slightly off-track while wantering around the viewing platforms and in the end walked half of the way. Looking down was like a spanish dream. The only thing wrong in this was that the crowd was getting more and more condensed. When we reached the top, overly hungry, we miraculously found a not-so-expensive venue that wasn't stacked.
But yes, soon after we made a move the crowd was so annoying that walking in the alleys of Toledo was equal to walking like a bunch of penguins, in the same direction and speed. Made me feel a little claustrophobic and contained, even though i don't have claustrophobia. Besides, every venue and every store seemed to be devoted solely for tourists. Most was not authentic but tried to look as if it was.
All better. We reached the edge of the old town headed by the city walls next.
This area was the Jewish quater. To show this, in the walls and among cobblestones tiny tiles with Jewish alphabet could be found.
By complete accident we discovered a Toledo's disneyland. We were waiting for some of our friends for quite a while and entered a little shop called Fabrica Serrano. It was a porcelain workshop existing and led by one family for 6 generations. On the ground floor it seemed like a regular store, however we discovered that there was also a basement which was enormous. It was a maze of spaces stacked with beautiful, hand-made and hand-painted porcelain.
And so back on the track following the city walls. This was the most pleasurable experience in Toledo, as if nobody discovered that you can do that. Overlooking down to the river and to the hills and houses on the opposite side.
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