by Jim Bellomo | Oct 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
When I finished telling you about our visit to Salamanca, I forgot to mention that when we returned to the boat that evening, it had made the turnaround, and we were now heading west again and retracing our steps back to Porto. As I write this to tell you about our day in Favios (pronounced fa v? OOSH), we are already back in Porto and have spent a full day on the river getting here. More about that tomorrow.
Our day after Salamanca was all about stopping in Favios for two things: bread and Muscatel wine. Now I love bread. Always have. But I am not a big fan of Muscatel wine. It’s way too sweet for my tastes. Port is right on the border of sweetness for me. Muscatel goes over the edge. But off we went to try it all out. After a 75-minute ride on our “luxury motor coach,” we found ourselves in the village of Favios. We were met by a very nice young man named Mohammed, who took us to what is best described as a bread demonstration center. There, an older Portuguese woman showed us how she makes bread. It’s not really the making but the dividing it into pieces and then putting it in the oven. We also got to taste the bread (which was nowhere near as good as the bread we have been getting on the ship) and ask questions. There weren’t a lot of questions, so we moved on.
After our bread demo, we headed to the Favios Museum of Bread and Muscatel. Seriously, they have a very well-conceived, four-room museum that is beautifully graphically designed for their village’s two main products. A young lady named Vanessa gave us the tour, and then we were back on the bus to visit a Muscatel winery about three miles away.
To be honest, I am about wineryed out by this point. And since I have no interest in Muscatel tasting, this was kind of a flat stop for me. But others seemed to enjoy it, so no complaints on my part. Besides, it was a quick (less than 30 minutes) stop, and then we were off to lunch at a local winery. Lunch was OK (nothing like we would have had on the ship—but more traditional?), and in a little more than an hour, we were on our way back to the boat. Here are the pictures I took in Favios. If you like bread or wine, these might interest you. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
The first thing we saw getting out of the bus was this girl’s school. The boy’s school was at the other end of the block.
Mohammed introduces the baker.
And cuts up the dough.
Mohammed gets excited about the final product.
And the baker puts more in the fire.
Outside on the way to the museum, I got a couple of shots of Favios.
Including this watcher on the balcony. He was keeping an eye on the tourists.
Great streets in Favios.
Vanessa runs the museum.
Some great scenery in wine country.
Dogs were everywhere and allowed to run (and sleep) freely.
Our host at the Muscael winery.
Shows us the steel tanks.
Outside was this great mural of the winery’s founder.
Off to lunch at another winery.
Where the grape vines were changing colors….
….and they had pretty evil looking fountain…
…as well as a very cool pickup truck.
I love old trucks.
After we were back on board, the boat headed down the river through one of the locks the boat had gone through on the way up the river, but most of us had missed it when we were visiting Castela Rodrigo a few days before. That’s one of the best parts of this cruise. If you miss something on the river, they ensure you sail through that part on the way back while you are onboard so you can see it. Took a bunch of photos on that part of the trip as well. You know the drill.
Headed back down I decided to get Kathleen this villa for her birthday.
And of course I love a train so when this multi-colored one went by, you get a photo.
Entering the lock we missed.
The captain ready to guide it in.
It’s going to be a tight squeeze.
We are at the top of the dam and the river is far below us.
Getting shut in.
This is a guillotine lock. That means it goes up and down to let us through.
When it opens and the ship moves under it, you get drenched if you are out in the open.
We have now descended and are making our way out of the lock.
Another Viking boat is coming in to go upriver.
We find ourselves facing two bridges.
And pass another boat before we make a quick stop….
at Régua to pick up folks who went on an optional excursion.
Five of our group went off to find a Pharmacia where we could get cold meds. On the way, I saw these doors.
And found my way back to the ship.
That about covers our day in Favios. For a glimpse of what is yet to come, tomorrow is all about being on the river because we skipped the excursion (it was more monasteries and cathedrals) and had a glorious sunny day sailing west on the Douro into Porto. See you then.
