The heart of Castile - the winding medieval city of Toledo

The Alcazar standing tall at the entrance to Toledo
see all photos »

Everybody gets lost in Toledo. You cant help yourself - the narrow medieval streets could not be more labyrinthe if they held an actual minotaur. One will go uphill, another will go downhill and all the while you will be stepping into tiled doorways to avoid the cars in the narrow streets. But this is the real Spain - the Spain of the Moor and Conquistadore, the church and the peasant. This is where the streets are so narrow the sun doesnt reach keeping them in shadow even on the hottest day. if one city encapsultes a country then Toledo holds the very essence of Spain. The Castilean atmosphere is so strong I can hear Rodrigos "Concerto do Arunjuez" floating over the red tiled rooftops.

The mazelike streets of Toledo
see all photos »

I made a special effort to get up this morning with only four hours sleep. I caught the METRO down to Atocha, caught a cup of coffee there, and bought my ticket for a day trip out to Toledo. Atocha is one of those European stations which make travelling a pleasure. Huge windows in the enormous roof allowing sunlight to wash over a tropical forest on the concourse. Banana trees and caryatids surround a lily pond while Madrid commuters rush around them.

Toledo holds the very essence of Spain. The Castilean atmosphere is so strong I can hear Rodrigos "Concerto do Arunjuez" floating over the red tiled rooftops.

Spains most important cathedral tucked away in the maze of Toledo
see all photos »

The trip out to Toledo takes an hour and RENFE trains are very impressive. The passing countryside showed Castilla La Mancha with its scrubby hills and cornfields. This is the heartleand of Spain fought over by Moor, Visigoth and Christian. It spawned the great cities of the plain - Segovia, Avila and Salamanca. I started talking with a group of Americans who were very grumpy after a 17 flight from California. They, sticking clearly to their Rick Steves guides, were cutting out big city Madrid and heading straight for Toledo. I hadn't the heart to tell them they were missing the best bit of Spain.

We alighted at Toledos neo-Moorish station and outside was the city itself - a great brown spread of buildings on a rocky mound isolated on three sides by the looping gorge of the Rio Tajo. Every inch of this outcrop had been built upon - churches, ramparts, brown roofed houses and mosques. It looked like a great medeval ants nest overlooking the river. Broken only by the spires of the Cathedral and the fourcorner fortress of the Alcazar (castle)

A ancient bridge spans the Tajo then you must walk uphill. Cars growl up the steep gradients but some sections could only be reached on foot. Can you imagine donkeys and pack animals doing this journey in times past? The trail gets steeper and steeper finally emergy at the busy Plaza do Zocodover. Here squirming alleyways shot off in every direction. These are a good way to escape the crowds. Toledo gets alot of tourism but head off into one of the silent passages and you lose them pretty quickly.

I spent the entire day in Toledo with the Cathedral and the Alcazar being the hightlights. But it was the sense of timetravel that I enjoyed. The feel of Old Toledo so brought to life by those old alleyways. Some of them were so narrow I could touch them with my hands. Every turning I took was lined with latticed brown stone buildings and hot clattering cobbles. Eventually you blunder out at a landmark such as the Juderia or Mezquita (Toledo had a good historical mix of moors, christians and jews) or take in the view from the ramparts.

The Cathedral is one of the best I have visited in my life. And to house the Catholic primate of all Spain it has to be pretty special. Its a devil to find - tucked behind the narrow alleys. The nave is the highest I have ever seen soaring 150ft into the air. The richness of the internal decoration is incredible, a soaring nave of gothic stone with swirling baroque ornamentation underneath. The nave is lit by a set of strident stainedglass windows throwing a rainbow of colours onto the the dark floor. But the pride of the Cathedral was the Capilla which was a gargantuan altarpiece covered in shiny gilt.

The nearby Sacrista shows the accumulation of church wealth down the ages. Velasquez and El Greco looked down from the walls. And this being Madrid - correction, this being Spain the artworks had to be the best in the world.