Toledo Sept. 25

The Alcazar in Toledo is not quite as imposing as Segovia's Alcazar.

The Rio Tejo from the city walls. This was a good place to build a fortress.

The view towards the cathedral from the library in the alcazar.

.1:30 pm: Marge met the shuttle at 6:45am to go to the airport. I slept a while longer then took the 9 am bus for the 50 minute ride to Toledo. Toledo used to be Spain's capitol, but it is surrounded on three sides by a river with limited expansion potential. In the 1500's, the king moved the cspitol to the small village of Madrid and the rest is history. The Catholic church in Spain is still headquartered in Toledo so that was yet another reason for the king to move to Madrid.

As I write this, I am sitting in the 8th floor of the city library which is in the top of the fortress, the Alcazar. In one form or another this has been a strategic military location for 2000 yeJars, most recently during the spanish Civil War in 1939, when Franco's army defended it. This Alcazar is not as imposing as the one in Segovia, but it has a great panoramic view of the cathedral and old town. It will make a good photo. The cathedral was equal or better than the one in Burgos. The cathedral has 18 El Greco paintings. The Museo Santa Cruz has some more but they operate on a free but hit and miss schedule and they were not available now for viewing.

9:30 pm: I finished my sightseeing in Toledo and caught the 4 pm bus back to Madrid. Lots of other tourists. And, yes Greg, cutlery of all types is one thing Toledo is famous for. There are many shops to buy knives, scissors, even swords and armour.

I thought it was a little known fact that the Madrid art museums are open in the evening with free admission. So I headed over to the Prado at 6. It is only a ten minute walk from the hostal that I am staying at. I was surprised to see a line of people longer than the Prado waiting to get in. But the line moved quickly so the wait was only ten minutes. I was able to see some of the paintings that I missed three weeks ago, plus revisit some of my favorites, El Greco, Velasquez, Rubens, Goya, Bosch, and more. Since tomorrow is Sunday, the Reine Sofia art museum will be free all day. Lots of Picasso there. After some morning sightseeing starting at the Puerte del Sol, I plan to go there. By the way, even though I am not officially walking anymore, my pedometer said I did walk a total of 12 1/2 miles today. More tomorrow.