Wine hath drowned more men than the sea. —Thomas Fuller
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
One of the most challenging things for me when posting while on a trip is finding time to process photos and write. It is twice as difficult on a river cruise because there are no sea days. This means that all my photo processing and writing must be done first thing in the morning (like it is right now when it is 4:30 am in Portugal or between activities). Day two was a good example. We cruised the river on our first truly beautiful morning day. Then, we had lunch and went off to the Castelo Rodrigo. We didn’t return until about 15 minutes before the port talk for the next day and dinner. By then, I would just be too exhausted to write or process photos. And guess what? I have a cold. Yes, the deadly travel cold has caught up with me again. And that sucks. Last night (Monday), I slept on the couch in our suite’s living room. It was not fun, but I had to do it because I coughed most of the night, and Kathleen needed her sleep after yesterday’s full-day trip to Salamanca, Spain. More about that tomorrow.
But that means I was up early and can start this post. Not that I will finish it today because we are off on another shore excursion at 8:15 this morning, and we are not back on the ship until 3:45. Then it’s a short time to work, attend the port talk for tomorrow, have dinner and go to bed. It’s crazy busy, and if it weren’t for the cold, I would love it.
But back to day two. Here are my photos of our float up the river. I think I went overboard because the blue sky and sun were so incredible to see three days of nothing but rain. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Dawn is breaking and it’s going to be beautiful.
My kind of sky.
My kind of reflection.
I am loving the promise of a good day and a great sky.
And that means more photos of houses….
…and villages…
…bridges…
…and if you look in the back of this photo, an ENORMOUS dam on Douro tributary.
This blue house really stood out in a world of brown and beige and rocks.
Oh, I forgot about the train.
And the heron.
And the cliffs.
And just the beauty of the river.
At places, the river was very wide.
At others the river that got VERY narrow.
Especiallly leading up to this lock.
Just above the lock.
Going into the lock.
Not as high as the one we hit the day before in the rain.
But still, crazy high.
This one was tough to get into because of the angle it was built on. The captain checks his side here.
We are going up…
And we are out.
Looking back at the damn.
And forward to more beauty.
We passed under a very low bridge when everyone had to be off the top deck.
To find another peaceful stretch of river beyond it.
This one really reminded me of Tuscany.
Especially with the tall trees.
Wineries were everywhere.
The river is great for reflections.
Especially with something like a bridge to reflect.
Or a beautiful sky.
Or even another river boat.
The river narrows again.
As you can see…the Douro can get VERY narrow.
Castelo Rodrigo
This castle/fort was first built by the Romans, then rebuilt by the Portuguese and then rebuilt again and again by whoever was in charge at the time. Different kings made different additions. Today, it is a hilltop town and a UNESCO World Heritage site where somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 people still live. The castle itself is in ruins, and the village reminds me a lot of Ez, the French hilltop town near Nice. We have toured there twice and loved it. One of the significant differences is that the people who used to live there got tired of going all the way up the hill, so they started a village at the bottom of the hill. So now the people who still live there are very old, and as they pass, no one moves in to take their place.
Luckily for me, a place that old combined with a gorgeous blue sky makes for perfect photography conditions. So here are some photos of the castle and the village around it. As well as one of the valley below. I will try and impart some additional info in the captions.
Mariana, our Viking Guide for the entire week shows us how a piece of cork looks after harvesting.
The top of the old castle.
More castle ruins.
More castle ruins.
Inside the church.
Our guide pointed out this strange statue that is totally out of proportion.
And this one of St. Pincushion.
The town’s tiny church. Still in use today.
There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds. — Gilbert K. Chesterton
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
This was another long day—a very long day. Mike had found us an outstanding tour guide who would take us north to see two incredible places: the monastery at El Escorial and the town (with castle and more) of Segovia.
To start the day, I slept in. I know—me? Sleeping in? Well, it was only until 5:45, but that’s late for me. What was GREAT for me was getting a full night’s sleep after waking up the day before at 1:45 a.m. But that’s why your post for yesterday was delayed.
We met for breakfast at the hotel at 8:00, were picked up by our wonderful driver, Guillermo, at 9:00 and were off in Madrid traffic to our destinations today—the monastery at El Escorial and the town of Segovia. Word of warning here: I took a lot of photos yesterday, and I could not decide which ones I liked the most, so you will be seeing a lot of them.
Guillermo got us to the monastery on time, and our guide for the day, Coral, met us. Her name is Coral (like reefs are made from), but it is pronounced like the OK Corral. No matter how her name sounded, she was excellent. And we had her for the entire day (except lunch), making our experience more personal and engaging.
