Toledo

Brroke Regier

A Trip to Toledo

For our weekly trip, we went to Toledo, Spain. In Toledo we stayed in a hostel within the walls of the antique part of the city. For twenty-four hours, we learned about Toledo and it’s deep history, we toured many different historical sights, and we experienced a fast-paced, tourist-based culture.

Our time in Toledo was different from our time in Caceres because of the amount of tourists and how well the city caters to that. We found ourselves speaking less spanish than we normally would in Caceres due to the fact that store vendors value english because of tourists.

Our trip to Toledo, Spain exposed me and my classmates to a history much different than that of America and Cáceres. We were taken around the city on a guided tour for three hours. During the tour, we learned how influential religion had been on the city, and just how much those influences still hold up today. The part that interested me the most was that no church in Toledo is strictly one religion. Though they may be called a catholic cathedral or a protestant church, every church has multiple religious influences represented in the building.
            With these different influences on this large aspect of the small city of Toledo, it has helped it develop into a very diverse and strong city.

Toledo was the first capitol of Spain before the title was moved to Madrid. Looking at the history of Toledo, I can respect their time as the capitol. They were a city that used their differences to strengthen rather than cut down. Great cathedrals were created because of the diverse nature of the city. They grew from diversity rather than running from it. Perhaps a few countries could learn from this use of diversity.