We got a little better start on the day today. We’re still all recovering from the lack of sleep and long hours of work finishing up in Colchester.
We began with a visit to the oldest synagogue in Spain, called Santa Maria la Blanca. Which sounds a little odd for a synagogue but makes perfect sense when you know the history of these parts. The inside looks distinctly Moorish because it was designed by Mudejar architects. A beautiful and serene spot.
A little further on from the synagogue was the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. The Gothic church looked quite restrained to me and quite plain on the outside. Freakily there were chains and handcuffs and leg irons bolted, high up, to the outside walls where they dangled people, mostly Jews, as punishment. The cloister was the only part we could photograph and was very pleasant to visit with all the nesting birds and sunny weather.
We’re finally getting the hang of the Spanish time table and have taken to having our main meal in the middle of the day, 2pmish. The people in these parts eat way to late for us (mainly me I think.) I had a seafood paella today which was delicious and didn’t cause me any problems. Shopping is still a challenge and there is one near by market I still haven’t managed to visit while open. I’m still not sure when work happens given the schedule of people’s lives. Obviously it does!
Late afternoon we took the Zocotren which takes you on a 45 minute tour of Toledo and includes a trip around the valley that shows one an incredible panorama of the city. It also jiggles up your insides as you head down across the cobbled roads in not the most modern of vehicles.
Current temperature: Toledo 17C/63F, Mum’s place 17C/63F, our place 127F/53C (as reported by two different web weather services! *lol* Sounds like hell on earth to me. Or else someone has seriously hit the tipple.)