Toledo - A Personal Pilgramige

A great Spaniard once told me that Toledo was the most beautiful city in the most beautiful country in the world - that man was my late grandfather, and my one regret in life was not visiting Toledo with him in his lifetime, despite spending over a year living nearby in Madrid. I rectified this after his death in a personal pilgrimage to at least his little corner of heaven on earth.

A Bit of Background

Toledo, the "City of Three Cultures", is the result of 2000 years of shared Christian, Jewish and Muslim culture, Toledo tells the story of Spanish history in 1 city. It is the capital of the province of Toledo, and the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The entire city is a designated World Heritage site and has a population of just 84,000.

Getting There

With my unenthusiastic girlfriend in tow we left our central Madrid hotel and we headed for Toledo. Our first port of call being Atocha Station in Madrid. If you happen to be British then you'll find the Spanish rail system a positive delight, or at least you will once you've got the hang of it. Remember to take a number when you're at the ticket desk - they don't possess the same affection for queuing we do here. Anyway, I digress - 95% of the time in Spain you can walk up to the desk and purchase a ticket 10 minutes before the train - but apparently on this day half of Madrid fancied a trip to Toledo and I couldn't. Now, in Britain they'd just sell 50 more tickets than seats and you'd spend the journey standing with your face pressed up the toilet door, which would inevitably be out of order. Not so in Spain, I just had to come back the day after.

The morning after and we're off to Atocha again, this time in tow I had a decidedly less enthusiastic girlfriend than I did before. Once we were on the train the RENFE was as ever an agreeable yet uneventful experience, despite the presence of the extremely brash German couple opposite us. 45 minutes later we arrived at our destination - and on time too, another rare experience for a Brit on a train.

Toledo Station

The differences to Madrid are stark from the moment you step off the high-speed train in Toledo, Toledo's railway station has the appearance and the grandeur of an ancient monument, or of an old church, but it wasn't opened in fact until 1920, but it is a beautiful station nonetheless and a nod to the cities Moorish roots.

Getting into the City

According to WikiTravel bus numbers 5, 61 and 62 all stop outside the station and will take you into the center of the city (these buses are blue). However, there are red buses which wait outside the station when trains from Madrid are due to take you directly to the Plaza de Zocodover directly in the center of town for just 2 Euros. Walking into the center of Toledo is really not an option unless you are an avid hiker, the heat is extreme and the climb is constant and steep. Returning to the station was an all together more rushed affair which required quickly hailing a cab as I got sidetracked eating ice-cream, but I can only assume the same buses will return you to the station.

The Cathedral

Toledo's Cathedral is very much the centerpiece of the city, despite them now charging an outrageous 8 Euros entry - as steep as the climb it takes to get there. Putting that aside, however, it's a quite wonderful place where you can easily lose yourself for an afternoon. Upon entry you will be welcomed by a sea of gold, and gigantic paintings of each of Toledo's Cardinals. The Cathedral is also home to a grand collection of art from some of the world's most celebrated artists; Raphael, Rubens, Goya, Titian and of course, El Greco. In fact, one of El Greco's most celebrated masterpieces was a view he painted of Toledo.

The Cathedral and it's art collection are far from the only sites worth a visit in Toledo, however, for me, the charm of this city doesn't lie in its cathedrals, or its ancient synagogue, but in getting lost in its Medieval streets, and taking in the gorgeous views which inspired El Greco so famously. Toledo is bordered on 3 sides by the River Tajo and on the other side by 2 medieval walls, all of which can be seen from the top of Toledo - one of the nicest and certainly one of the most poignant moments in my travelling life was sitting atop Toledo, alone, with a bottle of water reminiscing about the life of my grandfather who loved this view and this city so much.  

 The rest of the afternoon was spent getting lost both physically and mentally among Toledo's labyrinth of narrow Medieval streets, drinking sangria in Bar La Boveda and trying to pacify my increasingly tired and uncooperative (ex?) girlfriend.

I left Toledo with the same feeling with which I arrived, it was still one of my greatest regrets that I didn't visit this jewel of Central Spain with my grandfather whilst he was alive, but equally I now share his, and El Greco's love for the wonderful people and beautiful sites which Toledo offers.

 I won't wait another 28 years until I visit again.