Madrid, Monday 5 October
Not a morning person, I was brought into focus with a jolt this morning. The lift doors opened for me on the ground floor at 7am and I was confronted with hundreds of tourists, most talking Spanish so the room was in full buzz and I think all of us waiting for the cue to get on a bus and amazed by (what I hope is)organised bedlam. It was crazy.
Toledo is 70km away from Madrid and has two things I was particularly interested in. The Cathedral and a painting. But first I had to get the pronunciation right (also important to get rid of my Roadrunner vision). It is pronounced here as Torlaydo (Toledo all five of them are in the States). My Spanish now improved by one word I felt definitely better prepared to visit.
On the way I learned that this area is known as the Drylands. And it is. What is interesting is that there are many forms of dry and all together the visual I had from the air when I flew in was a massive piece of camoflage (sp?) fabric: varying shades of brown, beige and cream merging to create a pattern that isn't if you see what I mean. Amongst the flat plain colours every now and again there were green spots and it took me some time to realise that these were olive trees. They are everywhere on the road side, Spain produces 40 per cent of the world's olive oil. But even then these Olive trees aren't really green so the greyness of the variety adds to the arid landscape and overall sense of depression.
The Cathedral is the richest of its kind and the third largest in the world (I am a fountain of knowledge today!). It s wealth is not demonstrated only by its outstanding architecture. It has little secrets everywhere including marbled sculptures by Michelangelo, an alter that took 27 craftsmen over two years to make and a window inset into a frescoed dome that at 12 noon solar time illuminates a different altar decorated by 103 marble angels and sends light behind the main altar (It is called El Transparente). Nor is its wealth shown in the 24 kilos of gold and precious jewels ornamenting a decorative altar piece that is under lock and key for 364 days of the year but on which 60 days after Easter Sunday (apparently this is Corpus Christi) is taken through the town of Toledo for the people of the town to enjoy and celebrate. Nor is it in the decorations in the Sacristy room - which houses El Greco’s – dozens of them. It is the combination of these things that make this Cathedral very special. Unfortunately it was a no photo zone. I wanted to transform myself into medieval Spanish gentry so I could truly understand the pleasure of attending an event at such an auspicious place (naturally I would have had to be male, they definitely had the best seats). Whatever you think about the wealth of the church (and it is hard not to consider what all the money could have done for the community of the time) the legacy of the visionaries is extraordinary.
I could easily have spent a day here oo-ing and ahh-ing but time was pressing. We walked through the hidden back streets to the main reason I was in Toledo, that was to see El Greco’s famous work ‘The Burial of Count Orgaz’ which is simply shown in all its splendor in a room under the bell tower of the local church. The painting was spectacular and with the benefit of a local guide much easier to understand the motifs and symbols and indeed the intentions of the artists. Apparently voted the third greatest masterpiece in the world by people that know such things (Rembrandts Night watch wins out that one - and I had never heard of the second one and promptly forgot it) it was well worth the E35 trip to see it and take in Toledo.
Pic is of Toledo town (I didn't do it justice though) an image made famous by El Greco in a work which shows this same view. The Alcazar is on the right and the Cathedral spire off centre to the left.
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