Toledo (Spain) - Madrid (Spain)
08 September - 09 September 2015
Like so many places on this trip, Toledo was an opportunity missed.
08 September - 09 September 2015
Like so many places on this trip, Toledo was an opportunity missed.
I had heard that Toledo was the one time capital of Spain but I can't find anything that verifies that suspicion. I've found out that Toledo served as the capital of Castile intermittently, then I found that Charles I of Spain's court was in Toledo and served as the Imperial capital. Later on, the Spanish court was moved to Madrid. Still, this doesn't give me the green light to actually have called Toledo a country capital.
Going back further, apparently in the 7th century, the city 'emerged from relative obscurity to become the permanent governmental centre of the Visigothic monarchy', that was from 542 to 725 AD.. So, that appears to be 'something', but not quite the 'head honcho' that you'd expect of a prime city. Still later, a few years before the 1100's Toledo became the capital city of one of the richest Taifas of Al-Andalus, a taifa being an independent Muslim-ruled principality. So, a capital? Again, perhaps, but definitely not of Spain.
Close but not quite close enough Toledo.
What Toledo loses in 'prestige', or what I would call prestige, it definitely makes up for in terms of aesthetic appeal. Dramatically set atop a gorge overlooking the Rio Tajo, the 'city of three cultures' has a magnificence that lives up to the extend of its hidden treasures to. It's a city that should command attention and should draw tourists from far and wide, and I guess, to an extent, it does that...but when it comes to two Elishers' and two Janic's, that didn't quite happen.
An opportunity missed. We entered Toledo and immediately my mum wanted to have lunch, and of course have a drink. Which we ended up doing. Then, for some reason, both my mum and my aunt wanted to do some souvenier shopping. I don't know, that kind of mentality just didn't and doesn't make a whole load of sense to me. I would imagine, and this is me calling it out aloud, that you would probably want to have a look around the place first before you starting arranging various keepsake's for your bathrooms.
What's more, we only gave ourselves a couple of hours here, most of which were absolutely turfed by lunch in a very ordinary restaurant and buying stupid stuff that I'm sure they totally forgot about a day or so later. And perhaps it sounds a bit harsh but the crux of the matter is that was the dichotomy between my cousin and I and my mother and aunt, the whole trip was pulled in competing directions due conflicting views, differing priorities and physical capacity to do things. From my end, as unfortunate as it sounds, a large part of the excursion sucked in the fact that opportunities to see and do something of the real important things in those cities were substituted for things like need to have a 'drink somewhere' or getting ready for bed at 7pm. Let me just say, I will never, ever do a trip with them of that nature again. I have other ideas for them, it would probably involve lounging around a pool and have the capacity to get up from the sun bench and make it to the bar - that would be the extent of that.
After a few hours in Toledo we headed back to Madrid for an evening pit-stop, and that's really all it was. My aunt and mum went to bed early again, probably around 8am, and Vladimir probably joined in an hour or so later, tired from the drive that he had done that day. I took the opportunity to head out and walk around the city myself. Something that I like to do, just walk about with no real purpose or direction. Sometimes it pays dividends, and other times, well, you benefit from the exercise. Either way, walking around Madrid is never, ever a bad thing.
Close but not quite close enough Toledo.
Toledo - Spain
Toledo - Spain
Toledo - Spain
Toledo - Spain
What Toledo loses in 'prestige', or what I would call prestige, it definitely makes up for in terms of aesthetic appeal. Dramatically set atop a gorge overlooking the Rio Tajo, the 'city of three cultures' has a magnificence that lives up to the extend of its hidden treasures to. It's a city that should command attention and should draw tourists from far and wide, and I guess, to an extent, it does that...but when it comes to two Elishers' and two Janic's, that didn't quite happen.
An opportunity missed. We entered Toledo and immediately my mum wanted to have lunch, and of course have a drink. Which we ended up doing. Then, for some reason, both my mum and my aunt wanted to do some souvenier shopping. I don't know, that kind of mentality just didn't and doesn't make a whole load of sense to me. I would imagine, and this is me calling it out aloud, that you would probably want to have a look around the place first before you starting arranging various keepsake's for your bathrooms.
Toledo - Spain
Toledo - Spain
Toledo - Spain
What's more, we only gave ourselves a couple of hours here, most of which were absolutely turfed by lunch in a very ordinary restaurant and buying stupid stuff that I'm sure they totally forgot about a day or so later. And perhaps it sounds a bit harsh but the crux of the matter is that was the dichotomy between my cousin and I and my mother and aunt, the whole trip was pulled in competing directions due conflicting views, differing priorities and physical capacity to do things. From my end, as unfortunate as it sounds, a large part of the excursion sucked in the fact that opportunities to see and do something of the real important things in those cities were substituted for things like need to have a 'drink somewhere' or getting ready for bed at 7pm. Let me just say, I will never, ever do a trip with them of that nature again. I have other ideas for them, it would probably involve lounging around a pool and have the capacity to get up from the sun bench and make it to the bar - that would be the extent of that.
Madrid - Spain
Madrid - Spain
Puerta del Sol - Madrid - Spain
After a few hours in Toledo we headed back to Madrid for an evening pit-stop, and that's really all it was. My aunt and mum went to bed early again, probably around 8am, and Vladimir probably joined in an hour or so later, tired from the drive that he had done that day. I took the opportunity to head out and walk around the city myself. Something that I like to do, just walk about with no real purpose or direction. Sometimes it pays dividends, and other times, well, you benefit from the exercise. Either way, walking around Madrid is never, ever a bad thing.
