Toledo - A Hop-On, Hop-Off Adventure

We've never used a hop-on hop-off sightseeing tour bus before, so this was going to be something different. Since the place is mildly hilly and the lookout is way on the other side of the river, we figured that walking it all would be a tad too arduous. So we took a ride on a converted open top London double-decker bus instead. You think the taxi had trouble getting through the narrow streets? We took a complete circuit of the route to familiarise ourselves with the stops it would make and where we could hop back on. We even got some handy information about the stops and sights between them from the on-board audio headphone system, selectable in 12 languages. A plan was coming together.

We stayed on the bus for a second circuit and made a hop-off at the Puente Alcantara, one of the two ancient bridges leading into the city. This was built by the Romans, the second owners of this city. The first were the Carpathians from around 700 BC. The Romans were ultimately ousted by the Visigoths, who in turn were ousted by the Moors, who eventually got it from the Christians around the late 15th century. The Christian conquest of Spain was finalised in 1492 with the fall of Grenada, the last Moorish kingdom to go.

Toledo all through this turmoil maintained a cohesive and harmonious community of all three of the major cultures of the period, Jewish, Christian and Arabic Moslem. Having disposed of the Moors by conquest, the Catholic zeal of Ferdinand and Isabella reached new heights and the Jews were ordered to either convert to Christianity or leave. Many converted, many left, but this still didn't really satisfy the rulers' appetite for Catholic devotion. They asked the Pope for assistance and he commissioned a investigatory body to establish who the true believers were and who were only faking it. We know this body today as the Spanish Inquisition and we know of its investigatory methods. It was always primarily aimed at the Jews. The Inquisition was largely established in Toledo and its surrounds and there is even a museum of the gruesome implements of torture they used in their attempts to save the souls of heretics. We didn't go there.

Snuck in another shot of our accomodation. This is the breakfast room.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Church of Santa Ana (I think) reclaimed from the earlier Mudjar building on the site.

Th eastern gates in the City Walls.

The Alcantara bridge, built by the Romans.

The Toledo Cathedral Primera, taken from the plaza in front of it.
It's just too darn big to fit it all in.

Toledo is a showcase of many artesian crafts. Swordsmithing in finest Toledo steel is one. Damasquino, the laying of gold and silver into steel, is another.
The beautiful artistry in the finished product can't be denied.

Some detail of the Damasquino articles on sale in the shops. Quite exquisite.

An unusual advertising stand outside a cake shop? Not really.

Another tradition of Toledo and invented by the nuns of the convent is ...

Marzipan, a fundamental almond based paste made into delicious cakes and savouries.
The best marzipan in the world is found here in Toledo.

The Damasquino shop, one of hundreds all over town, where we bought our goodies.
They also sold cast statuary and beautiful Lladro ceramics, all made right here in Toledo.

Toledo features heavily in the Cervantes classic, Don Quixote.
To perpetuate this connection, there are Don and Sancho knick-knacks in every shop in town.
Here is his likeness in the park near the Monasterio San Juan de los Reyes.

 The other bridge in Toledo is the Puente San Martin, but built by the Moors 'tis time.

A picture book shot of Toledo from the other side of the Tajo river.
You can see the Alcazar, the City Walls. the Cathedral and the Church of Ildefonso in one shot.
You can also see why it is a UNESCO rated world heritage city, no?

Toledo Arrival

So here we are in Toledo, the last city on our trip. We left Córdoba on the hi-speed AVE train at 8:56 for Madrid (took 90 minutes) and changed to the AVANT train for the leg to Toledo (30 minutes). Even after travelling all that way we still arrived an hour too early to check-in. Dang those trains are quick.

In our research we found the streets in this UNESCO heritage city to be too narrow for cars to navigate, but nobody told the Toledo taxi drivers that. We were delivered from the station direct to our Hotel door through streets so narrow the proximity sensor in the taxi went off at regular intervals. Pedestrians we encountered along the way sought refuge in doorways, niches and anywhere else that offered an alternative to a grisly death. 

The accomodation at the Hospederia de Casa Cisneros is just divine. It is very small, maybe only 5 rooms or so, and that makes it intimate. Our room is on the first floor corner so it has 2 balconies, on on each street. The room is decorated in a Spanish period way with antique furnishings, an enormous comfy bed, exposed ceiling beams and there's a large period tapestry handing over the bed head. We feel like Spanish nobility. And location !!! It is directly opposite the Cathedral.

We'll settle in and get to work in the morning.

