March 14
Hello everyone. It’s been a few days since we posted but today, we’re taking a rest day so thought it would be a good idea to get caught up on our adventure.
March 12 – Toledo and Segovia
On Monday we took a day trip from Madrid to Toledo and Segovia. We thought about going on our own but since they’re on opposite sides of Madrid (Toledo is about an hour southwest and Segovia is about an hour northwest) we knew that we’d only be able to see one or the other. We found a day trip on Viator that included both of them for a reasonable price, so we were able to see both beautiful cities.
Our first stop was Toledo which was made a World UNESCO Historical Site in the 1980s. It has been ruled by the Romans, Visigoths, and the Moors. In the late 11th century, the town was recaptured by the Christians and has been a Christian city ever since. It was the capital of Spain until the mid-16th century when Philip II moved the capital to Madrid in an effort to “escape” the influence of the Catholic Church, which had its Spanish center in Toledo.
It was actually a sunny day, so we decided to walk on the wild side and leave our umbrellas in the bus. Yahoo!!! The city is absolutely beautiful but of course the old town is on a hill, so we had a lot of uphill walking which is tough on Peter’s ankles. The walking tour lasted about an hour after which we had a little over an hour on our own. We stopped into the Cathedral, which used to be the National Cathedral of Spain until the capital was moved to Madrid. It was very pretty but we’re starting to get immune to Cathedrals as we’ve seen 5-6 in the last week. They’re all starting to blur together.
Most of our free time in Toledo was spent shopping, which is unusual as neither one of us care that much for shopping. One of the things Toledo is known for is knives, swords, etc. The swords for movies such as Lord of the Rings and TV show Game of Thrones were made in Toledo. Many of the Japanese samurai swords are made there as well. We bought a set of 3 kitchen knives that, while not cheap, were much less expensive than if we’d bought them at home. They’re hand forged and are supposed to stay sharp for 10 years.
The city is also known for its gold leaf items. We found some beautiful plates, hangings, jewelry, etc. Peter found a handmade framed piece of Don Quixote and Sancho (Toledo is in the province of La Mancha) that he loved but it was $2500 so we took a pass on that and found one he liked that wasn’t quite as expensive. It’s not handmade but still very beautiful. Then we found a bracelet for Lynn that Peter loved (Lynn liked it too) so we got that as well.
All that shopping made us hungry, and since we weren’t going to have lunch until we got to Segovia, we grabbed a jamon sandwich on our way back to the bus.
Then it was off to Segovia, a 2-hour ride from Toledo. Our first stop was lunch. We found out that in this part of Spain if you’re in a Tapas Bar, you get a free tapas with any drink. So, we had a glass of wine and some delicious tapas all for the low, low price of 5 euros. Not bad. But we were still hungry. We thought about going bar hopping but figured that by the time we had enough free tapas to feel full we’d also be drunk so we found another restaurant where we could get something a little more substantial. Not a big lunch but something to hold us until we got back to Madrid. After lunch we met the group back in the city square for our walking tour.
While Toledo is in a flat area, Segovia is in the mountains, so the sky was quite cloudy and threatening. We regretfully put our umbrellas in Lynn’s bag and it’s a good thing we did as about 20 minutes into our walking tour it started to rain (14 straight days). Luckily it only rained for about 15 minutes, but it was enough to get our feet a little wet.
Segovia was settled by the Celts but was also ruled by the Romans and the Moors. It is most famous for the remarkable Roman Aqueduct which was built around 112AD. It starts in the mountains and runs for over 9 miles before ending in the city. Some of it was destroyed by the Moors so those sections were rebuilt in the middle of the 16th century. It is in remarkable condition and was used for the city’s water supply until the mid-19th century. It’s quite amazing!
Of course, there’s a Cathedral which is nice but nothing like we saw in Salamanca.
The other famous building in Segovia is the Alcazar, a royal palace built in the early 12th century. Our tour price included admission, so we wandered the palace for a while on our own. It was destroyed by a fire in 1862 and was subsequently rebuilt. It now houses a museum for the Royal School of Artillery.
After a 1 1/2-hour drive back to Madrid, we finally made it home around 7:30pm. It was a long day so after a dinner of left-over pasta, we played a couple stimulating rounds of Rummikub before heading to bed. It was a long, but very nice day.