I could spend a lot of time telling you about the monastery, but it would be easier if you were interested in its significance in Spanish history and checked out their website by clicking here. I will give you the rundown through my photos, and hopefully, that will intrigue you enough to get you to research a little more or perhaps be lucky enough to tour it with Coral someday. So, without further ado, here’s El Escorial in my photos with captions. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
We arrived to find the monastery draped in fog.
But I kind of like the spooky look.
Right inside the door you can see in the previous photos is this courtyard…
…decorated with the usual bunch of…
…interesting, Spanish statues…that seem to have an attitude all their own.
Then we went into the basilica itself..
It is magnificent. This is the enormous organ that was exactly the same on both sides of the church.
The ceiling (as are many ceilings in Europe) was exquisite.
The details is amazing. I thought it was one of the best ceilings I had seen until…
We went upstairs to the library.
Talk about incredibly vivid colors.
We learned that painter, Luca Giordano painted (as did DaVinci) with both hands.
I don’t care how many he used…
…this is incredible.
Here’s some of the beauty close up.
Amazing.
In another room, more of the same.
What a ceiling.
And now down to the crypt where most Spanish monarchs are buried. The first group are the queens who died childless.
Then the graves of royal children who died at birth or while young.
Sad but amazing.
Next different queens and consorts that had produced heirs.
Followed by some special royal family members who got their own special tombs.
So many dead people, so little time.
We then moved up to other rooms in the monastery where we saw this puzzle box.
And a lengthy hallway filled with paintings of a battle or a war…Steve asked but I am still not sure what the answer was.
Zooming in.
A close up of the previous photo.
Back outside the fog was starting to lift.
And blue sky was showing above the monastery.
I need to mention that the most amazing room (for me) was down a narrow, winding set of stairs to the actual burial chamber of the most important Kings and Queens of Spain. No photography was allowed from the time we started down the stairs until we came back up again, but I did steal this photo online so you could see what you missed.
If you’re interested at all, please make sure to click the link to the monastery I posted above.
After we finished touring the monastery, it was time to travel to Segovia, where we would have lunch next to a Roman aqueduct and see the most fantastic castle. The ride from El Escorial to Segovia took about 45 minutes (the ride from Madrid to El Escorial had taken about an hour with traffic). Coral did not come with us in the van but said she would meet us at the restaurant right after lunch.
When we arrived in Segovia, we were going to lunch at Mesón de Candido, a very old restaurant…probably the most famous in Segovia because it sat right at the bottom of the Roman aqueduct. At this point, it is time for some aqueduct and Segovia square photos because words can’t describe it. Maybe my captions can.
It is just an amazing site.
From both sides.
Looking either way.
Mesón de Cándido. The aqueduct is just barely to the left of this photo.
Looking back up the stairs to the center of the village.
A view between two of the pillars.
After lunch, the rains came back…but only for a few moments.
Lunch was wonderful. We ate outside. The only drawback to eating outside in Spain is the smoke. Cigarettes are still prevalent here, especially when around Asian tour groups who seem to have no problem surrounding you with smokers. We were seated under umbrellas in the square, and at one point, when it started drizzling, non-customer tourists surrounded us, many smoking like chimneys. It’s kind of a sad way to ruin a good meal.
After lunch, Coral found us again, and we told her how truly impressive the Segovian aqueduct was to us, and she said, “Just wait.” She wasn’t kidding. Our next stop was a short break to an incredible site below the Alcázar de Segovia castle. This was an authentic medieval castle, but when you see it, you start thinking that maybe someone in Segovia ordered up a Hollywood castle, just like you would see in the movies. Well, it’s not a set. It’s real, and it’s incredible. Not only was the castle impressive, but from there, the views in every direction were astounding. (I know, that’s a lot of superlatives, but look at the photos and tell me I am exaggerating.) Here are the rest of the shots I took in front and inside this amazing edifice.
Once we got in front of the castle, the skies just blew me away.
And you could see them beautifully beind the village.
With the tower of the basilica framing them, just perfect.
See what I mean.
Amazing stuff.
Sorry for so many cloud photos.
It also shows you the weather to the north.
It looked cold and dark.
But wait until I have gotten sick of photographing clouds.
And villages to give you a view in the other direction.
The castle…in the sunshine.
And views in the opposite direction.
The castle demands your complete attention.
From every direction and distance.
But still behind you is the amazing village.
But that castle…
Looking down into the left side of the moat.
And the right side.
And up to a glorious blue sky.
And inside to the armory.
