2nd Excursion Trip: Toledo
Saturday,
September 23, 2017
The city of Toledo was never known to me for years and
years of my life. The first time I have ever heard of the city itself was when
the brother of a close friend, Curt Huffmire, met with me over lunch at the
Huffmire home to talk about the Spain Madrid mission. I remember one of the
most important things I needed to do while being a missionary in Spain was to
get the opportunity to visit the city of Toledo and buy a sword from that area.
I was informed that Toledo was once the best manufacturer of steel weapons
during the past couple of centuries for warfare. I learned that they currently
had been responsible for manufacturing the props of the Lord of the Rings and
sell replica swords of what was used in the films.
So, as a missionary the first time I could visit the city
of Toledo happened in February 2015. I will never forget the first time I was
there and how awesome of a city it was to me. The sad thing is that I did not
do much and barely had a chance to soak myself in the culture and history of
that city. The second time I visited the city happened later that year in April
2015. This time I could walk around more and look at some of its ancient monuments
such as Jewish synagogues, Arab mosques and Christian cathedral. I never had
the chance to enter and visit any of these visitor areas, however, I was blown
away by how much culture this city has hosted for centuries of time.
In addition, the third time I had the opportunity to
really dissect the city of Toledo again happened just recently this past
weekend on Friday, September 22nd and Saturday, September 23rd.
I was familiar with where everything was at, the plaza de Zocodover, the
cathedral and the Roman bridge. This time it felt like a sequel to a movie or
something about my life and how I come back to conquer the city. Well, I do
want to say that I pretty much conquered the city of Toledo and have a better
idea of what it is about and it means so much to me.
The Cathedral of Toledo is one of the most impressive
Cathedrals that I have seen. It is unique and different for its architecture
and the way it tells a story on the outside of the cathedral. Back in the old
days when people did not read and write in Toledo, the images of Bible scenes
about the life of Christ was a standard way to educate people about
Christianity.
In the city of Toledo, we could find architectural
remnants of the Jewish faith in Toledo. We learned about their history with the
synagogues.
Toledo on a geographical standpoint has been a capital
for different kingdoms. They are the border city before crossing paths into
Moorish territory back then or Christian territory. It is surrounded by a river
and at the border of different kingdoms.
One of the things Toledo is known for is their
metalworking, which was their swords. They also make good mazapan.
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