26 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



formal and gloomy and has never been occupied except for 

 brief occasions by the Spanish Court. Perhaps the royal 

 occupants realize too keenly that they will come one day 

 to the Escorial to stay, and do not care to anticipate that 

 last coming. 



We parted from the gray buildings with keen regret, for 

 our stay had been too short to explore them thoroughly, as 

 every room is filled with history. The study, bedroom, and 

 antechamber of Philip II, where he spent his last days and 

 where he died, made everything a reality to us. A walk 

 through the park and a visit to the Prince's palace, a modern 

 French toy-house, almost, set at the end of the Park by 

 Philip V, completed and rounded out our visit by bringing 

 it down to the times of the Bourbon kings. Just near the 

 station is a little Spanish posada, the mistress of which pro- 

 vided us with as nice a cup of tea (and Upton's tea at that!) 

 as can be furnished anywhere in England or America. 



The city of Toledo lies some fifty miles from Madrid and 

 was the ancient capital of Spain. Here it was that the Gothic 

 kings ruled and here King Reccared and King Wamba held 

 court in the days when Spain was converted to Christianity 

 a second time after its invasion by the Goths and Visigoths. 

 It was not until towards the end of the Middle Ages that the 

 capital was transferred to Madrid. Toledo sits high upon a 

 hill where the River Tagus sweeps round it in a semi-circle. 

 It was for many centuries a stronghold of the Moors when 

 they held more than half of Spain. It defied capture from the 

 river side, but was at last taken by the Castilians from the 

 land side. Outside the church of San Juan de los Reyes 

 there hang on the walls countless numbers of iron chains and 

 shackles which were stricken from the limbs of Christian 

 captives at the taking of the city. The city bears a distinctly 

 Moorish character in its narrow, winding, and confused 

 streets. It is said to be one of the hardest Spanish cities 

 to find one's way around in, and we marvelled much at the 

 dexterity of the driver who successfully piloted the carriage 

 without scraping the doorways on either side or squeezing 

 the passersby flat against the walls of the houses. 



Two bridges cross the Tagus by which one may enter 

 Toledo. One, the Bridge of Alcantara (Arabic, cd-kantara, 

 the bridge), leads from the railway station directly into the 



