I think I might have mentioned that when we were in Toledo last month we walked many of the same paths as San Geraldo’s famous ancestors.
Had the weather been nicer (remember the rain every day except the last?), I would have done an ancestry tour. Fortunately, as we taxied back to the train station, we passed one of the bridges I hadn’t gotten a chance to see.
Known in Spanish as Puente de Alcántara, Alcántara Bridge spans the Targus River that rings the old city. It was built by the Romans between 104 and 106 AD by order of Emperor Trajan.
In 1085, San Geraldo’s 27-greats grandfather, Alfonso VI, crossed the bridge after taking Toledo, the first major city in the Christian Reconquista.
I’m glad San Geraldo is more enlightened — if no less regal — than many of his ancestors.
(Click the images. You know why.)
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| WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE IN 1899. (CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO INFORMATION.) |
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| 117 YEARS LATER, ON A SIMILAR APPROACH TO THE PREVIOUS PHOTO. THAT’S ALFONSO VI’S GRANDSON’S ARM HANGING OUT THE TAXI WINDOW. |
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| CARS BEHIND US. NO CHANCE TO STOP. |
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| CASTILLO SAN SERVANDO, TOP RIGHT. ORIGINALLY A MONASTERY BUILT AROUND THE 7TH CENTURY. NOW A YOUTH HOSTEL. |
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| THE GATE (AT LEFT IN TOP PHOTO). |
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| LEAVING THE CITY BY WAY OF A SLIGHTLY MORE MODERN BRIDGE. |
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| NEXT TIME, I’LL GET SAN GERALDO TO REENACT GRANDPA’S ENTRY INTO THE CITY. (JUST THE HORSEBACK RIDE… OK, AND THE CLOTHES. DEFINITELY THE CLOTHES.) |