Would you like a Sword with that?

Mombaltran, Toledo, Consuegra

25-27 Feb 2026

The first stop for today was to backtrack a few kilometres to the Mombaltran Castle we had passed the previous evening following our descent from Mirador del Puerto del Pico in a rush to get to the campsite before it closed for the evening.  The castle is believed to have been built between 1462 and 1474. It has a commanding view over the valley (and apparently, all the home comforts inside!). 

The “find of the day” though, occurred through a chance meeting with the owner of the camp site – who provided Karilyn with information about the Cuevas del Águila. A cave system only discovered in 1963 (by five boys “out exploring”). This Karst system is the largest cave on the Iberian Peninsular and unlike the larger Karst cave system that we visited in Slovenia, where a permit from the Minister of Culture was needed before you could take photographs (evidently we had failed to appreciate that point – so no photographs)… here in Spain, photography was welcomed! A visit takes you about 50m underground, through a set of interweaving walkways a kilometre in length. And yes… they were spectacular! As regards the above ground scenery, it could almost have been NZ.

But it was time to move on to Toledo, on the true right bank of the Tagus River. Our campsite, Camping El Greco (who spent much of his life in Toledo) was within easy walking distance of the city… so an opportunity for more training -even though there was a bust stop right at the camp entrance.

The city occupies a strategic location, and there has been a settlement here from before Roman times (when it was called Hispania). The Visigoths followed the Romans, who in turn had to live with Moorish (Umayyad) overlords. It was “reconquered” by Christians in 1085 but remained open to Muslim and Jewish influences for the next two centuries. Now, about Swords… it seems that they have been making bladed weapons in Toledo for a very long time (Hannibal used Toledo steel to good effect!) … and their current marketing approach is very much focused on selling to tourists… through nearly every shop (that wasn’t focused on the sale of marzipan – other big seller in Toledo). But I get ahead of myself.  On arrival we worked on the blog and hoped to be able to “do Toledo” in one day – Thursday (yesterday)… and as you will read… such a visit feels a bit like checking items off a list!

We approached the city via Puenta de San Martin, yes, another medieval construction (14^th Century – and when built had the longest bridge span of any bridges at the time). But there is a legend associated with its construction… As it goes…. The Metropolitan Bishop of Toledo asked to be present at its inauguration. However, when the architect was viewing the bridge the day before the inauguration, he was horrified to notice that he had made a perilous miscalculation - the bridge would collapse once its supports were removed. He went home and told his wife that the bridge would collapse, with him on it, and that he would be disgraced. That night, while he slept, his wife secretly made her way to the bridge and started a fire to ensure it would burn down. Her husband was saved from disgrace and the bridge was rebuilt without the original structural miscalculation. Nice story? Alternative fact? But regardless – today it stands still.

On passing the Monastario de San Juan de los Reyes we saw the 15^th Century shackles, worn by Christian prisoners held by the Moors during the War of Granada. They were placed on the wall of church by Queen Isabel I of Castile as a symbol of liberation, Christian victory, and the end of captivity.

Next… the Iglesia Del Salvador (Church of the Saviour) which was formerly the most ancient mosque in the city. It has had a perilous life – fire, alterations, looting – but here we have some sense of a building that has been here for over 1000 years – nice arches too.

Next…The Museo Sephardi traces much of the history of the Jewish Community in Toledo. It occupies the former convent of the Knights of Calatrava, annexed to the Synagogue of El Transito – and focuses on the life of the Jewish Community in Spain prior to their expulsion in 1492.

On display, was a Seal of the Spanish Inquisition - Flanking the cross is a sword, symbolising the punishment of heretics, and an olive branch, symbolising reconciliation with the repentant. The Inquisition’s “task” was to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism, it became an effective instrument of state power by replacing the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control.  We visited the El Greco museum too – but we have already shown a number of his paintings… and more follow below… so no further comment is needed.

Next on the list of places to visit was the Cathedral – which was perhaps even more overwhelming than those we have visited to date! Since 1088 it has held the honorific title of Primatial, which was granted by Urban II, giving it a higher rank than others on the Iberian Peninsular. 

It is one of the three 13th-century High Gothic cathedrals in Spain and is considered, in the opinion of some authorities, to be the magnum opus of the Gothic style in Spain. It was begun in 1226 under the rule of Ferdinand III, and the last Gothic contributions were made in the 15th century when, in 1493, the vaults of the central nave were finished during the time of the “Catholic Monarchs” A term short for Queen Isabella I of Castile (1451–1504) and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452–1516). Their 1469 marriage unified the two main Spanish kingdoms, laying the foundation for modern Spain, the completion of the Reconquista in 1492, and the sponsoring of Christopher Columbus's voyage.

