We spent the morning roaming the old town, and we took a shortcut to get to the top of the hill - a series of 5 or 6 escalators, which were covered to keep the rain off. The escalators took us right to the provincial government building, which was probably by design, but it certainly saved us a long climb. I don't think that I mentioned yesterday that Toledo is the capital of the Castilla - La Mancha region, so we are in our 4th region of Spain.
Marty has been photographing interesting doors, but I have been more interested in the knockers. The photo below is the best set of knockers that I have seen in Spain so far, but I will keep my eyes open for anything better.
We walked in the area around the Alcazar (every town seems to have one) where we saw a large group of all ages doing "boxercise" in a plaza. It appeared to be a government sponsored program and they even had an ambulance and paramedics on hand. Seems like a good program to keep the population from getting overweight. It was easy to see why the town was built where it is, as it is a very defendable location, as you will see in the photo below from close to the Alcazar.
In the afternoon we visited a couple who are friends of Randy and Marty's daughter - Alberto (a local) and his wife, Janet (who is Canadian). Janet picked us up at our hotel in Toledo and took us back to their home in Grignon, where we ate a wonderful lunch....stuffed olives and shrimp as an appetizer, followed by soup, a main course of meat, chick peas and vegetables, then cheese and chocolate. Definitely our best meal in Spain so far. We also learned that a lot of Spaniards eat their big meal at lunch time, rather than eating a large meal after 8 pm....this may be the secret ingredient that we have been missing in our struggles to find suitable food at the right time.
Alberto and Janet, their 3 dogs and 2 cats made us very welcome in their home, and Alberto showed us part of his (large) collection of bullfighting clothing and equipment....everything from jackets and pants to swords. All that was missing was the bull, which I suggested he could stuff and keep in the backyard. A bullfight is typically 2 hours, and involves 6 bulls and 3 Matadors. The Bulls do not always get killed, it is up to the crowd, and if they survive they do not fight again. But the Bulls do not always lose....you may have heard that earlier this year the bullfight in Madrid had to cancelled early as all 3 Matadors were gored by the Bulls. The Bulls that die in the bullring are eaten, as they are very high quality beef. I don't think that I could watch a bullfight, but it was interesting to learn more about it.
Alberto's collection, covers from the very modern, back to the 18th century, and is used in public displays, so he is rightfully very proud. I tried to put on a jacket, but it was way too small, so Marlene had to be the model Matador.
After lunch we took Freddie, Joey and Dixie (the 3 dogs) for a walk to the stables, where Janet keeps her horse and her daughter's horse, so we got to see a little more of small town life in Spain.
We arrived back at the hotel around 8 pm and are now being pounded by a wicked thunderstorm. Normal tourist activity will resume tomorrow.
JKs, thanks for your comments, keep them coming.
Sheila and Bob, thanks for taking the Knights of Columbus comments in the light-heated way they were intended.
Pat and Geoff, glad to hear that you have sold your house. Hopefully you will find just what you are looking for in Oceanside.
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