A Medieval Weekend

Because of the Fiesta Nacional de España on October 12th, I ended up having a five day weekend! My work schedule has Fridays free to begin with. Spaniards also will connect a holiday to the weekend and enjoy a long weekend, so I had Monday off too! Over this weekend, I ended up going to two nearby towns/cities: Alcalá de Henares and Toledo.

Alcalá de Henares is the home of Cervantes, the author of Don Quijote de la Mancha. There was actually a huge medieval festival in his honor during the entire weekend because his birthday is October 9th. I went to the festival with another conversation assistant who lives in Alcalá and it was a really fascinating thing to see. There were booths set up with trinkets, food, jewelry, toys, etc. for sale. There were other booths that were specifically for food. It seemed a lot like a county fair, except without the annoying politician booths or noisy roller coaster rides. People were dressed up in their medieval garb, and kids were running around with wooden swords. Since it took place in the old part of Alcalá (where the streets are narrow) it was difficult to walk around at times. A lot of people were on the streets and in the different Plazas in the area. It was definitely an experience and it was great to see such hustle and bustle in this old-fashioned town. I do want to visit the town again so I can actually go inside of Cervantes' house and the University. But it was a great chance to see a local event that honors one of the greatest authors of all time.

The Toledo Cathedral

Statue of Garcilaso de la Vega, Golden Age poet
from Toledo.
Someone even gave him a beer!

On Tuesday I went to Toledo with Danny, the other conversation assistant from my school. Toledo is a very beautiful city that, like Alcalá, has a very medieval feel to it. The buildings are all quite old, the streets are narrow, and the artisans make really spectacular looking swords and knives. We took the high-speed train, so it only took us 30 minutes to get to the city! Then we managed to get a good workout throughout the day because there are a lot of hills and stairs -- it felt like we were always walking up a hill! The cathedral was definitely the most spectacular place we visited; like most Catholic churches, there is a lot to look at and the artwork is all very over-the-top with detail. Besides the cathedral, we went into various other churches and a synagogue. Once church has the masterpiece work of the Spanish painter El Greco (who lived in Toledo). We ended up timing our arrival perfectly to eavesdrop on a Spanish tour group so we got all the details about what to look for in the painting! The guide was speaking Spanish, but was incredibly easy to understand, so it was definitely worth the €2.30 it cost to get into that church! It was great to see such a different city from Madrid and be able to spend the day there.

Medieval walls in Toledo