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Spain & Portugal 2023
  • Moosecorn

Spain & Portugal 2023

A 13-day adventure by Moosecorn Read more
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  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Train to Toledo

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    》After Scott made us a wonderful omlette, we headed to Madrid Puerta de Atocha (train station)

    See translation
  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    First views of Toledo

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    》Toledo Railway Station

    The railway reached Toledo in 1858. The original station was of functional design and was opened on 12 June 1858 by Isabella II of Spain, accompanied by Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz.

    The present station opened on 24 April 1919. It was designed to echo the historic architecture of the city. The central section is flanked by two side naves, one of which is adjacent to the clock tower, which imitates the style of Toledo church towers.

    》Toledo

    Toledo is one of the oldest and most unique cities in Spain. The former Spanish capital before Madrid, this city has made an important contribution to Spain’s history and heritage. Dramatically sited atop a gorge overlooking the Río Tajo, it was known as the ‘city of three cultures’ in the Middle Ages, a place where – legend has it – Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities peacefully coexisted. Unsurprisingly, rediscovering the vestiges of this unique cultural synthesis remains modern Toledo’s most compelling attraction. Horseshoe-arched mosques, Sephardic synagogues and one of Spain’s finest Gothic cathedrals cram into its dense historical core. But the layers go much deeper. Further sleuthing will reveal Visigothic and Roman roots. Toledo’s other forte is art, in particular the haunting canvases of El Greco, the influential, impossible-to-classify painter with whom the city is synonymous.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    》Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo

    There’s an interesting story behind the building of the Cathedral. When the Spanish conquered Toledo from the Muslims in 1085, Alfonso VI (the King of León and Castile) had promised the Muslim authorities that he would conserve the mosque that stood here. Shortly after, leaving Toledo for other affairs, his wife and the archbishop of Toledo colluded to seize the mosque by force. They built an altar and hung a bell in the minaret. Their actions almost provoked an uprising among the Muslim population.

    Upon his return Alfonso VI was incensed and had some of the participants behind the action executed. In order to maintain peace, the story is that Muslim authorities decided to accept the conversion of the mosque to a church. In gratitude, a homage to the chief Muslim negotiator would later be built on one of the pillars in the main chapel.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    》Built starting in 1226, Catedral Primada was modeled after the cathedral in Bourges (France). It is a huge, airy Cathedral (120 meters in length, 59 meters wide, 44.5 meters high) made from white limestone. It has all the characteristics of a High Gothic Cathedral (flying buttresses, ribbed vaults and pointed arches) and has magnificent stained-glass windows. Catedral Primada also has works from Spain’s greatest artists including Velázquez, Goya and El Greco (Toledo’s most famous painter).Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    》Catedral Primada also has one of the most interesting characteristics I’ve seen in a Cathedral: El Transparente, which almost looks like a cave in the dome of the building.

    Add to the above an incredible altar (el Capilla Mayor), a magnificent choir, and some fantastic chapels (9 of them behind the altar) and this might be the most beautiful cathedral we’ve seen anywhereRead more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Break at el lo de Santo Tome

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    》Mort Subite Kriek

    Brewed according to the same recipe for centuries! A spontaneously fermenting Lambic is slowly aged in oak barrels together with freshly picked cherries, which fully give the Lambic their fresh and sour-sweet taste. An authentic and unique cherry beer.Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Iglesia de Santo Tomé Church

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    》Iglesia de Santo Tomé Church

    Church with a Mudéjar tower dating from the 14th century. It houses El Greco's famous painting "The Burial of Count Orgaz".

    The church dates from the 12th century, although it was completely rebuilt at the beginning of the 14th century by order of the Lord of Orgaz. The tower is one of the best examples of the Mudéjar art characteristic of Toledo. The two upper sections are made of brick, with two groups of two and three windows with pointed horseshoe arches scalloped with other lobed arches. The interior houses one of El Greco's most famous paintings, "The Burial of Count Orgaz", which is exhibited in a special room.

