Toledo 12th June, 2012

Day 2 in Spain, Sarah and I took a tour to Toledo. Another centre of Judaism, pre Inquisition. Leaving the hotel in Madrid at about 8:30 Tuesday morning, we took a coach tour to Toledo. The drive was over an hour and the countryside was not particularly outstanding. In many sections,it felt as though we could have been anywhere including somewhere on the Hume Highway, between Sydney and Melbourne. The terrain is fairly dry, just as you would find in Australia. The only differences of note, were the more numerous small towns along the route, and many abandoned industrial sites, and building sites, possibly as a result of the financial meltdown.
Before the expulsion, Toledo was the capital of Spain and one of the leading centres of Jewry in Spain. At the end of the 14th century, after the Jews had been expelled, eight of the city's 10 synagogues and it's five Talmudic schools were destroyed. The remaining Synagogues were converted into churches. One of those synagogues that remained, the Transito Synaggue, was built in 1357 and is full of Moorish carvings. Two years after the expulsion it became a Catholic Church, and since 1972, a Sephardic Museum, with historic Hebrew inscriptions and a beautiful panelled wooden ceiling. Regretably, although called a "Sephardic Museum", it appears to be run by the church. It was still beautiful to see, and to see the one remaining Magen David still visable high up on one interior wall.

Overlooking Toledo

                        
Santa Maria La Blanca is the other synagogue, but is now empty. Built by Arabs in the 12th century, it looks more like a mosque than a synagogue.

We enjoyed a number of tours through the town and saw other sights including the Iglesia de Santo Tome, a church with a beautiful Mudejar tower, housing El Greco's masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Also toured the cathedral, built on the site of a Visigoth cathedral and a mosque, this incredible structure is one of the largest cathedrals in Christendom.

One of the other fascinating tours was through the Alcazar, the national army museum, which has been beautifully restored and renovated since the 2nd World War.
Early in the tour we met a couple of Americans, Karen and Doris, and had a "typical" lunch with them in a restaurant overlooking the town. Not bad since it was finished off with a good glass of red wine.
Before heading back to Madrid, our tour stopped at a Toledo foundry, making jewellery, and swords and knives. Toledo was a cetre of armoury development, but today, all that remains, appears to be small scale manufacturing for tourism. We got back to Madrid around 6pm, and took a red bus tour around Madrid city, before eating dinner around 10pm. The normal time for dinner in Spain.

On the way 11th June, 2012

Left Sydney at last. Have been looking forward to this break for a long time. Nine hours and twenty minutes to Honkers. I've read my Tele and a few Women's mags brought on by Sarah. Ate our "lunch", a bit of lukewarm beef and a some noodles, the "Beef and Blackbean Sauce with Hokkien Noodles and Asian Greens", lovely.

Watched a couple of movies, "Man on a Ledge" with Sam Worthington - not too bad, and the "Rum Diary" with Johnny Depp....

quote "human beings are the only animals that have a belief in g-d, and the only animals that act like they don't".

Landed in Hong Kong and made our way through the terminal to Transfers. Almost immediately, we needed to go to Gate 17 for our British Air flight 26 to London. It was one of the larger Boeings, a 747-400, and seemed to be absolutely packed, unlike the plane out of Sydney. Bad news though. Once in the plane we were told that the air conditioning would not work on this plane until the engines were started for take off. The next bit of bad news was that a go slow on flights leaving in that time of the morning over China was being enforced and our flight was to be delayed on the runway for one and three quarter hours. The heat in Hong Kong was oppressive, even at one in the morning and on the closed plane even more so. I was sure we would suffer some medical emergencies with one or more of the passengers succumbing to heat stroke. Everyone was removing clothing and fanning themselves. Water was offered continuously and eventually we were given the "all clear" to take off, thankfully just over 80 minutes late. After about another hour in flight the temperature finally cooled down, dinner was served once more and we settled into our 12 and a half hour flight to London. I watched the latest Mission Impossible movie with Tom Cruise but it was largely forgettable, and read an interesting novel on Amish life, "Growing up Amish" by Ira Wagler.

Finally landed in London, and just made the flight to Madrid.

The Marriot Palace dining room.

The British Air - Madrid flight was comfortable, and only 2 and a half hours thankfully. Regretably, due to the change over, my luggage was lost on route. We waited at Madrid airport for 3 hours for it to turn up,but no luck, so taxied in to our hotel sans luggage.

                 

The Hotel, Marriot Palace, in Old Madrid, is beautiful, and Sarah and I wandered through Madrid during the afternoon, passing through the Puerta del Sol with it's shops and cafes, and finally settling for a lunch in the Plaza Mayor - originally a site for bullfights, executions, pageant and trial by Inquisition.We watched the crowds and buskers, until heading back to the hotel, where I collapsed into a deep sleep,still in the afternoon, only to be awoken at 11pm by staff who had just received my luggage from the airport.