Porque' Toledo?

My husband asked me twice and my daughter, once, why we were stopping in Toledo. Now I am talking about Toledo, Spain and not small town Ohio. Toledo was the former capital of Spain and is only about one hour from Barcelona by train. We were headed to Madrid and Bilbao and, without discussing it with my family, I decided we should spend two nights in Toledo along the way.
My family and Rick Steve(author of our guidebook) are correct that this medieval town on a hill can be toured in a single day. So why spend two nights? Because right outside the walled, old town sits a Hilton hotel and we could redeem Hilton Honors points to stay for free.

During the day the old town comes alive with throngs of tourists who arrive by bus or train. At night, however, the town is empty and you will have the restaurant of your choice to yourself. This was where we spent the actual night of our 25th wedding anniversary and it was romantic with summer's last super moon shining over this mystical place where some say the expression "Holy Toledo" most likely originated.

The weather was perfect and during the day we toured the two main attractions: the Cathedral and the Santa Cruz Museum. The museum normally houses a good representation of works by El Greco, a Toledo native. However, in observance of the 400^th anniversary of his death, the museum hosted an impressive collection of El Greco paintings on loan from other museums.

Our afternoons were spent at the Hilton pool and hydrotherapy spa.  (See my blog on the Hilton Toledo.)  Our first night's dinner was at an upscale restaurant suggested by the hotel staff. The food was good, but not as magical as our surroundings. The strangest part of the meal was when they brought us a brown paper grocery bag and put it in the middle of the table. Inside the bag we found a loaf of warm bread, whole Roma tomatoes, and a bulb of roasted garlic. It was served with a bottle of oil, shaker of salt, and a knife. It was our appetizer of bruschetta! The next night we got lucky. Casey is a vegetarian and she spotted a Mediterranean restaurant. Our dinner of hummus, stuffed grape leaves, salad, and vegetable couscous was our best meal thus far in Europe!