As usual, there were lots of side chapels… stunning alter pieces, gold (including the Great Monstrance of Arfe), and Baroque symbolism… and paintings by Rafael (he could do “light”!!) and of course El Greco. 

Back to the Monstrance – which is more than 3m tall.  Arfe laboured on it from 1517–1524, on commission to Cardinal Cisneros. It is of late Gothic design. This triumph of the silversmith's craft is in the form of a Gothic temple, with all the architectural details, such as columns, arches, and vaultings, the whole resembling a delicate lacework. Scenes from the life of the Saviour are illustrated in relief. It has two hundred and sixty statuettes of various sizes. The pedestal on which it sits is in the Baroque style of the 18th century which originally made of silver, was gilded in 1595  to match the gold plated monstrance. Wonder what took them so long to fix this “error”?  Not enough gold?

And a "closer view of just one section...

The Altarpiece in the Chapel of the Sepulchre , is, according to Wikepedia “is an extremely florid Gothic retable (a frame enclosing decorated panels); it is one of the last examples of this artistic style, which was disappearing as the Renaissance began to take hold in Spain”. We show two features of it here… A section from the top of the altarpiece showing the cross and two thieves… and what appears to be an image of Jesus ascending… with just his feet in view… (an innovations??)

The Chapterhouse, commissioned in 1504, has a coffered ceiling, and rich “plateresque” ornamentation. and “images” of all of the Archbishops, from Saint Eugene (who died in 657) to the last. Juan de Borgoña.  So lots of creative invention used here!

We ended the”tourism” part of the  day with a ride on the Toledo Tourist Train Trainvision – two trolly carts behind a tactor (“train engine”). It gave us a chance to get a view of the city from outside the walls… and to hear a little more about the city (such as the legend of the Puenta de San Martin that we referred to earlier). 

And of course… another feature of the city is the story of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. He comes in metal and Marzipan (there are a lot, I mean a lot!) of Almond Trees in this part of Spain – all in beautiful blossom at the moment.

Our “shopping list” of places to visit was complete… so we decided to splash out on dinner at a Restaurant on Zocodover Square (The main Square in the city) – sharing Paella and Pizza. A delightful way to spend an hour.

Then it was finally time to head back to Camping El Greco… by which time it was getting dark, and we could appreciate the “lighting of the city”…

And here ended another training exercise – at 19,000 steps for the day, as well as a little hill work!

Moving on… originally, we had planned to stay 3 days in Toledo, but we took one of those away by breaking our journey from Salamanca to Toledo near Mombeltran (at Camping Prados Abiertos), and then just 2 nights at Camping El Greco (as we “did” Toledo in one day). This gave us an extra day to get to Cordoba, giving us time to visit the 16^th Century windmills of Consuegra (we are still in Castilla-La Mancha), the region believed to be the inspiration for Cervantes’s Don Quixote (which we shall need to read in the future!)… Oh and by the way, despite the legend, Cervantes was not tried by the Inquisition… but he was imprisoned several times for “financial irregularities”, related to his work as a tax collector!

Consuega is surrounded by dry plains, Olive orchards and grapes – as well as large scale agriculture (grains).  The landscape is also “coloured” by the flowers of the almond trees (whitish/pink flowers). It’s got a castle on a hill too… which dates from the Arab conquest period (before 1000AD) – although Trajan may have built a fortress here much earlier. Later, it became a stronghold of the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (after their removal from Jerusalem). We looked around it… a cold and dark pile of stones – with just the chapel and the main hall having many luxuries (i.e. a view of the outside world!). Of course, its weak point was lack of a water supply… and the onboard cistern did not seem large.

But to the windmills – which really are quite striking!

Our training for the day… 4.75km, 111m elevation gain (and loss) and 7000 steps.

Painted Vaults, Ramparts, Cathedrals and Rome Again

El Escorial, Avila, Salamanca, Mombeltran

23 -25 Feb 2026

As you will have gathered,  we spent our second “free” night at Camping El Escorial… The plan was to visit El Escorial in the morning, find a place to swap our empty 15kg gas bottle for a new one, then move on to Avila later in the day, as it was only a little over an hour’s drive away. 