    The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (Spanish: El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz) is a 1586 painting by El Greco, a prominent Renaissance painter, sculptor, and architect of Greek origin. Widely considered among his finest works, it illustrates a popular local legend of his time. An exceptionally large painting, it is divided into two sections, heavenly above and terrestrial below, but it gives little impression of duality, since the upper and lower sections are brought together compositionally. The painting has been lauded by art scholars, characterized, inter alia, as "one of the most truthful pages in the history of Spain", as a masterpiece of Western art and of late Mannerism, and as the epitome of Greco's artistic style.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Museo del Greco

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    》Museo del Greco

    It celebrates the mannerist painter El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 1541–1614), who spent much of his life in Toledo, having been born in Fodele, Crete.

    The museum opened in 1911 and is located in the Jewish Quarter of Toledo. It consists of two buildings, a 16th-century house with a courtyard and an early 20th century building forming the museum, together with a garden. The house recreates the home of El Greco, which no longer exists. The museum houses many artworks by El Greco, especially from his late period. There are also paintings by other 17th-century Spanish artists, as well as furniture from the period and pottery from Talavera de la Reina in the Province of Toledo.Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Museo del Greco

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    》Pablo Picasso, the most important artist of the twentieth century, was also the one most greatly influenced by El Greco throughout his career. His contact with El Greco’s painting during his formative years in Madrid made him aware of the excellence of the artist’s works, which were still little appreciated.

    Picasso’s drawings and his paintings of 1898 and 1899 show his early obsession with El Greco, which became very intense during his Blue Period, between 1901 and 1904. His original approach can be seen in Evocation. Later on in 1906, during the Gósol period, he developed an interest in the plasticity of his figures. El Greco’s oeuvre played a prominent role in the emergence and shaping of Cubism and also in its dissemination, as some of the artists influenced by Picasso, such as Derain, Modigliani, Rivera and the Czech Cubists, also drew inspiration from the Cretan artist.

    After Cubism, Picasso used El Greco’s portraits as a basis for introducing references to Spanishness in his art. In his late period, when addressing the musketeer theme, he returned to El Greco’s A Gentleman with his Hand on his Chest interpreting it very freely and employing a note of humour that is both sarcastic and melancholic.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Walking Toledo

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    》A romantic garden with a large bust of Don Quixote as its focal point belong to the School of Fine Arts.

    》Puerta del Cambrón

    The Cambron Gate, is a magnificent gate located in the west sector of Toledo. The gate is also called the "Gate of the Jews" or the "Gate of Saint Leocadia." The gate has been speculated to have taken its name, del Cambrón, from the growth of a thorn bush or plant (known in Spanish as cambroneras) at the top of the ruins of one of the towers before the last reconstruction of the gate in 1576.

    It is built over the remains of a Visigoth gate, and the current structure is in the Renaissance style with a square floor plan. On the interior façade there is a statue of Santa Leocadia attributed to Berruguete. It has two pairs of towers and two arches, which add to its grandeur and magnificence. This is the only gate open to motor traffic.

    The gate underwent two renovations, one in the early 1570s and the other in 1576. During these renovations, Hernán González, Diego de Velasco, and Juan Bautista Monegro sculpted a figure of Saint Leocadia in the gate. Saint Leocadia is the patron saint of Toledo, and her presence adds to the religious significance of the gate.

    The Cambron Gate is a remarkable example of the city's defensive architecture. Despite the damage caused during the Spanish Civil War, the gate has been carefully restored and preserved. The gate stands as a testament to the city's enduring legacy and the many civilizations that have left their mark on its walls.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    San Juan de los Reyes Monasterio

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    》San Juan de los Reyes Monasterio

    The Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes was founded by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile to commemorate both the birth of their son, Prince John, and their victory at the Battle of Toro (1476) over the army of Afonso V of Portugal. Toledo was chosen as the site for building the monastery due to its central geographic location and because it had been the capital of the ancient Visigoth kingdom, symbolically reconstituted by Isabella and Ferdinand with the restoration of the lost unity of Spain, through the union of Castile with Aragon.

