West Africa Cruise: Toledo and Madrid (11.11, 12.24)

Dave and I visited Toledo, Spain, several years ago, but we never saw it lit up like we did on the night of November 11, 2024.  Toledo is an ancient hilltop city where El Greco painted his strange, elongated portraits of saints, apostles, and the Lord.  It was once the capital of the Spanish kingdoms, before Madrid was established as a capital city.  

We were just passing through, on a whirlwind race from Malaga and Granada, near the southwest coast, through Toledo to Madrid, and then along the third arm of the triangle to Barcelona, where our cruise ship was waiting.  Our three goals in Spain were to see Alyssa (done!), attend an endowment session in the LDS temple in Madrid, and get on our cruise ship, heading for Africa.

Besides its great view of the city, our hotel had wonderful Spanish decoration--thick adobe outside walls, dark and heavy wood doors, and rosy plaster inside walls.

The next morning, we ate a full Spanish breakfast and then admired the daytime views of Toledo in the distance.

Dave and I had a disconcerting experience as Dave drove in heavy traffic into Madrid.  A motorcyclist raced alongside us, gesturing urgently.  We figured he was a scam artist and we ignored him.  It turned out he was a policeman!  When we finally realized the man's identity, we tried to look as stupid and foreign as we could, shrugging our shoulders in incomprehension at whatever he said.  He finally drove off in disgust and we didn't even get an electronic ticket.  We never knew what we did wrong.

We spent the morning at the glorious Prado Museum, one of the best art museums in the world.

The treasures I most enjoyed were the many paintings by Rafael, the Italian Renaissance artist whose depictions of Mary, Jesus, and Joseph are among my very favorite pieces of art.  For a museum to have one Rafael painting is extraordinary; the Prado has several.

I have never understood why this painting by Velasquez is considered one of the greatest paintings in the world.  I have read that it is an artist's technical wonder, with complex perspective.

And, of course, there were many paintings by El Greco, the Greek artist who conveyed the passionate faith of Baroque Spain.

After several hours at the Prado, we traveled across town to our 4 p.m. endowment session appointment at the LDS Madrid Temple.    

As always, we enjoyed the peace and holiness of the temple, as well as meeting local people who share our faith.  

The temple was part of a complex of LDS buildings, ringed by apartments in a suburb of Madrid.  The other buildings in the LDS complex house the headquarters for three Spanish missions (including Alyssa's mission), an institute of religion for college students, and a conference center and apartments.  I assume the apartments are for temple patrons visiting from outlying areas.

The local missionaries advertised free English classes and temple tours.