Madrid/Toledo

When an opportunity presents itself, you should seize it especially if you’re travelling. Yesterday the train took me from Alicante to Madrid where I needed to switch trains to go to Toledo. I was greeted with noisy and loud protestors apparently protesting privatization of the rail system but I don’t read Spanish that well. Rather than getting off one train and on another right away, I decided to store my luggage at the train station and spend the afternoon roaming the streets of Madrid which was fun. I had originally thought I’d spend a few days in Madrid but could not secure a hotel room and then I came to find out over the weekend that Rockin Rio/Madrid was taking place which explains a lot but that would have been fun, had I known… The first thing that struck me coming out of the train station was all the trees. I somehow did not have that picture of Madrid. Most of the streets leading away from the train station are tree lined and it was a pleasant surprise. As I was wandering I came across the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor which has some beautiful frescos, the Prado museum and the Opera House. I also had an unfortuante mishap with a homeless person attacking me at the telebanco but I´m okay so I moved on. Although Madrid is a huge city and has a population of around 3.5 million, it seems manageable, I only saw a small slice of it and a place I definitely want to come back and visit.

Toledo is known as the Imperial City and is 70kms from Madrid and is known for its emerging wines, olive oil, enotecas and manchego cheese. It is hot and dry and there is a mosaic of architecture and cultural values with the dearth of mosques, synagogues, churches and museums and it all sits high on a rocky ridge above the River Tajo. I feel like I am visiting a city that is made up of castles. There are lookouts, arches, turrets at every twist and turn. It is hilly, the streets are narrow, mostly cobblestone and charming. Like the other cities in Spain I have visited, it is has been pretty hot during the day. However, here the evenings seem almost sultry as there is a warm breeze and the temperature does not drop that much and I realized how much I missed that living in Oakland where the temperature drops when the sun goes down.