And beautifully tiled rooms.
With incredible stained glass.
Ceilings that went on forever.
Some with Moorish influence.
Finally to the actual room where Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella.
The view from the back of the castle.
Reminded me of Tuscany.
This painting of Isabella was impressive.
As was this ceiling.
And ths statuary just beneath it.
All kings but these three.
And more Tuscan-like views.
And amazing altar pieces.
Parapets leading to the smaller towers.
The original city wall can be seen where the modern dirt has slid away.
Below were the formal gardens.
Looking back as we left.
Another tower peeking out.
A group of girls decided this was the perfect place for a fashion photo shoot. Really?
Ah, that village again.
And exiting the castle, the village came into view again.
All I can say to sum up this wonderful day is WOW! From start to finish, we had a fantastic time. A great driver, a very comfortable van (not a “luxury motor coach”), a superb tour guide, a great lunch and so many incredible sights. It was just a totally WOW day.
In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world. — Federico Garcia Lorca
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
So far on this trip, I have been a very frustrated photographer. It’s not that I haven’t been able to take any photos. On the contrary, I have taken more than 1,000. But what is frustrating is that I have been unable to do my early morning photo walks and get pictures when the light is at its best. Regular readers know I love to shoot during the “blue hour” and the “golden hour.” Well, those barely exist in Madrid or in all of Spain because of a little-known time anomaly. It seems that sometime in the past, the Spaniards were trying to make peace with the British and one of the things they did to show how much they loved all things British was put themselves in the same time zone as Great Britain when actually they should be about a time zone and a half further east. So, if you fly straight north from here, you would be in Warsaw, Poland, but the time here correlates to London. This means that sunrise today was around 8:30 am. That’s too late for me to be out shooting photos when we have to be heading our on tours at 9:00. Yesterday, I was about a mile away and thought it was still around 6:30, and it turned out to be 7:50, and I was supposed to meet the rest of the group for breakfast at 8:00. YIKES…so I walked really fast and barely made it back—only a little late. Let me toss in the early morning shots I did get right here. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
The Four Seasons Hotel. According to their sign, one of the top 50 hotels in the world.
Another building with horses on top.
And a street scene
And another street scene
And another.
And another.
The place for the best hot chocolate and churros in Madrid
A clothing store for the Wicked fans.
The bear and the strawberry tree. Our meeting place for our tour later on.
After we finished the breakfast that I was late for; it was time to leave the hotel for a one-of-a-kind Madrid experience—churros and chocolate. We had heard (YouTube videos) that there were two places famous for their churros and the hot chocolate you dip them into. The oldest and most famous is Chocolatería San Ginés. I found it on my early morning walk, so I led the gang down to try out the churros dipped in what is pretty much melted chocolate. It was awesome. But on the way down, Kathleen’s knee and neuropathy started giving her problems, so she and I walked back up to the hotel (the nearest Uber or Bolt was 20 minutes away) while the rest of the group walked ahead to find our guide for the day.
Speaking of walking, I did a lot of walking yesterday. My Map My Walk/Run app shows that I walked more than ten miles. Some of my walking was for exercise and photography reasons, but we had also booked a walking tour of Madrid through a company called The Tour Guy.
The Tour Guy company is a tour broker who books tours with different companies worldwide to do tours in a particular place…in this case, Madrid. Mike had used them before in other locations. Those who have read my posts in the past, you know that I am a massive fan of Tours by Locals, but since Mike had booked with them before, we went with them. I made the booking because if you are booking with The Tour Guy for the first time, you get a discount.
Our tour was assigned to a company called Touring Pandas. Even though we got a local guide, I did some checking this morning and the tour company we were brokered out to is based in Korea. That in itself is interesting.
I say all this to preface that we had a good tour guide. Her name was Taylor, and she is from Newcastle, England. She spoke with a beautiful British accent and has lived in Madrid for four years. She knew all about the city and shared great tips with us for food and drink after the tour.
The two anchor spots of this tour (places you really want to see and learn more about) are the Royal Palace and the Prado Art Museum. So we started by walking around, catching fun and exciting parts of Madrid between our meeting spot in the Puerta Del Sol and our big morning stop, the Palace. Everything was great right up until that point.
