Day fifteen: Toledo

Today is our last full day in Toledo.  It was a rainy day, so we took things easy.  We forgot to mention one experience we had yesterday that was unusual and unique. The nuns in some cities are known for making treats.  Some convents have a storefront staffed by non nuns.  This one had a tiny sign.  We rang the buzzer and got let in.  Then walked down a short hall where there was a display case of what was available.  Soon a nun appeared behind a barred window, took our order, disappeared then brought back our treats and change and we let ourselves back out.

We went to the cathedral. It is said to be one of the most beautiful in Europe.  It has a number of interesting things.  Including a seriously large painting on the wall, Grandma Kathy paints some large paintings, but we challenge her to do one this size.

Bridget liked this panel from the altar. She thinks it looks cartoony.

When cardinals from Toledo die, they get to choose where in the cathedral to be buried.  Their hats are then hung over the site until the hat rots away.

It is the 400th anniversary of El Greco's death.  He is considered one of Spain's master painters. He spent half his life in Toledo, so there is the largest exhibit ever of his work.  We saw lots of his paintings today, but this is the only one we could photograph because it was in the cathedral.

The streets were much quieter today, Toledo is very beautiful, even in the rain.

We stopped by the sword maker again and he showed us some very old swords he was restoring.  His family has been sword makers for more than 150 years.  We bought a jug from what we thought was a small store.  The store however extended underground the equivalent of about 5 times the street level store.  His family has been making ceramics for 7 generations.  Apparently, a significant proportion of the population used to live underground.  We leave you with a picture of Action Nun!