I cannot believe I’ve been in Spain for 6.5 weeks! Time truly flies when you’re having fun. The past few weekends have been reserved for travel within Spain.
February 9, my school/program took all of us to Toledo for the day. Toledo is located one hour southwest of Madrid in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha and has a population of about 83,500 citizens. Toledo is one of the most recognized names in Spanish history and for good reason; the city dates back more than 2,000 years.
Toledo has been the headquarter city for Celtic tribes, the Romans, the Visigoths, Muslims, and medieval Christian monarchies. Luckily, historic sites and buildings have been well-preserved and can be visited by tourists! What’s more, Toledo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so if you can’t get around to visiting soon, the sites will be waiting for you when you are able to visit 🙂
Key places to see/things to do in Toledo are:
- The incredible 13th century gothic cathedral. I didn’t get to go inside, but the outside is stunning.
- Alcázar of Toledo: a military fort that you can see in the above picture. It’s big structure at the top part of the hill; the plant is smack-dab in front of it. I didn’t get to go inside this either 😦
- Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes: I got to go inside this! It was built in the 15th century and features gothic architecture (heart eyes) and is still in use by Franciscan monks.
- Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca: I was super excited to see this, as it has been mentioned in the history class I am taking here. It was built in the 12th century as a synagogue in Mudéjar architectural style. Since synagogues feature two floors (main floor for men and second floor for women and children) and this one doesn’t, there is debate on the idea that it may have first been a mosque. Nevertheless, it was converted to a church in the 15th century and now serves as a museum.
- Puente de San Martín: A medieval bridge that’s hard to miss once you enter the city. It looks like it’s straight out of a King Arthur movie.
- Iglesia de Santo Tomé: Church that houses one of El Greco’s most famous paintings, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.
- Visit a sword factory: I didn’t go this time, but I know they exist and that they have been making swords for centuries.
- Find and eat marzipan: marzipan is a big deal in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain and Toledo is one of the main cities where it’s made. Marzipan is a sort of dough that’s made from almonds and sugar and baked for just a little bit. It’s a bit odd at first, but I really liked the ones we got from a café where everything is made by nuns.
The next weekend, my friends and I took a day trip to a town called Cuenca. It’s two hours east of Alcalá de Henares (my town) and is also located in Castilla-La Mancha. Cuenca is far less tourist-y than Toledo, but we wanted to go to see the Casas Colgadas (hanging houses). Cuenca was founded in the 8th century by Muslim Arabs as they began their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. In medieval times, Cuenca was incredibly important for the production of Merino wool. Today there are about 55,000 citizens and tourism is increasing as the town is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Once we got to town, we quickly found the Casas Colgadas and marveled at the landscape from an extremely tall bridge. Afterwards, we simply explored with no real itinerary. My host dad told me that Spain’s first gothic cathedral is in Cuenca, so we made a point to find it and take pictures. At lunch, I unknowingly got a bacon sandwich that was as big as my head. It only cost €4, so, score. We wandered the city and admired the medieval architecture and ended up walking 13 miles in total.
adventuresofannalee.wordpress.com 
Thanks for the tour!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person