Then, the big surprise. Taylor told us that after we got in (with our pre-paid tickets—buy yours before you go because otherwise, the wait is very long), we could rent audio guides that would take us through the entire Palace. Mike said, “Well, we won’t need those since you will give us a live tour.” Taylor said, “No, I don’t come in with you. I’ll leave you here to tour the Palace and then have lunch on your own. I will meet you in a park on the other side of Madrid at 3:00 pm. We will tour the park, and then I will take you to the Prado, where you have pre-reserved tickets, and you will tour The Prado on your own as well.” You could have knocked me over with a feather. I know Mike was surprised as well. We had paid for an eight-hour tour (it says that on our reservation), but this meant we were getting about a three-hour tour.
That’s different from what we were looking for. We wanted what we had the day before with Fernando in Toledo: a guide who was with us from the time we got out of our van until we finished at the end of the day, who took us into museums and cathedrals and didn’t just drop us off outside of them.
But when Taylor arrived on time, she told us a lot about the Plaza del Sol, where the tour started, and the Bear and Strawberry Tree statue where we met. Then we left the plaza and headed towards Plaza Mayor, The Mercado, the Basilica, and finally winding up at the Palace, where we had tickets to the tour that I mentioned above. At this point, I was feeling bad about Kathleen being stuck in the hotel all by herself, and I knew she wouldn’t want to go out to lunch alone, so I decided to buzz through the Palace fairly quickly and head back to the hotel to take her out to lunch somewhere near the hotel while the rest of the group took a leisurely stroll through on their tour. Here are my photos from the morning part of the tour and my zoom through the Palace (the photo at the top of this page is the Spanish throne room). Enjoy, and you know the drill.
A very happy cow on a door next to our hotel.
The Tio Pepe sign, a Madrid icon.
And a statue in the square. Or should I say that every plaza has a statue?
There were signs like this on many buildings, indicating that a famous person had lived there once.
Loved this hotel, one of Madrid’s oldest.
Taylor, our guide.
Street signs in Madrid have related art. This is Elbow Street.
Not sure what kind of business this store does but all they sell is statues of people doing this in various sizes.
Restaurants with a plaque on the sidewalk outside of them have been there for 100 years or more.
A dog outside the Palace.
A great view of the Basilica.
And lion with attitude that I liked.
Inside the Palace, a statue of the inbred king. Too many married cousins in his lineage.
The massive staircase in the Palace.
The grand dining room
Palace Art.
Palace Room.
Another interesting Palace Room.
The Royal Family portrait a few years ago. The older man was the king. He has now abdicated to his son, the tall man on the right.
I should say that it was INCREDIBLY difficult to buzz through the Palace because it has a lot of choke points where the thousands of Asian tour groups just seemed to stop to listen to their guide in their earpieces…but at least they had a guide.
After I finally got out of there, I was off to the hotel and surprised Kathleen by taking her to an Italian place just down the block from the hotel so she didn’t have to walk very far. We had a nice lunch, and then after I got her back to the hotel, I walked off to meet up with Taylor and the rest of the gang at El Retiro Park, which is Madrid’s answer to New York’s Central Park. It is truly a beautiful place, as I hope you will see in my photos. By the way, the weather yesterday was hit or miss. It started out OK, switched to cloudy and cool, the sun finally came out, and within 20 minutes, it was threatening rain again. Go figure.
When I got to El Retiro Park, Taylor walked us around, saying she would take us to the Prado and drop us off there. To be honest, at that point I had been up since 1:30 am, I had walked more than nine miles and I am not that big a fan of Spanish art. So I bid my farewells and walked my way back to the hotel. The other four of our group had a very nice time seeing the Prado and made it back in time for all of us to go out for tapas at another place down the street. They have excellent food and what has become a favorite drink, vermouth on the rocks with lemon. We are sitting on our bed at the hotel (after our day—today—in Segovia—more about that tomorrow), drinking two of them. Let’s finish up our day in Madrid with my afternoon photos. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Saw this group of street musicians on the way back to meet the group in El Retiro Park.
And this lion.
And these cherubs.
They each represent a different virtue of childhood.
Darned if I can remember which virtue.
But they are kind of cool.
Taylor told us this is the “Galapagos Fountain” because the famous Galapagos turtles are in it. Except it’s Galapagos tortoises.
A beautiful, man-made created by a king to hold mock naval battles.
A lion protecting the lake.
Another view.
This musician plays music by rubbing glasses. He was playing the theme from Harry Potter.
