Keith overheard a tour guide saying , "There are eighty churches for about ten thousand people". I guess that is one explanation for the expression “Holy Toledo!” and it really does feel like there is a church around every other street corner. Toledo is a fortified town perched on a hill, surrounded on three sides by the Rio Tajo. We caught the bus from camp and got off at Plaza Zodocover, the town's main square. Being on a hill, we planned our visit for the day to go from the top of the town back downhill to the main gates. Our first and primary sight of the day was the great cathedral, arguably Spain’s best. I wasn’t expecting much because we have seen some spectacular cathedrals and churches already on our trip but I was pleasantly surprised. At this point on our trip, I’m reluctant to pay to visit a cathedral since we’ve seen so many amazing ones for free but I must say that the entry fee and audio guide for Toledo’s top sight were well worth it. The cathedral is not impressive from the outside simply because it is squeezed in among shops and houses that surround it on all sides and prevent you from admiring its grandeur from a distance.

Audioguides in hand, we entered the cathedral and from start to finish (almost two hours later), we were wowed. What particularly appealed to me was that this cathedral was a work of art and a great place to see so many different architectural styles in a single building. Built over nearly 250 years (1226-1495) with continuous embellishments, it is a mix of styles including Gothic, Renaissance, Mudejhar and Baroque. What made it even more enjoyable to visit was that we got to go into the choir area, check out side chapels and get up close to the altar. The cathedral stands on the site of a mosque but today the only trace of Moorish influence within the cathedral are some ceilings, done in Mudehhar style. The church’s sacristy was open to tourists and we got to see an impressive collection of masterpieces, mostly those by El Greco. There was another adjacent room that displayed the robes and garments worn by various archbishops over the years. We then wandered over to the choir and main altar area, both of which were extremely impressive. I particularly enjoyed gazing at the intricately carved wooden (walnut) seats in the choir with two very modern looking pipe organs above them. There was stained glass throughout but the highlights were definitely the choir and the altar. The intricate wood carvings on doors and ceilings, the majestic columns, rib-shaped vaults, flying buttresses and exterior gothic façade were also all impressive in their own right and made this a must-see cathedral in Europe for us.

After completing our tour of the cathedral, we checked out a few lunch menus and settled on one just behind the cathedral that came recommended in our guide book. Before our lunch stop, we visited a museum that housed some more El Greco paintings and an interesting tile and ceramic display. This region of Spain is known for its game and the menu had quite a few regional specialities to offer. Between the three of us, we had: a garlic soup with ham, egg & bread, venison pasta (pasta with venison bolognaise) , grilled pork with red and green peppers and potatoes, venison stew with potatoes and carrots and for dessert, cheesecake with strawberry sauce. My favourite dishes were the delicious soup, venison stew (reminded me of bourginon) and the cheesecake (extremely light cheese that had almost a mousse-like consistency). We savoured our meals and polished off every plate, mopping up the sauces with our bread rolls. We all really enjoyed our meals in the restaurant’s spacious and relaxing ambience, but we all agreed that yesterday’s lunch in Segovia still came out on top overall.

Post lunch, we wandered through the old town making our way downhill towards the city’s main gate. We stopped along the way at a few viewpoints and also to admire the architecture of various buildings. The winding streets of the town can be quite confusing but Megs had our route all figured out and we were never lost. It wasn’t a long walk and we were soon at the gates we had entered the city through earlier this morning. There was a series of escalators (about four or five in a row) leading back up into town and we hopped on the first two just for kicks. The bus ride had only taken us about 15 minutes this morning and since the sun was shining, we decided to walk back to camp. As we crossed the Rio Tajo, we were offered impressive views back on Toledo. We were back at camp in about twenty minutes and were actually quite warm after our walk. We sat out at a picnic table in the sun and enjoyed a cold drink while we played a few more rounds of cards. It had been a very enjoyable day in Toledo – great sights and delicious food - and it would definitely be a city that we’d look forward to visiting again.