Toledo Day 2

For some reason, I remember my second day in Toledo as being not as exciting as the first. I did manage to walk through the entire city the first day. If I had to guess, though, I'd say I got worn out trying to make my way through the labyrinth of a museum housed in the Alcazar.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first thing I did Sunday morning was head to the Cathedral for a mozarabe mass. I literally had no idea what this entailed, but I figured it was the only time in my life I'd have a chance to find out. It's a distinctly Spanish style mass that was prominent in regions under Moorish rule but has been mostly replaced by the more typical Roman mass. To me, it didn't seem that different - I actually liked it better because they had booklets so you could follow along. How I miss my detailed Presbyterian bulletins each Sunday morning!

Totally normal church decoration in the 1600s, I suppose.

The best part was that the mass was held in a chapel that was closed during the visiting hours later that afternoon. It was a beautiful room, although I was a little weirded out by the giant mural of what I presume is a Christian victory over the Moors.

Almost every view of the lovely Alcazar facade is covered by the museum extension.

After trying to visit the Santa Cruz museum to see more El Grecos, I headed instead to the Alcazar. It was almost difficult to find the entrance because they've covered one side with this modern-looking building. So first, I walked through the military miniatures museum, interesting for the different historical scenes it portrayed. The next part of the museum was a giant space where you could see all the different phases of the building revealed in its foundation.

Roman, Visigoth, Moorish, and Christian ruins.

And then the military museum. It was a nice museum, but I wish I hadn't tried to visit the whole thing. Partly because I'm not as interested in the military side of history, and partly because it may have the poorest organization of any museum I've ever visited. Almost the entire fortress was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, so they pretty much had a clean slate when building this thing. And somehow, they decided to turn it into a labyrinth of exhibition rooms. I was constantly missing a section and having to go back, or walking through the same rooms twice.

To make matters worse, the displays really didn't have a rhyme or reason either. I felt like they kept skipping around in history. When they got to all the revolutions and rebellions in the 1800s, I just ended up really confused about the whole timeline.

They stuck a tent in the chapel. Why? No one knows.

My favorite part about the museum was the one room they hadn't restored. For one, it still had character, unlike the stark white walls in the rest of the building. It was full of photos and stories from the Civil War that were truly eyeopening.

I walked over to the Cathedral and grabbed a pastry to eat while I waited in the long line to get in. Luckily for me, Spanish residents got in for free, so I didn't have to wait nearly as long as the tourists who had to buy tickets. The main thing I remember from the Cathedral is the organs. Multiple organs. [You know you've seen a lot of churches when the giant arched vaults aren't that impressive anymore.]

I also found Archbishop Carrillo, who played a large part in getting Queen Isabel on the throne, in the long line of Archbishops of Toledo painted on the walls of the chapter house.

To finish off the afternoon, I grabbed my bags from my hostel and took the long way back to the bus stop. My main goal was to see the Roman circus ruins that were listed on my map. There are only a few pieces left standing and they've created a lovely park around them. Still, it's impressive that they've stuck around for nearly two thousand years.

The curve of the race track. I think the stands would have been just above this.