But he sneaked a look at me when I tipped him. Always tip your models.
The artichoke fountain.
Another great Spanish statue with attitude.
I used to have friends who owned a store called The Black Swan. I thought it was a myth.
Madrid’s version of the Arc de Triumph.
And the statues around it.
And lastly…the Metropolis Hotel.
That about did it for our day in Madrid. Today (I am writing this at about 8:00 pm on Tuesday), we were in Segovia, and it was AWESOME! We fly to Lisbon tomorrow to start our Viking portion of the trip tomorrow. More about all of that soon.
I never heard anyone say anything bad about Madrid. —Antonio Ruddier
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 13, 2024 | Uncategorized
I know. How can anyone be transfixed by Toledo? When it’s Toledo, Spain, that’s easy. Yesterday, that was our destination. Mike had arranged a tour through Destina Toledo for a full day excursion to Toledo, including round-trip transportation to and from our hotel here in Madrid and one of the best guides we have ever toured with (and that’s a lot of guides!).
We were waiting at the door of the hotel’s breakfast room when it opened at 8:00 a.m., had another excellent breakfast, got our stuff, and our driver met us right outside the hotel. It’s around a one-hour drive without traffic to Toledo, and since it was fairly early on a Sunday morning, we didn’t have any traffic at all. So quick as a flash, we were pulling into Toledo, where we met our incredible guide, Fernando.
Fernando and our driver did a wonderful job mixing touring in our luxury Mercedes van with walking. This really helps in a city built on a hill. Kathleen told me that when she first saw the city from far away, she was sure that she would be spending most of the day in the van. But it worked out reasonably well, and her knee was able to handle the walking that we did. It was pretty sore when we got back, so she iced it up and took her pain pill, and hopefully, she will be OK for today’s tour of Madrid.
When we met Fernando, he first suggested we hop out of the van and take photos of the entrance gate to the city. That’s the photo you see at the top of this post. Then it was back in the van and up the hill to two incredible viewpoints. One that showed us the Tagus River as it wound around the outside of Toledo, forming a natural moat-like boundary that repelled many a historical enemy of the city. Then, it was to a hill where the entire city was visible. Of course, Fernando was also willing to be our photographer by taking the whole group’s photo with this amazing city in the background. 
Here are a few more photos I took at these first two stops. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Our first stop was below the city along the Tagus River
There was an area below the parking spot where I went to get his photo of the group.
The amazing Fernando relates some Toledo history to my little brother.
Looking down the river from this viewpoint.
And back up to the city again.
And again.
And again.
There are so many different ways to view the city from this point.
Then, we headed up to the overlook above the city.
Where the views were spectacular.
We would later tour this cathedral.
Looking down at some ancient Roman ruins.
Fernando told us that this section of the city was the most important because his mother-in-law lives there.
People fish in the river, but swimming is prohibited due to pollution. Not sure I want to eat those fish.
But even though the water is muddy, it is still beautiful.
Fernando explains the geography to a rapt audience.
Of course, we had to take an usie.
After our viewpoint stops, we headed back down the hill on the opposite side to begin our walking tour through the Jewish Quarter of old Toledo. It included some pretty interesting stuff: a Jewish synagogue, Jesus playing with his hula-hoop, a statue in white face, the world’s largest (as verified by the Guinness Book of World Records) marzipan statue and an art museum with a single painting by Toledo’s native son—El Greco. I think I can say this part a whole lot better in photos. You know my spiel. No phones! Slide show…etc.
Our next stop was further down the river next to a very old bridge.
It leads into the upper part of the city.
Very picturesque!
In many ways.
While on the bridge, the sun hit this building on the hill next to us just perfectly.
After crossing the bridge it was back in the car and further up the hill to a church where we saw these shackles depicting free slaves on the outside of a church.
We also saw an unusual statue of Jesus playing with a hula-hoop.
And a repaired statue in white-face.
The walls of the old Jewish synagogue were painted in this pattern.
And the ceiling was simple but complex.
Further up the road we stopped at another church.
This was above the altar.
The dome was beautiful.
This one had some interesting decorations.
Including this captioned saint on what looks like an old billboard.
Some interesting statuary.
As well as an ancient tablet.
Hiking down on our way to lunch, we passed this villa that I took a liking to.
We visited a bakery where we saw this Don Quixote sculpture, made completely from marzipan.
And this long bricked street (yes, street!)