Our train from Madrid to Toledo, took a little over 30 minutes.

 The picturesque railway station at Toledo.

Remember the old fashioned ticket windows at railway stations?

Our room is just so atmospheric with antiques and tapestries.

The view of the Cathedral from one of our balconies.

Truly, it's just across the street.

The view from our rooftop terrace of the Alcazar and other roofs of Toledo.

Wonderful.

Córdoba - other things to see.

So today we went on a sort of wobbly wander around Córdoba. With the labyrinthian layout of the streets and laneways in the Jewish quarter that is pretty much going to be the case anyway. We were looking for the old Synagogue because a Jewish museum called the Casa Sefardi is next door to it. Instead we found the Museo de Taurino with displays about bulls that excelled themselves in the ring. Close enough we thought and took some pictures of that.

Then we found the Casa Andalusia, a old home restored as closely as possible to resemble the houses of old Moorish Al-Andaluce in the 12th century. It really did feel like a trip back in time, especially after seeing the paper manufacturing setup they had restored. The galleries and water features so instinsic to Moorish architecture were also noteworthy.

According to our maps we would be venturing past some of the open patios of the festival. All, and I mean all of them, had enormous numbers of people waiting their chance to have a look inside. So we bit the bullet and joined a long long queue. It inched forward over a period of 30 minutes or so, and then it was our turn. HUZZAH !!! We walked into the patio which was alive with greenery, a central fountain and lots of potted plants fastened to the walls. This particular patio like most of them was all of about 5 metres square. All over a fine effect but we saw it all and took all our pictures in just a couple of minutes. Not good usage of time on our part.
Not just patios are decorated with potted plants and flowering shrubs. Whole streets can be found similarly decorated by the street proud residents. One famous one is the Calleja de Flores just near the Mesquite. This narrow lane is marked with potted plants its entire length. It is truthfully no more or less beautiful than dozens of other such streets in the old quarter, but this one aligns directly with the bell tower of the Mesquite so photos of it are just that much more special.
We pushed on towards our next port of call, Palacio Viana, but diverted a little to see the Plaza de Corredera. It is reputed to have once been a place where bull fights were staged and even the odd stake burning by the Inquisition, but we found ne evidence of that. Instead the entire plaza has been turned into a giant "patio" by the building of apartments around its entire perimeter. Today it is a sea of umbrellas for all the restaurants and bars it can hold.
Speaking of patios, we really hit pay dirt with the Palacio Viana. It has no less than 12 within its grounds and they are extraordinary. They are quite individually designed with their layouts, sizes, shapes and choice of plantings.  All exhibit a central theme to their display. The Entry Patio has an enormous date palm casting a cooling shade over a central bubbling fountain. The Patio of Columns has a kind of Classical Greek feel to it and was used for outdoor entertainments requiring space. Others are intimate and secluded. Others still are for walking one's thoughts. Just brilliant.
By this time we were fairly clapped out and just wanted to get home and to put our feet up and have a cuppa. On the way home, and we didn't divert to see it or nothin', was the church of Santa Marina and the statue of the bull fighter Manolete. Not interested in bull fights, the church was really rather bland, even if that whole suburb was named after it, so we walked on.
The Torre de Malmuerte was also directly in our path. Built in the early 15th century to protect the city gate it later became a prison for unfortunate nobles. Legend has it it got its name (Bad Death) from the killing of a woman there wrongfully accused of adultery.
Enjoy the piccies.

A statue of "Ferdinand" in the patio of the Museo de Taurino.

Lucky to get a shot of him alone, everybody was queueing up for a selfie with him.

 Inside the patio of the Casa Andalusia.

A restored home circa 12th century with Moslem authenticity including a paper mill.

A water feature full of flower petals in an exterior corridor of the house.

Tranquil and fragrant.

A 12th century water powered hammer mill for pulping paper.

The rest of the drying and pressing equipment for the early making of paper.

Moorish art depicting the making of paper as early as the 12th century.

Some of the historical scrolls and manuscripts of the period.

Some exquisite embroidery work from that period Aldo.

  

 After a 30 minute outside we did eventually spend about 2 minutes in the patio itself.

So this is what all the excitement is about. Sure, it's a nice patio, beautiful in fact.

But 30 outside for 2 inside ???

 Yes, the patios were something special if you had that amount of time to wait.

 The Calleja de Flores, or Lane of Flowers.

This is an iconic shot of the narrow street as it lines up exactly with the bell tower of the Mesquite.

 Another patio visit, this one in the home of a famous Flamenco guitarist and singer, Fosforito.