March 13
Yesterday we were out of our Madrid flat by 8:30 for the 4-hour drive south to Granada. Even though we kept driving in and out of rain (15 straight days) the trip was uneventful until the tire pressure light went on in the car. We stopped for air, but the light is still on, even after being reset. The same thing happened to our rental car in Croatia, so we’ll just keep our eyes on it until we get back to Lisbon.
We met our host, Manuel, who gave us all the scoop on the town. Of course, the main attraction is the Alhambra. In reading about tours the other night Peter discovered that it’s sold-out months in advance, which we didn’t know anything about…. oops. Lynn got online frantically looking for tours, tickets at the box office, the Granada Card, anyway, to get in but couldn’t find a thing available until mid-May. Just when it looked like all we’d be able to do is see it from the outside (which is amazing, but still….) she found a guided tour that had a few tickets left but not until Thursday morning. So, we decided to spend an extra night in Granada and go on the tour before we head to Malaga on Thursday.
It was a beautiful, sunny, warm (mid 60s) day and since the forecast was clouds and rain, we decided to see what we could of the town in the afternoon. We toured the Cathedral which had a very nice audio guide and the Royal Chapel. That was amazing as we saw relics from the most famous Spanish Royal couple…. Ferdinand and Isabel. Most notably we saw Isabel’s rosary, crown and scepter as well as Ferdinand’s sword. The highlight was seeing their crypts. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures. Here’s a link to a page of pictures from google. Royal Chapel of Granada.
Then we started walking to Mirador San Nicolas where Manuel told us was a beautiful view of the Alhambra. He said that virtually of the pictures you find of the Palace are taken from the spot. He marked it on the map, but it wasn’t as easy to find as he made it sound….it never is in Europe. We followed the river but then got lost as we turned to go up the hill. Not lost exactly but we couldn’t find the overlook. We thought that if we just kept heading up the hill, we’d find it eventually. During the climb 3 questions kept popping into Lynn’s mind. 1. Are we going to find this place before one of us blows out a knee or ankle? 2. It the sky going to dump on us (by this time it was quite cloudy) before we get there? and 3. Is the view going to be worth the climb? We finally stopped to ask someone for directions and just a few minutes later we found the overlook and Lynn’s questions were answered: 1. Knees and ankles sore but intact; 2. Still cloudy but no rain; and 3. It was absolutely worth the climb.
We found a restaurant that had a gorgeous view of the Palace, so we sat outside for a while recovering from the climb and treating ourselves to a drink. By this time, it was after 5pm and we wanted to get back down the hill before dark, so we started the walk down. After just a few minutes, though, we saw a shuttle bus that was heading to city center, so we got on and rode down. We still had a 15-minute walk back to the flat but there were no hills, so it was an easy walk. We still needed dinner, so we went to a Tapas Bar for our free snacks with our drink. Lynn’s calamari only had 4 pieces and Peter had one piece of bread with pork and cheese. Certainly not enough to fill us up after not having eaten since the sandwich we ate on the drive 6 hours earlier. But again, we didn’t want to get hammered on drinks to get free tapas, so after strolling for about 30 minutes, we found a nice restaurant that served raciones or half-portions. When the plates came out, though, there was a ton of food. When Lynn asked the server that if this was a half-portion, what did the full portion look like, his response was “it’s bigger”. We’re sure he was thinking “crazy tourists; what did they think a full portion would look like.”
By the time we got home, not only was it dark, but it was 9:30pm. Usually by this time we would be snuggled in our jammies and playing Rummikub or Yahtzee but last night we pretended we were grown-ups and stayed out late. Of course, the Spaniards were just going out as we were coming in but our flat overlooks a courtyard so it’s very quiet. We were in bed just a short time later and slept super late this morning…. Lynn till 7:30 (super late for her) and Peter till almost 10am. It’s 12:15pm now and we just finished breakfast. Since Peter’s ankles took a beating yesterday and we haven’t had a rest day in quite a while, we’re going to hang close to the flat today. It’s cloudy and is supposed to rain but we may go out for a walk later. If it’s raining, we’re not moving out of the flat.
Tomorrow is an early day as we have to get out of the flat and to the Alhambra no later than 7:45am for our 8:30 tour. It should last about 3 hours then it’s off to Malaga. It’s less than 2 hours away so we’re going to take the scenic route and follow the coast. We hope the warm weather stays with us but keep praying for the rain to clear.
Okay, so now you’re all caught up. Thanks for your patience and we’ll talk again soon. Love to all.