El Greco’s “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.” A single painting in a one-painting museum.
After all that touring, we were getting pretty hungry, and to our total amazement (and Fernando’s skill), we wound up standing in front of the restaurant where I had made our lunch reservations at exactly 1:00 pm when they opened. The place is called Clandestine. We were quickly seated, met our server Jamie, and began a lunch that I will rank among this year’s top ten dining experiences. The eatery had come from a recommendation the tour company had sent us before, so we were still determining what to expect, but we got more food, wine and laughter than we deserved. There was so much food that no one ate again for the rest of that day and night. We were too full. We started with a beautiful Spanish rioja. The wine, which we intend to look for at home, was perfect. It was so perfect that we had to order another bottle. They then brought us a bowl of some of the best Spanish olives we have ever had and some whole-grain bread that we could dip into their incredible olive oil (at that point, the olive oil was the star of my meal). Jamie (the waiter—not to be confused with my sister-in-law Jamie) made some great recommendations, and we wound up with some superb entrées. Check out the photos below. Feel free to look at any of our food shots on your phone. That’s how we took them. Oh, and the desserts (which we split) were also excellent.
It’s an amazing wine. If you are serving Spanish food, you must find this wine.
Steve and Mike had the Boar Cheeks.
Kathleen, Jamie and I had the pork. OMG—that sauce.
Then, Steve and Jamie’s dessert, which the restaurant called french toast, was like eating a single piece of bread pudding.
Mike, Cathy, Kathleen and I tried the Manchego cheesecake. I have never had anything like it.
After lunch, it was down the hill to visit our last stop, the main cathedral of Toledo. This was the highlight for Mike because he loves taking pictures of churches. My other best friend (hi Bob) and I love kidding him about all the church photos. If you don’t believe me, wait until we are back and he posts his review/report of this trip, and you will see what I mean. I promise to come back and tell you when he does so you can see more of this incredible church. In the meantime, here are a few photos from your humble photographer ?.
On the way to the cathedral we passed…
this beautiful sculpture at the top of a building…
these three beautiful women standing in the street…
…a nice view of a another church…
a very cool street musician…
another lovely Toledo street…
…a really cool but really BIG door.
How big? My brother is holding the knocker.
And finally the square where we can see the capitol building and if we turn around…
…the processional entrance to the cathedral.
With some interesting sculptures.
With my long lens, I like doing close ups of interesting parts of the sculptures.
For instance, this depiction of The Last Supper.
With Judas and his bag of money.
And these two bishops…doesn’t the guy on the right seem surprised by what’s in the book?
And a beutiful bell tower.
Andems. the church to go along with it.
And some really fun lions.
And then we were inside.
With the many religous artifacts.
Some incredibly impressive.
Stained glass everywhere. This one above the ceremonial door.
Other beautiful art.
Maybe the most beautiful monstrance I have ever seen.
The main altar was behind locked gates. Mike will have a better photo.
This was above the choir loft.
A close up of it.
Also above the choir loft was this immense pipe organ.
Inside the sacristy.
Where there is also a huge El Greco painting.
This is an incredible window with sculptures all around it, letting in light to shine on the back of the altar area.
Truly amazing.
This is where the light from that window shines.
After we were done inside (we were there for more than an hour), we went back outside to the square behind the cathedral to wait for our driver to pick us up. While we were waiting, there were throngs of people all around us, and with nothing better for me to do, I engaged in one of my favorite things—street photography. So here I present random shots of people who, one day (long after I am gone), my kids will wonder, “Who the hell are these people?” ?.
Sorry, no captions. Just the faces of Toledo visitors. Some I liked more than others, but all were good subjects. I took about three times as many as you see here. And one fellow perfectly typified how we all felt at the end of our very long day in Toledo. And here he is. 
We got back to Madrid between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., and I made the mistake of trying to work through all my photos and then falling asleep before 7:30 (I think we are all still adjusting to the time change). However, that turned out OK because I woke up at 2:00 a.m., finished the photos and wrote this post.
In summary, if you come to Madrid, go to Toledo, be guided by Fernando, have lunch at Clandestine, ask to sit at Jamie’s table, drink the right rioja, and take some great photos, you will (as we did) have had an awesome day.
Spain is a fascinating mix of people, languages, culture and food, but if there is one thing all Spaniards share, it’s a love of food and drink. —Jose Andres
