Continuing the Uddstrom's European Adventure (2026): 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.