Toledo, from the train station. Loong walk.
It was so worth the walk though. Toledo is an OLD city and its surrounded by a stone wall. It's also home to cathedrals, synagogues, and mosques...and is known as the city of three faiths. So when you hear "Holy Toledo!" that's probably where it comes from. First I went to the main cathedral:
I stumbled across the main synagogue, and didn't even find the mosque (I'm telling you, so lost in the streets of this city, but in a good way). It gives me a reason to go back, but I'm totally content with not having seen it.
Next, went to the Alcazar, which is a military museum (which I didn't know, but makes sense seeing as it WAS a fortress...). I was expecting it to be more like ruins, but it was still really cool. Ended up being in there for almost 2 hours, it's massive.
El Alcazar
By this point, it was 5:30 and my train was at 7. I left the city walls and sat in this park with lots of little beer stands, got a beer, and journaled. I cannot wait for this journal to be done--I bought a marble notebook and I have a glue stick, and I'm just gluing all my ticket stubs and whatnot into it along with writing about whatever I did, blablabla. It's going to be a beauty. Then made my way to the train station and back to Madrid. Walked from Atocha to Plaza Mayor and went to El Mercado de San Miguel for some dinner, which Anne and Sarah said was really good and worth going to. Sarah said it's like Reading Terminal Market, but a lot smaller. That pretty much sums it up. It was so great, just lots of people walking around inside with glasses of wine or bottles of beer, and eating. They have tables lined up along the perimeter where you can stand at and eat, and you can stand at the individual bars of each booth. Got my first paella in Spain! It was delicious...not a paella in its own little paella serving dish or anything--it was by no means fancy, but it tasted amazing. Then got some sangria to wash it down. Delicioso.
Mercado de San Miguel
Now, back at the hostel. Bedtime. Trying to decide if I want to go to Segovia in the morning or on Friday. I think it'll end up being Friday, seeing as I don't have a ticket. I have a few things that I feel like I need to do tomorrow anyway...want to go to Parque del Oeste (haven't been there yet), I want to eat at the tapas place that I went to with Sarah and Anne, but probably mid-day when it's less crowded, I can go find out about the tickets to Segovia...I think I'm going to take the local train instead of the high speed train and save like 30 euros (It was €19 round trip to Toledo but about twice as much to Segovia...or I can take the local trains for €6 each way, but its a two hour ride. I'll just nap, lolz.
I just decided then, tomorrow is my last full day in Madrid, Segovia on Friday, and Santiago de Compostela on Saturday morning for the weekend! I love love love Madrid but I'm excited to get moving and seeing more places. Plus the fact that I know I'll have my last day in Europe to spend in Madrid is nice, I've been making a mental list of the things that I want to come back to before I fly home. I'll figure it outtt.
Bedtime. Will upload ALL pictures from Madrid/Toledo/Segovia to facebook on Friday! Deuces.
Holy Toledo! SO PUNNY. It sounds like you're having an amazing time! I love that you're going to so many art museums and seeing all the beautiful parks! I went to El Vez with my friends last night and of course it was delicious but I kept thinking of the REAL margaritas and REAL spanish food you're enjoying over there! This blog is so much fun to read- keep it up! I'm getting cultured!
ReplyDeleteDUECES,
Caitlin
Hahaha I like the educational bit about "Holy Toledo"!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to go there! The streets look so magical :) Unfortunately we had to chose between Toledo and Segovia but I'll get a work out so it's all good :D Probably with my crazy backpack ahhh!
It's really interesting how it seems like a lot of Spanish cities have "Alcazars"? In Poland each city has a "Ratusz" which is this building with a clock tower sometimes, but it's the center of the city usually. I'd probably understand this if I did more than skim a wiki article, but I thought it was fun to mention!
How's the heat?? Is it still cool enough to be fine?
There is a lot more to see in Toledo than in Segovia so if you had to pick one, that's probably the better one to pick. It's also cheaper (€19 on the fast train from Atocha Renfe station) and trains run a lot more frequently from there. Segovia was €10 more. I thought Segovia was prettier but Toledo had a lot of the old world charm to it. And yeah, I guess just because they're old cities with walls around them, they all have alcazars which are basically just medieval castles.
ReplyDeleteThe heat was REALLY bad. It was in the 80s the whole week I was in Madrid. In Madrid though there are a lot of shady streets. Toledo is almost entirely unshaded. They have a great park outside of the city walls though with beer stands and stuff which were great! Also, they have the tourist buses that go around the city and that pick you up from the train station but unless it's unbearably hot (but you'll be outside all day anyway so deal with it!) the walk is doable from the station to the city--about 10 to 15 minutes. And it'll save you money. Like I said, just sit in the shady little park when you get to the top of the hill and rest, and then go into the city! It's great!
oh shit :( 80 degrees!! because I'm bringing like 2 pairs of jeans and idk if I'm even going to need them! but that park idea is so cute! :D nah I'm a cheapskate, if I can get by without taking the busses I will whoohooo! :D
ReplyDeletealsoooo! what hostel are you staying in, in barcelona?
PS: you're so brave and adventurous I can't get over it! I'm having like hardcore pre-travel anxiety here hahaha