We aimed to make the 10:20 train rather than the 9:20. Got to Atocha with plenty of time to work our way through the confusion of metro, cercanias and renfe stations. Tried the automatic ticket machines, it rejected my credit card, it rejected Marjan's credit card, it rejected our debit cards. In fact the machines were rejecting all credit cards, or at least all the ones around where I was. So off to the ticket office to do it the manual way. The queue was hidden by the fact that people were merely sitting around waiting for their number to come up. It did not look good, our time was running out and we still had people in front of us. Finally got to the front of the queue, the Renfe lady was not hopeful we would make it, but I shoved exact change in her direction, gave her the precise details she needed and we impatiently waited for the tickets to print. In the meantime some German lady was trying to tell me I had taken her spot in the queue, I had not, she did not have a ticket. Marjan started for the platform as she was walking slowly. Anna and I ran and we all got to the train with a minute to spare.
Heart beating we settled down for a train ride. Before we had settled we had arrived. A brief trip through the Castilla La Mancha country side, a few olive groves and 28 minutes later we were 70 km away in Toledo. This folks is NOT the fast train. Those living in Geelong or Ballarat would kill for a service like this. I'll jump ahead and say the return trip was also precisely on time, even though they had to wait 3 minutes in the yards so as not to arrive early.
Anna found the station, mudejar of course, interesting enough to photograph. We walked into the city along the Tajo (Tagus in Latin) and through one of the old gates. The views across the river were fantastic. Even had a cormorant fly under the bridge.
So you may recall we liked Segovia. A mere appetizer. Toledo is Segovia for the serious history buff. The history here is palpable everywhere you turn. The whole city reeks of it. Toledo is the capital of Castilla La Mancha, it has been the capital of Spain, before Madrid, it was a major Islamic administrative city, it was capital of the Visigoths Kingdom of Hispania and was a major administrative city for the Romans. They did a decent kangaroo court and called it the Inquistion, they were a major hold out in the Spanish civil war. You name it if Spain was involved, Toledo was as well.
Even more importantly, as a lover of culture, Toledo was key in keeping Greek and Roman books in the hands of educated men, unlike many other places they were destroyed. During the Convivencia, when Muslims, Jews and Christians managed to live together in peace in Toledo, the combination of races and languages meant that much of that knowledge was maintained and translated into modern European texts just ready for the explosion that was the Rennaissance.
We loved the cathedral, Anna was gob-smacked I think. It was built, or at least begun in the 13th century. Anna loved the recently restored murals in The chaple of San Blas, I loved the Greco, Velazquez, Bellini and Caravaggio art work on display, Marjan loved the choir area. We all just loved it.
By then it was time for lunch and we had nice local fare, at a restaurant we had to ourselves till dessert. Marjan was a little freaked out by the pescadillos, little fish with their tails in the mouths, Anna liked her alcachofa entree, i, of course, liked everything. Another three course meal meant we decided some climbing was in order. So up we went to the top of San Juan Bautista for a view of the city.
We tried to get into the mosque at Cristo De La Luz which dates back to the 11th century, but they were doing some restoration work so it was closed. We could have stayed a week and not been bored. Everywhere you turn is something else of interest or wonder. This is a place to lose yourself and find something that brings you back to yourself.
Of course traffic is fun with streets you can touch both walls of, and main roads where the pedestrian has to push up against a wall to let the cars past.
After some more walking we were hungry again so we bought some mazapan, another local specialty, for the train trip back, sat in the Plaza De Zocodover and watched the locals eat mazapan and the tourists eat at maccas whilst I enjoyed the Spanglish and finally, regretfully, slowly headed back to the train.
Back in Madrid, we went shopping for a SIM card for Anna. For some reason it has been painful to do for both of us. Partially because the Atocha bombings were set off using prepaid mobiles and the authorities now want some paperwork. Partially though it has been that whenever we try the SIM card thing, the shop is not able to do it, or the system is down, or the queue is too long......we finally made it though.
Feeling hungry again we wandered into the San Miguel market and had some tapas. The mussels were a treat, and the wine not too bad either.
A good day. A tiring day. A day to remember.
Oh! why the title? It was the comment of one of the day's participants when asked if they were smiling for the camera.
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