01-22-2016, 01:24 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-22-2016, 01:34 PM by Drunk Monk.)
Not even. I just posted Sangrada Familia pix just now. I'm only part way through my Barcelona pix on fb.
But on to Toledo.
If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would spend more time in Toledo. What a wonderful place. It's a walled city, surrounded by a river that makes for a natural moat, a labyrinthian maze of medieval alleys. We only had a short day until we had to catch the commuter train back so we hopped one of those tourist buses, the double-decker open-roofed kind, and it took us for a spectacular ride around the city until dropping us off right in the heart of it. Every store window was filled with swords. Tara and Stacy raised their eyebrows at me, but were soon enchanted by the architecture as well. Toledo is a magical place - quixotic comes to mind as this is the land of Don Quixote, and El Greco. We visited the Gothic Cathedral, our first in Spain, and were blown away by the art and architecture - so inspirational that it almost made me want to take communion, to go to Catholic school, to wear one of those cute little Catholic school skirts...no wait, not even. Don't get your hopes up. Toledo's cathedral has an art gallery that holds Goya's masterpiece, El Expolio (the disrobing of Christ), which is arguably his greatest work. The color of Christ's red robe in contrast to the rest of the composition just glows. I kept looking at the Cathedral's pipe organ longingly. The pipe organ is my favorite instrument - built into the building, you just can't get that sound any other way. But there was not service and we were just tourists.
Now 99% of the swords of Toledo are wallhangers, the kind of faux crap sold everywhere, in cigar shops and head shops and curio stores. Most of it is Marto forge, which is crap. But there are a few swordmakers that maintain Toledo's grand tradition that dates back to 500 BCE. Muella forge is known for their huge knives of pattern-welded steel. Then there's Mariano Zamorano, Toledo's certified living treasure. We found his shop, but it was closed. I never made an appointment like it said to do on his website, so we headed off to find lunch (found this crazy Euro place with nomalicious salad, salmon and pizza). When we swung back, Zamorano's was open! Master Zamorano must have recognized a kindred spirit, despite my crummy Spanish, as he personally took me on a tour of his shopand let me shoot pix where photography was forbidden. He is the 4th generation of swordmakers in his family and the shop has stood in that location for over a century and a half. And it looks just like the Armoury used to - piles of dusty blades and sword parts on cluttered workbenches, one huge dirty grinder room, a wall of magnificent blades displayed somewhat haphazardly. I was honored to meet Zamorano and I wish my Spanish was stronger so we could have really talked. Toledo gift stores are filled with treasures, not just swords, but signature Damascened metal work, particularly jewelry and small boxes, gorgeous stuff in their detail. We all wished we had bought souvenirs there (later both Stacy and Tara got Toledo jewelry which was available all over Spain). The best part was many of these gift stores had salas de armas - rooms dedicated to swords. Sadly, they never permitted photography. I was in this one that was a basement hall that was easily 40 feet long, with walls packed full of sword racks - hundreds if not over a thousand blades. I would have loved to take a selfie in there. 90% was crap, but I could sniff out that top shelf 10% quickly. Unfortunately I spent my time unwisely and didn't manage to get to the military museum until after it closed (although I'm told it's mostly modern stuff in there - I'm consoling myself with that thought, although surely there must be examples of Toledo swords there too).
Watching the sunset from the city walls, we are all sad to leave. It ranked up in the top three experiences for all of us. If you go to Madrid, don't miss the museums and don't miss Toledo.
From there, we went to Barcelona...
But on to Toledo.
If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would spend more time in Toledo. What a wonderful place. It's a walled city, surrounded by a river that makes for a natural moat, a labyrinthian maze of medieval alleys. We only had a short day until we had to catch the commuter train back so we hopped one of those tourist buses, the double-decker open-roofed kind, and it took us for a spectacular ride around the city until dropping us off right in the heart of it. Every store window was filled with swords. Tara and Stacy raised their eyebrows at me, but were soon enchanted by the architecture as well. Toledo is a magical place - quixotic comes to mind as this is the land of Don Quixote, and El Greco. We visited the Gothic Cathedral, our first in Spain, and were blown away by the art and architecture - so inspirational that it almost made me want to take communion, to go to Catholic school, to wear one of those cute little Catholic school skirts...no wait, not even. Don't get your hopes up. Toledo's cathedral has an art gallery that holds Goya's masterpiece, El Expolio (the disrobing of Christ), which is arguably his greatest work. The color of Christ's red robe in contrast to the rest of the composition just glows. I kept looking at the Cathedral's pipe organ longingly. The pipe organ is my favorite instrument - built into the building, you just can't get that sound any other way. But there was not service and we were just tourists.
Now 99% of the swords of Toledo are wallhangers, the kind of faux crap sold everywhere, in cigar shops and head shops and curio stores. Most of it is Marto forge, which is crap. But there are a few swordmakers that maintain Toledo's grand tradition that dates back to 500 BCE. Muella forge is known for their huge knives of pattern-welded steel. Then there's Mariano Zamorano, Toledo's certified living treasure. We found his shop, but it was closed. I never made an appointment like it said to do on his website, so we headed off to find lunch (found this crazy Euro place with nomalicious salad, salmon and pizza). When we swung back, Zamorano's was open! Master Zamorano must have recognized a kindred spirit, despite my crummy Spanish, as he personally took me on a tour of his shopand let me shoot pix where photography was forbidden. He is the 4th generation of swordmakers in his family and the shop has stood in that location for over a century and a half. And it looks just like the Armoury used to - piles of dusty blades and sword parts on cluttered workbenches, one huge dirty grinder room, a wall of magnificent blades displayed somewhat haphazardly. I was honored to meet Zamorano and I wish my Spanish was stronger so we could have really talked. Toledo gift stores are filled with treasures, not just swords, but signature Damascened metal work, particularly jewelry and small boxes, gorgeous stuff in their detail. We all wished we had bought souvenirs there (later both Stacy and Tara got Toledo jewelry which was available all over Spain). The best part was many of these gift stores had salas de armas - rooms dedicated to swords. Sadly, they never permitted photography. I was in this one that was a basement hall that was easily 40 feet long, with walls packed full of sword racks - hundreds if not over a thousand blades. I would have loved to take a selfie in there. 90% was crap, but I could sniff out that top shelf 10% quickly. Unfortunately I spent my time unwisely and didn't manage to get to the military museum until after it closed (although I'm told it's mostly modern stuff in there - I'm consoling myself with that thought, although surely there must be examples of Toledo swords there too).
Watching the sunset from the city walls, we are all sad to leave. It ranked up in the top three experiences for all of us. If you go to Madrid, don't miss the museums and don't miss Toledo.
From there, we went to Barcelona...
Shadow boxing the apocalypse