First stop, El Escorial, both a monastery and a historical residence of the King of Spain. Phillip II inaugurated its construction in 1563, to celebrate the Spanish victory at the Battle of St. Quentin in Picardy (against the French!). Its quite large, and splendiferous.  The visit starts in the Library which has a magnificent painted ceiling (vault) with the the take home message that Philosophy is subject to Theology (but all I could see were magnificent paintings)… and the books are arranged (to quote Wikipedia)… “from the profane subjects—such as history, geography, and botany, which are located in the part closest to the entrance. But as you advance towards the basilica, the subjects are the more abstract forms—such as poetry, grammar, and mathematics. The subjects closest to the basilica are those the King conceived as being the most abstract distillations of the others, and the closest to the origin, which was God in the Basilica: theology, geometry, and mathematics”.  Got it?

But there is more… for example, the vault over the grand staircase is even more impressive! 

There were paintings too, on the walls too. I liked the story about the large El Greco painting of The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion – which was painted in Toledo, but without knowledge of where it was to be hung. On arrival it was found to be too large, so it had to be “cut down”… Regardless o this small problem, the King was not pleased with the paining… as El Greco had focused less on the Martyrdom, and more on the role of the “Saint” convincing his companions to remain loyal to Christ.

And here are two others that you might find evocative. Christ Crowned with Thorns by a “follower” of Bosch (1530), and a Titian of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

As the Parking Warden was about to deliver a ticket, we carefully navigated to one of the few petrol stations that do not swap gas bottles! But the attendant gave us good directions to one that did. And the cost for 15kg – just €14.40 – cheaper than it cost for me to refill a 9kg bottle in Rangiora. Since this experience – we have discovered that nearly all petrol stations seem to have stacks of gas bottles ready for exchange – so this aspect of our travel is not going to be a challenge!

We departed for Avila on the N505 – another scenic route over the mountains. There seemed to be many motorcyclists and owners of sports cars out for a Sunday drive… and perhaps to test their skills on a windy road?  The countryside was for the most part scrub covered with piles of granite boulders in places – a cross between the Desert Road and Castle Hill, with the mountains always in the background.  As we got closer to Avila, the landscape became more green, and there was more  evidence of farming (cattle).

 We arrived at the ramparts of Avila early afternoon. The “camp site” was a motorhome parking area – but it came with a toilet and shower block (heated, and the best we have yet to encounter at any camp site thus far), and power, and waist and grey water dumping… and potable water at the pitch… and it was a 5 minute walk to get to the walls.

Avila’s walls are considered to be the best example of medieval walls in Europe, built between the 11^th and 14^th Centuries- and never breached by a sieging army. And just in case you were wondering, or unaware like us… they enclose an area of 31 hectares, are 2.5km long, 12m high, 3m wide, and there are 88 semicircular towers and there are 9 gates.  We finally found an access point, paid the “senior’s reduced” entry cost and headed off along a 700m section of the wall.

All this was quite exhausting… so we had to stop in one of the plaza’s and take in some ice cream
. As Karilyn remarked… buying it in a cup is a lot more cost effective to paying the same amount for a cone. Guess who prefers a cup?  While enjoying our treat – it was a joy to see so many people sitting at Café tables, out in the sun, just conversing (no phones in sight).

Afterwards, we walked back to the campsite as the day came to an end. Which at that time found many families were out strolling along the promenade outside the walls… with children playing on the rocky ground around the base of the wall.

As the walls are lit at night… one more expedition was needed to complete our Avila experience – a night photo of the walls.

Next stop, Salamanca – home of one of that cluster of universities that were established in the 13^th Century (e.g.  Cambridge, Salamanca, Padua, Naples, Toulouse and Montpelier).  Oxford started earlier… in 1096…. and the University of Bologna even earlier in 1088! Put’s NZ’s cultural history into perspective…

The landscape we experienced as we travelled to Salamanca was so different from the scrubby, boulder , small farm holdings that we have seen to date.  Here, as we entered the Moseta, the landscape was filled with what looked like large, industrial scale agriculture – with large fields of newly sewen crops, and gentle rolling countryside.  There were more belfries with storks too. The size of the nests, and the places they are found continue to surprise.

There were no open campsites near Salamanca – only park over places. Reading the reviews of those available narrowed the choice to just one site – which happened to be on the edge of the River Tomes, a few hundred metres from the 2^nd Century Roman bridge across the river and a 10 minute walk from the Cathedrals which dominate the skyline of this student city (30,000 students, among a population of 145,000 for the city).

Google Maps got us to the parking area – but it was full, with three motorhomes and a lot of cars. But one of the locals suggested that we just park by one of the walls and wait… and sure enough perhaps 10 minutes later – one of the campervans left, and we backed into a perfect spot for our visit to the city. The cost: €0.  We felt Blessed.

