Monday, Oct 10th - Toledo

Got up early to head to Toledo – ½ hour by fast train (the train station is ½ hr from us). Grey day, and Toledo is up on a hill of grey rock. Unfortunately, the Transito synagogue was closed, and also the Sephardic museum, because it was Monday. An older synagogue has been made into a church – Sta Maria La Blanca, and was full of an art exhibit by a group that foresaw a union between the Jews & the Catholic Church.

Many twisty, steep, narrow streets, and countless stores selling marzipan, a regional specialty. Cathedral had huge numbers of El Greco’s, but the Romanesque cloister was closed for renovation. Steve esp liked a tiny mosque at one end of town that had been a tiny Romanesque church (or was it vice versa), located over a Roman road & a Roman sewer.

There was a provincial museum with huge tapestries depicting Spanish conquests in Africa (and benches to sit on from which to admire them). Also, a huge exhibit of historic ceramics. But, of course, no modern reproductions to buy. What a pity, said I, here I’m all primed to spend $$ and nothing to spend it on. There were lots of ceramics for sale in the stores round about, but they all looked identical. I asked the admissions guy what a lovely collection and what a pity there are no reproductions (I’d wked out the Spanish beforehand). He suggested a store on the other side of town—we went over there, but it wasn’t the style I’d liked. (of course, could I remember the names of the styles I’d liked? No).

S wanted to head down to the river, to a couple of bridges, so we headed there last – down three escalators, part of garages built into the hillside like Assisi. I was quite tired & footsore by then; we’d been walking all day. Got to say, my Merrill clogs v. comfortable. Then we walked to the train station, where we bought tickets for Segovia, the next day. S wanted tickets for 11:15, but the man at the ticket counter said that train hadn’t existed for a year. S being v. emphatic, the man was getting offended, and I was trying to translate, and getting more and more cross at S. Afterward, I said he was possessed by the shades of Ely, an accusation I rarely trot out.

Then we walked from the Madrid train station back to the hotel. I was cross & tired and complaining that S walked too fast, etc. Our marriage was on the rocks.

However, we went to an excellent restaurant around the corner (La Ancha), and split a bottle of wine, and our marriage picked itself off the ground & shook itself off. S kept chuckling as my mood improved w/ the wine, and saying that after 28 years of marriage, he knew his little wife; she always perked up with wine.