Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain and Canary IslandsFriday, decided to do a day trip to Toledo, one of Spains oldest and most historic cities about an hour south of Madrid.
How to get there? Car? Bus? Train? A bit of Googling made the decision for us - train. Good ol' Google also revealed how to buy tickets. So off to the train station we went. Navigated our way down to the ticket sales office, stood in line for 30 mins only to be told that the trains to Toledo had no seats left for that day. Damn. Headed off into the city area to do some exploring.
Back at the apartment we went online to buy the train tickets for Saturday. Booked 'em, paid for 'em, downloaded the boarding passes and loaded 'em onto our phones. Technology is revolutionising this whole travel gig.
Train trip took about 1/2 hour. Very relaxing. Scenery on the way to Toledo was uninspiring - flat and featureless. Once we got to Toledo though it all changed. Toledo is a hilltop fortress town, bounded by a deep river gorge and steep cliffs. Steep windy narrow streets are the order of the day.
Walking around the streets of Toledo it soon becomes apparent that Toledo is well know for its steel products - more particularly swords and knives. There are probably more sword shops than restaurants.
Toledo is a spectacularly impressive city. Around every corner another piece of history reveals itself. Centuries old churches and synagogues, city gates, bridges. It's almost overwhelming.
After spending a few hours wandering the city we parked ourselves at a cafe for a couple of glasses of wine before heading back to the train station.
By now the temperature had dropped a few degrees with rain threatening. Headed back down the hill to the bus pick-up area (courtesy of the most impressive set of escalators we have ever seen, seven sets of escalators with nary a set of stairs in sight). Still a bit of a wait for the bus so we headed off for the station on foot. Could have been a mistake, rain started coming down on the way - freezing cold AND rain, just great.
Anyway, made it back to the station without getting too wet. Sat on the train for a while getting warm then enjoyed the trip back to Madrid. A most satisfying day.
Love the pics...xo
2018-10-29
Love the pics...xo