Vacation in Spain, Itálica and Toledo

On our way from Sevilla to Toledo, we decided to take a little detour to an old Roman city called Itálica (one of the perks of renting a car instead of taking trains everywhere!). Spain has a great history of civilizations moving in and out of its borders (including the Celts, Romans, Visigoths, Muslims and Jews), and you can find remains of all of these cultures scattered around the country. Itálica was founded in 206BC and boasts that it was the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Trajan. The excavation of the town started in 1781.

Here was a statue at the top of one of the hills:

And here is Sophie trying to imitate the pose:


Some views of the ruins:



The ampitheatre:


One of the most amazing things about the (relatively small) site was its mosaics. There were entire floors still intact.



After our little trek back in time, we decided to grab lunch in the little town next to the ruins. The place was rustic, as you can see by the serrano hams hanging on the wall behind our table:


I also took to ordering a plate of olives almost every place we ate, and each plate was just a little different. This was one of my favorites because it came with peppers as well (perhaps something like a poblano pepper?):

We made it to Toledo late that night. Toledo is a beautiful city on top of a hill (or at least the old part is) that is rich in history and culture. It was once one of the capitals of the Spanish Empire, especially during Habsburg rule (which was of particular interest to Ian), and was a site of coexistence between Christians, Jews and Muslims (the Moors). It was also the home of El Greco...and the cathedral had many of his paintings to prove it.

The Habsburg symbols were all over the city:


The cathedral was quite impressive, but unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside.

I'm not sure what these chains on the side of the cathedral:


The streets of Toledo:




As I mentioned, Toledo was a very tolerant city in a country that could be very intolerant (to say the least) toward Jews. This was a beautiful statue honoring Samuel Halevi outside of our hotel:


There were also two very interesting buildings/museums dedicated to the Jews in Toledo. The first was a synagogue turned Catholic church turned synagogue. When it was given back to the Spanish Jews, the group turned it into a space where people could contemplate the relationship between Christians and Jews in Spain. Unfortunately, again no pictures were allowed.

Pictures were allowed in the larger Museo Sefardí. Sephardic Jews refer to Jews originating in Spain and Northern Africa and left quite a cultural legacy in Spain in spite of the Inquisition.

The ceiling of the synagogue:


The windows:


A modern sculpture in the courtyard:


After all of that history and culture, we needed some breaks! Do you think Sophie enjoyed her spaghetti???


And a day wouldn't be complete without chocolate y churros!