My father owned an abridged version of “Ivanhoe” by Sir Walter Scott. As a kid, the picture of the knight on the cover attracted me but my English was not at the level to be able to read it. Finally, at 11, I read a few pages with difficulty and as a result, I bought the unabridged book, except in Farsi. I do not remember much, except for the distinction between Normans and Anglo Saxons that was new and strange to me. However, I remember that one of the first stops made by Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe was in Toledo to buy Toledo steel. This fictional event supposedly happened in the 12th century, and in Toledo, I saw a city that still presented some of the elements that Sir Wilfred would have seen had he not been a fictional character.
The streets are all narrow in typical medieval style and we had to hear the car frantically beep until we made it to our hotel. The hotel was a 1388 structure, and we parked the car in a building that was a stable for centuries. I made a visit to the rooftop before heading out and after seeing the view of the old Toledo, I compulsively took photos, some of them I have shared below. After I realized that there is just no reason to click anymore, we finally went to tour the city.
The city showed Roman, Visigothic, and Mudejar style architecture, which made its streets particularly romantic and melancholic. It was only the occasional electric circuit box, AC unit, or car that reminded one about the 21st century. Otherwise, we were walking in the steps of the Jews, Muslims, and Christians who roamed these streets for centuries. The first night was spent walking the streets, taking photos of the exterior of the cathedral, and walking to the river that once surrounded the city to take more photos. The three Abrahamic religions lived in moderate peace in Toledo until the expulsion of Jews in 1492. As a result, the next rational stop would be the Jewish quarter and the synagogue of Del Transito, followed by a visit to the Toledo Cathedral, which we saved for the second day in Toledo.
