Spain Part II - Madrid and Toledo

To Madrid on the Fast Train -- 

and fast it was - a bit over 300kmh (187mph) at the highest speed over sometimes desert-like and sometimes green landscape and through mountains, the train so smooth and quiet. There were olive groves and other fruit orchards and vegetable fields.  Spain pretty much feeds Germany green and fresh things in winter!

We'd briefly considered renting a van and driving, but Google told us it would take at least 6 1/2 hours driving time. No contest there. Since we left at 7am we arrived too early in Madrid to check in to our apartment, and since it was still early, we found a place for breakfast with lots of food and slow service, and then it was time to check in! To the taxi stand.

Taxis are ubiquitous in Europe and in some instances, almost the same outlay as public transport.  But when you have no idea where you're going, with bags, well, a taxi is good.

Paula met us at the apartment, explained everything, let us know how much she had enjoyed her time in the US and how excited she was to go back, and gave us all kind of tips. So friendly! And  the apartment was really great, located minutes from busy streets but on a quiet square - with a church, of course.

Off to the flea market!  The Rastro is a once-a-week market with everything you can imagine.  Clothes.  Art.  Old military stuff.  Junk.  Furniture.  More junk.  But the people flock there and it is an event. It was also probably our warmest day in Spain - maybe 88°F.

Werner and I found a local artisan brewer who brewed some good beer and we bought four bottles of that. (Three were a good Pils and one was a ginger/something mix that I wanted to try.  We took the beers to Malaga and the ginger beer never got tried.  We left it in the fridge. Go figure.) Maybe that was the extent of our purchases? But it was food time - actually, it seems to be food time a lot!  Hunter and Hannah mostly choose pizza or pasta or hamburgers, and that's pretty easy to find - paired with the ubiquitous Tapas.

We headed over to the Plaza Major.

It's a meeting ground for tourists and locals.  We found an umbrella to sit under and some food to order.

While waiting for the food, Hannah found a painting she liked and bargained with the artist for a good price!  (If I remember correctly, it's the sunflowers on the upper right.)

Then we wandered a bit more in the general direction of the apartment and found ourselves in a church, the Catedral de la Almudena, the central cathedral in Madrid, though not nearly as old as many others we've seen.

 

And then a look around the outside of the Royal Palace - visit for tomorrow.  There are lots of churches and plenty of palaces in our old Europe.

Taxis aren't the only way to get around - lots of bikes in Madrid (and Barcelona and Malaga) that you can rent, pick up and drop off at another station.  Seems they tried that in NY but it didn't work out so well there.

Back to do laundry!  The balconies were warm and sunny, line in the central light well just outside the window, so it all dried really fast.  And it smelled so good!! Wish I could get that detergent here in Germany.

 
  Monday was Prado and Palace Day.  I had the pre-purchased tickets, but as we discovered, that doesn't mean you can just walk in.  Seems you have to turn in the voucher for a ticket and finding that place took some time. But we managed, and put in a few more miles on our feet.

The Prado is of course a world-class museum with an amazing collection, much of it (no surprise here) Spanish: El Greco, Velázquez, Goya are all well  represented. But there's so much more. And an unexpected treat -- a special exhibit of Hieronymus Bosch.  Werner and I spent most of our allotted museum time there looking at his strange/fantastical/bizarre images, so minutely detailed.  So, some other parts of the museum got short shrift, but it was still great. (Check the link to see images of the interior - no picture-taking allowed in there!)

Walking along the boulevard after the museum visit, I asked Hannah how she liked it.  "I hate museums!"  Really?  "They're so boring."  Oh.  Of course I love them, but I'm really glad that Hunter and Hannah will play along and go and look with us all.  Later, maybe, something will take root.

Heading to the subway, Hunter and Hannah found one of those little machines that presses a 5-cent piece into a souvenir coin.  I think they must have a drawer full of these!

Then the palace.  Well.

Like the museum, no interior picture taking allowed.  I don't know why - obnoxious selfies?  Security?  Impossible to say, but so it is.  Over 1000 rooms.  Compared to many of the palaces I've visited, it's in great shape - draperies and wall coverings and furniture are almost pristine, no obvious cracks or such in the walls and the paintings and frescoes are wonderful.  This palace, unlike many others, is still in regular use for official events and I guess there are private apartments there for royalty.  Somewhere. There's certainly place for an apartment or two.

 I think we took a nap after that.  We did take a nap or two.  And we watched football/futbol/soccer, too!

Tuesday means Toledo.
We'd  bought the  train tickets the day before not really knowing what kind of time we'd  want to spend there.  Five hours? 

Sounds like a lot. 
But it was not! 

The trip was about 45 minutes and there are a good many trains back and forth each day.

Sigh.  the first view of the citadel of La Mancha.

In these newer days, you don't have to trudge up endless stairs.  There's an escalator! Actually, three or four this high!

The Alcázar dates from Roman times and looks like the fortress it is.

On the other hand, Toledo's associated with Don Quixote, The Man of La Mancha, and his sidekick Sancho Panza.  Werner's doing a reasonable imitation here of dear Sancho!

The cathedral may be the most opulent I have ever seen outside of St. Peter's in Rome.  Another of the stops that leaves one without words.  The majesty of it, the gold and the carvings in wood and stone and the architecture and the play of light and dark and the quiet and the hugeness of it all. One hardly needs to be told to keep silence in such a place.

 There were El Grecos to see here in the church.  Truly amazing color and composition.

The younger folks looked around the cathedral and then took the stairs to the tower while we contemplated the cloister garden.  Worked well for all of us. Somehow, that was not a good day for me - maybe it was the altitude.

 

Toledo is also the home of fabulous sword makers. That was like nectar to bees for Hunter - he COULD NOT WAIT to look at and evaluate and compare and buy a knife or sword or two.  What fun he had!

Lunch under trees and umbrellas - and water mists ! - in an ancient square!  The mist was soon too much, the Tapas we have had enough of.  The Gazpacho was great though.  Service - not so much.

Michelle, Werner and I wanted to see the El Greco masterpiece in the local church - The Burial of Count Orgaz considered by all to be his masterpiece - while Joey took the kids in search of more swords and knives.

And then we had to hoof it!! Time to meet the train.  We walked really fast to make it to the train station in time for our scheduled trip. But we did it.  Notice though we are clinging to the shady side of the walks.  It might not have been incredibly warm that day, but those stones can hold some heat.

 Since the attack in Madrid last year, there's more security at the train stations - not quite as intensive as at airports, but there's a screening for bags, so it takes a bit more time.

Back in Madrid, it was nap time (we did that now and again :-) ) and then the question was dinner.  What to do?  One of the advantages of staying in an apartment rather than a hotel is you can do some take out.  So we did!  How easy is that?  Everyone gets something they like. Hannah put on some heels to go out.  Lordy, that child is TALL when she puts on those shoes!

Odd shots:  Football cookies

 and Churros. It's really popular, they told us.  Fried bread.  Well, OK.  I sure do like fried stuff, and we tried it so you don't have to.  It's really, really fatty and has practically no flavor.  Sugar would help.  Or cinnamon.  Or bacon.

We've done laundry - twice - and watched the Euro Cup - twice - and now it's time to pack up and leave.

Next morning, we took taxis to the train station for our trip to Malaga; we're starting to love taxis.  This time our taxi driver - a woman - had family in the US.  Where, we ask (Aside:  That "we" is Michelle and Werner who can manage a bit of Spanish.  The "we" does not include me!) Alabama.  Really? Where in Alabama?  Mobile.  You are kidding!!    There are friends everywhere you go....