(Holy) Toledo (Batman)

Greetings friends and family,

On the way to Madrid, made a quick stop in Avila to see the wall surrounding the city. Timing is everything because St. Theresa of Avila is the saint that Ronald suggested we read.

Then a stop in Toledo. Toledo was Spain’s former capitol until Philip II moved the capitol to Madrid. My time there was spent wandering around the Old Town.

I saw the Cathedral, but now I am blanking on whether I just saw it on the outside or went inside. The days are starting to run together, and I am behind in my blogging. This is why I try to blog ASAP. Memories blend, and my notes to jog my memory make no sense (or I can’t read my own handwriting).

Went to the Santo Tome, which houses El Greco’s famous The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. This is the church the artist placed it in 400 years ago but in a different location because of the number of art lovers who come to see it.

I did a spur of the moment zip line ride. I’m not sure what possessed me because it definitely wasn’t on my bucket list. I screamed the first few moments (seconds) then I held on for dear life. I will not need to do that again. LOL! But I still want to ride in a helicopter and go on a hot air balloon ride.I'm not what you would call a thrill seeker.

Also walked through the old Jewish quarters, which is where the Jewish people lived before Jews and Muslims were expelled from the city. Went to a synagogue that was turned into a church. It was built by Muslim workers, so it has some mosque like features. It’s interesting to see the blend of the three religions in some of the buildings, especially in Southern Spain. It’s also interesting to see how the Moors recycled Roman stones in their buildings, and the Christians recycled Muslim stones in their building. Then the workers were sometimes Christian or Muslim building places for the other religion, and there is a blending of all three in a lot of the places. I have encountered many churches built where mosques used to be as well as former mosques that were turned into Christian churches or former synagogues that were turned into Christian churches. In both cases, there are tell-tell signs that tell the history.

Jeez. We can go back in history and see a time when people actually were able to live together in unity.