For my birthday this year we headed back to Spain for some sunshine since it has been a long long Winter in the UK.
We tossed up between Madrid and Barcelona before deciding on Madrid because it wasn't as touristy and has lots of lovely towns nearby for easy day trips.
We arrived in Madrid late on Friday evening and headed straight to bed, as we were headed to the small town of Toledo the next morning so we had to be up early.
We caught the train to Toledo the next morning, it takes about an hour on the train from Madrid, and walked from the station up the hill to the Old Town.
Toledo is set up high on a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside and surrounded on three sides by a river. It was made a Unesco World Heritage site in 1986 and has heaps of historical sights, like the Alcazar and several old churches.
It's known as the City of Three Cultures, because Christians, Islamic and Hebrew cultures existed alongside for centuries.
The Tajo River
It's hard to walk around Toledo without coming across a Church. With so many co-existing religions, there are Churches and Mosques everywhere.
Toledo is also famous for its Steel, which is unusually hard. It was used to make Swords for the Roman Legions, but also for film and TV, like Lord of the Rings. There were stores everywhere selling swords and knives.
We had arrived quite early, so we had the town to ourselves before the usual Day Trippers arrived at about lunchtime. Most stores were closed, but we were happy to wander round, exploring the back streets and peering in shop windows.
We stopped for a late breakfast of Churros at a tiny Churreria full of old Spanish people. We ate Churros everyday when we visited the South of Spain, and the North was no different. Fresh Churros dipped in hot coffee is so delicious, we only just got tired of it at the end of our trip after three days of scoffing them!
The views of the countryside surrounding Toledo were amazing. It was such a sunny clear day, and we could see for miles. It's easy to see why the town was built so high on a hill, with high walls it would have been perfect against any invading armies.
Views across the river from the Alcazar
We headed back to Madrid in the late afternoon, and finally got to see some of the City. Madrid itself doesn't have a lot to see in the way of attractions or historical sights, but the food and drink were fantastic and worth the trip alone.
The Plaza Mayor, the biggest Plaza in the City. It had a similar feel to St Marks Piazza in Venice
We spent some time wandering in the Gardens of the Palacio Real de Madrid, or the Royal Palace of Madrid. It is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family in Madrid, but is really only used for State Ceremonies rather than actual day to day living.
The Gardens are lovely, and are surrounded by Cafes and have lots of places to sit in the sun. Huge statues of Gothic Kings line the pathways leading to the Palace.
All the street signs in Madrid looked like this, I loved them. Each one was different.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the city before grabbing a quick dinner on the way back to our hotel. We ended up getting some food to takeaway and eating in bed because we were so tired after walking up all the hills in Toledo.
We ended up having an early night after a long shower in the amazing rainfall shower in our room. I can't deny that the shower may have been a big reason to return to the hotel early, it's not often we get to have a long shower as if we were under a rainfall!
Looks nice and warm, interesting buildings etc.
ReplyDelete