    The monastery's construction began in 1477 following plans drawn by architect Juan Guas, and was completed in 1504. It was dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist for use by Franciscan friars. In 1809 the monastery was badly damaged by Napoleon's troops during their occupation of Toledo, and abandoned in 1835. Restoration began in 1883 but was not completed until 1967. The monastery was restored to the Franciscan order in 1954.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    San Juan de los Reyes Monasterio

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    》The monastery is an example of Gothic style with Spanish and Flemish influences. Its church is in the form of a Latin cross, with short arms, an elongated nave and side chapels situated between the domed arches – three chapels on either side of the nave, and two more under the choir. The church is notable for its decoration of the coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs held by eagles. Its chancel is decorated with an altar (mid-16th century) from the former Santa Cruz Hospital by sculptor Felipe Bigarny and painter Francisco de Comontes, depicting scenes from the Passion and the Resurrection, as well as two scenes of the Santa Cruz legend.

    Its cloister has a small garden. The ground floor's ceiling is formed of German cross vaults set with figures of saints interspersed with animal and plant motifs, all created by the Toledo sculptor Cecilio Béjar in the 20th century. Its upper cloisters, first completed in 1526 and restored in the 19th century, contain Mudéjar ornamentation, including a ceiling of larch wood, painted with the motifs and coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs. To symbolize the victory of the Christians in the years-long Granada campaign, its granite exterior facade is festooned, as per the Queen's order of 1494, with the manacles and shackles worn by Christian prisoners from Granada held by the Moors and released during the Reconquista.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Walking Toledo

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    》Puente de San Martín (St Martin's Bridge)

    A medieval bridge across the river Tagus. The bridge was constructed in the late 14th century by archbishop Pedro Tenorio to provide access to the old town from the west, complementing the older Puente de Alcántara linking to the east. Both sides of the bridge were heavily fortified with towers, the more recent dating from the 16th century.

    A legend about the bridge is that Ildefonsus, the Metropolitan Bishop of Toledo, asked to be present at the inauguration of the bridge. When the architect was viewing the bridge the day before the bridge's 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 miscalculations.

    》Tagus River, Portuguese Rio Tejo, Spanish Río Tajo

    The longest waterway of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises in the Sierra de Albarracín of eastern Spain, at a point about 90 miles (150 km) from the Mediterranean coast, and flows westward across Spain and 
    Portugal for 626 miles (1,007 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean 
    near Lisbon. The Tagus covers the heart of Portugal and Spain and has been of vital importance to the modern economic development of the two nations.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Heading back to Madrid

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    》Made it back to the Toledo railway station!!!

    》Enjoyed a white chocolate donut filled with cream and sparkling water on the train ride back

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Back in Madrid

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    》Just outside Atocha Station...

    A pair of gigantic, realistic baby heads greet passengers. Made of bronze, they stand 3 meters (or nearly 10 feet) tall and weigh over 2 tons each. Although they may seem slightly creepy, the story behind these sculptures is a sweet one.

    The baby heads,  installed here in 2008, are the work of the Spanish artist Antonio López García. They represent “Day” (Día) and “Night” (Noche). One of them has its eyes open and the other has its eyes shut. Designed in López García’s realistic style, the meaning behind the freestanding baby heads may leave viewers scratching their own heads. But actually, both are based on the face of López García’s granddaughter Carmen, when she was only eight months old.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Closing the night...

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    》Torrons Vicens

    One of Spain’s most ancient and well-loved desserts, Torron can trace its heritage centuries back. A delicious amalgam of honey, egg whites, and nuts; cooked to just the right temperature and stretched until it reaches the perfect consistency. The making of Spanish Torron is just as much an art as it is cooking, and no one does it better than Torrons Vicens. Using the original recipes passed down through the Vicens family for 200 years, they have perfected the ancient art of nougat making. Their craftsmanship and dedication to producing the finest products available are apparent with every bite.Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Heading to Segovia

    September 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    》Leaving via the Madrid Chamartin Train Station

    A modern high-speed train connects Madrid and Segovia in just over half an hour and is just 95 km (59 miles) away!