In Segovia, after asking if I could take a photograph of a group of women chatting around a statue of the Poet Antonia Machado, I ended up in a brief conversation that Karilyn captured on camera… Here in Salamanca, while out taking a brief look around our “campsite”, I encountered a group of “senior” men just sitting and talking.. so asked if I could take a photograph of them? They immediately lined up for me… and we had a brief conversation in Spanish, where the only thing that we managed to connect on was our ages… from 80 to 72!  And Karilyn was no their to record the conversation.

A number of “things: were apparent to us in Salamanca… the very very old (the Roman Bridge across the Tormes  -1^st Century AD), the very old (it has two cathedrals joined together, one Romanesque (12^th Century), and a newer one that was Gothic/Baroque (16^th Century) both took a couple of hundred years to complete, as well as the many University buildings that occupy the city centre), as well as modern apartment buildings that fit relatively seamlessly into the silhouette of the city.  

It also has a vast Plaza Mayor – which has also been used as a Bull Ring (square) in past days. As a result of our “colds” over the last two weeks, we have made a substantial dent in our medical supplies, both for our BF experience, and the Camino – so thought we would see what we could buy from a Pharmacy (of which there are many advertising their presence with a Green Cross. We tried one on the Plaza de Mayor… requesting: 2 x Ventolin inhalers, 100 x 100mg Aspiring (Cartia), Voltaren Gel (may help with sore feet, and Voltaren Tabs (50mg).  No problem. Cost – just €25… and so we should now be fully equipped (medically, speaking) for the next three months… We trust… To complete the day’s experiences…. it was here that we (maybe me, mostly) – decided to sample the food at one of our favoured fast food “restaurants”… Burger King (which seem to be “everywhere”). The purpose of course was to compare this experience with that at Turangi – since we are missing the annual Easter Pilgrimage to Motutere. The prices are comparable to those in NZ, once you do the exchange rate conversion, the décor is pretty much the same… and the taste… well, IMO, the NZ “flame Grilled” meat seems a lot more tasty than what I experienced here in Salamanca! Not to miss the sweet treat, here, the standard “meal package” incudes a desert, along with the burger, chips, and drink… what more could one ask for??

We walked back to BF via the Roman Bridge in the fading evening light…

Our plan for the next day was to visit the cathedrals before departing. We also need to visit a motorhome repair shop to get our grey water release valve fixed, do some grocery shopping then head off toward Toledo – via another “scenic” route.

On the way back to the old town area we passed one of those convenience stores that you find in many cities, but this one had a wider range of products than we would normally expect to see… We didn’t check out the store to see what the options were!

Onwards… to the more sublime – the cathedrals, where entry gives you a two cathedrals for one price! The cupola in the new cathedral is, as one expects, magnificently decorated, with the symbol of the Holy Spirit at its centre. The Chapels are not dissimilar in there general decoration and themes to those we have seen elsewhere – we would call them “baroque”, and view them as explained previously. But here, there were also some very modern pieces of art reflecting on the reason why Christ came, and the Solution to the problem of Sin... .

The Old Cathedral’s Alterpiece, created between 1430 and 1450 includes 53 panels – and is said to present a cycle of life of the Mary and Jesus – from the birth of Mary onwards, all accompanied by scenes from the life of Jesus and topped off by a magnificent Last Judgement.

And just a small section to see the detail....

And for something altogether different… we now understand that there is a thriving market in Spain for paint spray cans. Graffiti is literally everywhere… on abandoned buildings, on commercial buildings, and in Salamanca, there is a focus on garage doors – which are invariably like square portholes in the facades of these beautiful olf buildings. “Interpreting” the content of these art forms is as difficult to us, as interpreting the content of much of the religious art we are seeing!

One last view of the Roman Bridge in the morning light…

It turned out that time had passed, and when we checked on the Motorhome Service centre that was going to look at our grey water problem… it was closed until 3.30PM. We didn’t want to wait around that long – so have decided that the “screw cap” solution from Segovia will be just fine for the rest of our travels… Next major stop Toledo… but this distance called for an intermediate stop, so on consulting our road map, we decided to go via Parque Regional de la Sierra de Gredos – which turned out to be a beautiful route (N502), which took us over the Mirador del Puerto del Pico. In so doing, we increased our inventory of Spanish Wildlife (which previously had only included: fox, storks, various (unnamed) raptors…) to which we could now add Ibex, as there were three grazing beside the road at the pass. And it is also here that we could see the remains of the well formed (and paved) Roman road that crossed the same pass.

We made our rest at Camping Prados Abiertos, near the 15^th century castle at Mombeltran.