The Plaza de Corredera.
Once a bull ring, it is been "patioed" by the surrounding buildings and now is wall to wall restaurants.

Near the former ancient Roman Temple is a new Roman Temple taking shape.
It is all part of the Government buildings in Córdoba.

The entrance patio to the Palacio Viana.
No need to queue like the others patios, this place has no less than 12 of varying sizes and themes.

Beautiful stands of bouganvillea and other flowering shrubs in the Patio Madama.
This is one of 12 adjoining courtyards or patios in the Palacio Viana.

The Patio of the Columns.

Patio of the Gardens.

Patio of the Gardeners.

Lovely effect of flowers cascading fron a pot placed high on a column.
Looks great, I might try this out for myself in my garden when I get back home.

The statue of the famous bull fighter Manolete outside the church of San Marina.
It was a pretty bland looking church to have a whole suburb named after it.

The Torre de Malmuerte.

It's a 15th century tower nestled right in amongst the modern buildings of Córdoba.  

Córdoba - The Mesquite-Cathedral and other places.

Our arrival in Córdoba was via an Alsa Supra-Economy coach from Granada. Ever seen a bus with aircraft seats that included a screen for internet/movies/games/apps before? Neither had I. The only difference between this bus and an aeroplane was the absence of hosties and a safety demo.

Unlike our other accomodations this one was not in the old part of the city. That was a 15-20 minute walk away so off we went. Along the way we took a gander at the fountains along the Avenida de la Liberdade, and I mean all along the avenida. There are at least half a dozen of these water curtains and cascades along its length and even a couple of areas where water water jets up straight out of the pavement, very popular with the kiddies on hot days.

The Parque de Colon is a more classically laid out with a large central fountain and paths radiating outwards like spokes in a wheel. That is a very popular relaxation spot with the locals obviously as there were many people walking dogs, playing games with kids and doing recreational stuff like that.

Still heading in the general direction of the Mesquite we came across the shopping mall on the Avenida de Gran Capitan. There were lots of upmarket shops with beautiful display windows set on a pedestrian mall. As with everywhere in Spain the footpaths are covered in umbrella'd restaurants and bars. The concentration of restaurants per capita head in this country must rival that of cell phones I think. Hey, I'm not complaining.

And then we entered the labyrinth that is the old town of Córdoba and clinging desperately to our map made our way to the Mesquite-Cathedral. Through the forbidding gates we entered a large pleasant courtyard of orange trees, the Patio de Naranjo. It is here that we queued to buy our tickets (about 15 minutes) and pick up an audio guide (about another 10 minutes or so). Guys, you can see all the photos in the world about the Mesquite mosque in Córdoba and they will still not prepare you for that first real look. The place is vast, with a forest of red and white striped double arches supported on slender marble columns stretching off into the distance in every direction. It is truly breathtaking.

Archeological evidence has revealed that the site was originally a church dedicated to San Vincent the Martyr. Then around the 13th century a Moslem emir fleeing a vicious civil war in Syria arrived and set up the province of Al-Andaluce (modern day Andalusia) with Córdoba as its capital. He built many large and beautiful buildings as befits a Moslem provincial capital including a mosque with the largest prayer hall in the then Moslem world accomodating up to 5,000 worshippers.

Later Emirs of his line expanded it even more till now it could hold in excess of 15,000 worshippers. I say could because after the city was subsequently conquered by the Christians and the mosque therefore had to go. In an unusually benevolent gesture to their conquered citizenry they left the mosque pretty much intact and built a huge grand Cathedral right in the middle of it. While the intention was to have the mosque serve as an enormous annex to the Cathedral (and thereby be subordinated by it) the final effect was something else entirely. It makes for a beautiful blending of the Christian and Moslem faiths into one cohesive all. Brotherhood is what it shouts from every being of its body.

We spent quite some time in the Mesquite then moved on down to the river to have lunch at a pavement restaurant. The accent of the couple sitting beside us was unmistakeably Australian so we struck up a conversation with them. They were from Sydney and funnily enough, the couple on the other side of them were also Australian. So we pulled all out tables together to make conversation easier and exchanged stories of our travels for the next 2 hours or more.

Eventually we left the group to take a look at some of the Roman bits of Córdoba.The Puerte de Puente (or Gate or the Bridge) is an arch tat guards one end of the Puente Romano, a long pedestrian bridge spanning the river. At its other end stands a formidable defensive tower called the Torre de Calahorra. The middle of the bridge is defended by buskers either blazing away bravely on a piano accordian with every third note missing or playing a piano stripped down to strings and keys and mounted on wheels.

