Toledo is inviting, a piping hot bowl of stew with flavors that shouldn’t work together, yet do. The ingredients are cooked together, in a pot sat on the same terracotta tiles that adorn the roofs of the city, warmed from the heat born from the sparks of swordsmiths.
There is this irony of threes, that exists in Toldeo. Most people know it as, or call it, the city of three cultures. When my friends and I visited the city for a day in late February, we too observed how the Islamic, Christian, and Jewish cultures each made their contributions, in the facade, food, and formalities.
This grand fortress of a city is also… marketed towards tourists in not-so-subtle ways. You can eat lunch in a restaurant with glass floors showcasing the Roman ruins below or buy a sword forged in Toledo, a collectible heirloom of some sort. Yet, not every activity, sight, and museum is overrated.
Only in Toledo can you find the Catedral Primada de Toledo, the epitome of Gothic style. Molded from limestone, it’s an impressive and intricate feat to behold. Only in Toledo can you find El Greco’s mansion, housing his paintings so rich and mesmerizing, you may wonder as did I, if the hand of man painted them at all. El Greco’s works left our eyes parched, as we stepped outside, the sky looked almost monochrome in comparison.
We stopped by a tea house later, each of us taking an Arabic tea with a Spanish coffee, another pleasure given by this city of fusions. Satisfied and warmed, we emerge from the tea house, determined to capture the last hours of waning light.
We walk through the Jewish quarter, evidenced by the menorahs and Hebrew letters embedded in the streets, and end our adventure at the river Tagus. The river cups Toledo in its palm, the stacked villas and churches reflected by the mirror-like water. The day’s end nears, and the sunset is painted in the same rich colors of the Moroccan lamps.
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