    Chamartín Train Station, or Estación de Tren de Chamartín is the second biggest one in Madrid, and it’s one of the biggest stations in Spain, servicing over 25 million travelers per year. Chamartín train station is mainly served by trains from the north and the east of Spain, as well as from France.

    Chamartín train station is to some extent overshadowed by its bigger brother, Atocha station. However, like its bigger brother, Chamartín is modern, light and airy. It has a feeling of spaciousness and actually resembles an airport much more than the old traditional view of a place where trains come and go.
    The station is very large and even includes a hotel, the Hotel Husa Chamartín. Below it down some stairs you will find the Chamartín Metro Station.

    Though the station is not quite as grand as the bigger Atocha train station, it does have many facilities that traditional train station don't commonly have. The huge hall has more than just ticket sales. There are bars and restaurants, shops selling books or newspapers, sweets or light packaged snacks.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    First views in Segovia

    September 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    》Arrived through the Segovia-Guiomar train station

    》Segovia-Guiomar train station

    The “Guiomar” train station in Segovia is located on the outskirts of the city and facilitates access to and from Madrid and the Cantabrian and Mediterranean coastal regions.

    》The Old Town of Segovia

    Located in the centre of Spain, in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León. The centre is crowded together on the rocky bluff delineated by the confluence of the Eresma and Clamores rivers.

    Segovia is symbolic of a complex, historical reality. Its neighbourhoods, streets, and houses are laid out in accordance with a social structure in which hierarchy was organized and dominated by belonging to one of the different cultural communities. Moors, Christians, and Jews coexisted for a long period of time in the medieval city and worked together during the 16th century manufacturing boom.  The evidence of this cultural process can be seen in the large number of outstanding monuments in the city, among which, the Roman Aqueduct stands out. Other important monuments can be found in the property: the Alcázar, begun around the 11th century; several Romanesque churches; noble palaces from 15th and 16th centuries; the 16th-century Gothic cathedral, the last to be built in Spain in this style; and the Segovia Mint, the oldest industrial building still existing in Spain.

    》Plaza Mayor

    A town square located at the end of the street called Calle Real, which is one of the most famous streets in Segovia. Within Plaza Mayor, you can find several important buildings, such as the town hall, the Juan Bravo Theatre, the San Miguel Church, and the cathedral.

    Centuries before the plaza was built in the 17th century, the space was treated as the center of the village, where vendors would install their stands and citizens would socialize and meet. It is said that in the middle ages, the street was known as Calle de la Cinteria, which means Ribbon Street because of the sector's shops and all its vendors.

    》Casa Vicente Restaurante

    This place serves meals, which are typical for the whole continent of Europe, spanish food with its delicious savory sauces and spices are popular among the Guests. To combat the hunger for sweet dishes, Casa Vicente can easily alleviate with its delicious desserts.    Read more

  • MoosecornSpain & Portugal 2023Traveler

    Alcázar de Segovia

    September 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    》The Alcázar of Segovia (Fortress of Segovia)

    A UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Spain’s most impressive castles and, interestingly enough, it is also one of the castles* that inspired the design of Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World.

    * Everyone likes to argue over this. It’s said however that Walt Disney was inspired by both The Alcázar of Segovia and Germany’s Neushwanstein Castle.

    》The Alcázar is incredible. Entering the castle requires crossing a drawbridge over a precipitous moat. Looming high above are huge turrets (you can buy a ticket to go up there. The views are great).

    The “keep”, the fortified towers that are so prominent when looking at the Alcázar head on, are deceivingly narrow and almost like a façade to what lies beyond. When you step through into the castle you end up in a large courtyard and looking back at the keep.    Read more

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