Last night, after suffering what seemed like terminal Jody and I returned to the hotel and immediately collapsed into a well needed sleep. The alarm was set for 6:45, plenty of time to get up and get ready for a 7:30 breakfast. Unfortunately, my internal alarm wasnt working correctly, so about 5:30 I woke up and couldnt get back to sleep. Fortunately, that gave me time to write the Day 1 blog entry, while Jody quietly snored away blissfully until 6:45. Breakfast was great! Plenty of selection, including some unknown and weird looking items. No bacon, and the sausage was really just mini But the croissants and the chocolate donuts were great! Jody also quickly figured out that caf Americano will get you a black coffee, and caf de leche will get coffee with milk. The coffee was strong and delicious.
Today is expected to be a very busy day! We started out this morning with about a 45 minute bus ride to the old capital of Spain in Toledo. Toledo is pronounced not the Ohio pronunciation of It took a while, but I think I am now sufficiently trained to say it correctly. Toledo
is mideival city, built at the top of a very large hill, and as the bus approached the perimeter road, the views were spectacular! About halfway up, we made a stop on the side of the road to take a few pictures, and a little further on we stopped at a workshop where lured in by the promise of free restrooms, travelers can visit a Damascene metal works where swords, daggers, and filigree jewelry are still manufactured as they have been done for centuries. The swords and daggers were not particularly of interest to us as bringing a sword onto an airplane and through customs is probably not a good idea. But Jody was obviously interested in the filigree jewelry
Essentially, filigree jewelry is made by scratching grooves in a pattern usually birds, flowers, or geometrics. After the pattern is scratched into the steel backing, thin gold thread is hammered into the scratches to fill the pattern in gold. When finished, the piece is dipped in a chemical then fired, which causes the gold to set in the steel and the steel to turn black. The result is a beautiful piece of jewelry. Pieces sold at the Damascene metal
works is either first quality by a master) or second quality by an apprentice). Prices were reasonable, and Jody ended up with a first quality pendant with matching second quality earrings. Most of the pieces sold in souvenir shops are third quality machine made pieces which still look remarkably beautiful.
After watching the jewelry demonstration, and the free restroom, we headed back to the bus and met with our local tour guide Sergio. Toledo is a maze of tiny streets and alleyways, but Sergio had evidently grown up in the area and was intimately familiar with all things Toledo. Since the streets were much too narrow for a tour bus, Sergio took the group and headed up the hill to the entrance of the city. To reduce wear and tear and for ease of access, there is a series of outdoor escalators that take us about halfway up, making the walking so much easier. We followed the escalators up and entered the old coty of Toledo.
Toledo was just beautiful! Narrow roads and alleys, buildings and doorways that dated back to the 10th and 11th century. We had to be careful walking the city streets, because
even though they were incredibly narrow, they were still open to local traffic. In fact, there are a series of automated barricades blocking entrance to the city. If you are a resident, you can get an electronic transponder fitted to your vehicle that will automatically open the barricade so that you can drive into the city. vehicles cannot enter.
We wandered the city with Sergio explaining the history of Toledo and pointing out the architecture and history of some of the buildings.we visited several of the various squares, including the main town center.