Our next jaunt was to the Alcazar de los Reyes Christianos, a mouthful that means a fortress built by Ferdinand and Isabella. Attached to it is some of the most beautiful gardens in Spain with fountains, fish ponds, formal and informal plantings of hedges and flower beds. There is even a symbolised  forest of manicured cypress trees and the all is liberally dotted about with statues of F & I standing like large chess pieces. And who should we meet again heading to the gardens but our new friends from lunch, Gary and Cheryl. We instantly joined up with them and I'm glad we did. Cheryl's knowledge of the plants and gardening generally is just encyclodedic. 

We left the gardens and agreed to meet up with them again for a Tapas dinner later that night. Since the Feria de Patios was still on we decided to check out a few on the walk back to our hotel. It is ostensively a competition for who has the most beautifully decorated patio in Córdoba and boy don't they take it seriously. The "Open Garden" scheme in Melbourne was never like this. There are more than 50 houses across the city that have opened their doors for the public to have a look-see at their patios and the city has responded voluminously. Ever house we visited (there is a comprehensive map for the Festia) had a queue of 30 minutes or more waiting to get in. We decided that tomorrow morning might be an altogether better time to visit a couple of patios to see what all the fuss was about and headed for home.
We did meet up with Gary and Cheryl for dinner around 9 pm and ate and drank yakked away happily till well after midnight when the restaurant staff wanted to go home.

A water curtain fountain on the Avenida de la Liberdade.

There must be 5 or 6 of them dotted at intervals along the entire length off this main avenue.

Our accomodation overlooks them (snicker).

 A more traditional fountain featured centrally in the Parque de Colon.

It's a beautiful park and very popular with the locals for walking dogs and outings with the kids.

Some public art in the form of a bronze statue on the Avenida de Gran Capitan shopping mall.

Can't tell you what the paper said, too shocking.

Cordoba's streets in the old town are a labyrinth of narrow lanes and passages.

But the locals are very street proud and decorate them with potted flowers and shrubs.

Turn any corner and you may well see something like this. So beautiful.

 The Patio de Naranjo (Courtyard of the Orange Trees) and the Mesquite-Cathedral entrance beyond.

The iconic red and white striped double arches of the Mesquite.

Above the column capitals they are quite thick and bulky.

Below the capitals the marble columns are quite slender and elegant.

The Mesquite is simply vast with a carved wooden ceiling supported by a veritable forest of columns,

The original could hold 5,000 worshippers, after later additions that was increased to over 15,000.

Smack in the middle of the mosque is the Cathedral, built there by the conquering Christians.

To my mind a monumental example of Christian vandalism, but at least they didn't raise the whole place to the ground, as was their usual practice at the time.

 The hand carved mahogany Choir of the cathedral.

The opposite wall is similarly adorned.

And every seat contains a different picture from the scriptures.

 Looking down one of the aisles in the Mesquite.

I'm trying to give you a sense of the size to this incredible structure.

 The Puerte de Puente (The Gate of the Bridge).

This roman built arch that stands at one end of the roman built Puente Romano.

The Puente Romano, built by the romans and built to last apparently.

A busker on the Puente Romano was playing trad jazz on a piano on wheels.
The Mesquite makes a nice backdrop for him, don't you think?

The other end of the bridge is defended by the Torre de Calahorra.
Not quite as old as the bridge but still getting on.

Inside the Alcazar de los Reyes Christianos.
This is a fortress named for the old firm of Isabella and Ferdinand.
It contains gardens, walls, towers and an archeological digs. These are some of the mosaics found.

A roman mozaic of Medusa found in the archeological studies of the place.

Looking into a patio of orange trees from the high battlement walls of the Alcazar.

On of the defensive towers of the Alcazar.
Inside you can still see the channels for pouring burning oil onto any attackers.

Next to the fortress are the astonishingly beautiful Jardins de Alcazar.
This statue is a recreation of the interview with Christopher Columbus.

Manicured hedges are so precise I think they are trimmed with a laser.

Some of the hedged plantings with an artificial cypress forest in the background.

The Feria de Patios was in full swing during our visit.
This is an iconic bronze statue to patio design in Córdoba.

And the crowds that assemble to enter and briefly view the patios defy description.
There are two patios open for inspection on this plaza, and this is the crowd eager to see them.
Waiting time can be 45-60 minutes for a 5 minute visit.