| The next day, our plan for the day was
to head for Toledo by train. Our first goal was to get ourselves
to the station, which was just a little bit past the Prado, near
the end of Calle Atocha. It was an interesting building, reminiscent
of the classic late 19th century glass-and-iron stations, but built
in more recent times. We especially liked the people movers that
we dubbed "slope-alators." They were a cross between an
escalator and a moving sidewalk, and moved you up or down a level
in the station. They worked pretty well for people who were lugging
a lot of baggage. Luckily, we had a little time to grab some breakfast,
and found a surprisingly yummy chocolate croissant and some café
con leche.
The ride to Toledo was uneventful, and the train station there
was quite cute, built in an Islamic style with lots of tile. However,
getting to the center of town was the start of what became a very
wearing day for me. We were the last two people allowed on the bus
into town. It was jammed full of tourists in shorts, Tevas and backpacks,
all carrying cameras and guidebooks, just like us. I was still feeling
poorly and moving very slowly. When we got to the Plaza Zodocover,
we stopped for a drink and a rest.
With somewhat recharged batteries, we headed up to the Alcazar.
Good grief, what a boring place. Sure, it's big and historically
important, but the current structure was rebuilt in the 30's after
the original building was blown up. It housed a pretty large collection
of guns, swords and military uniforms, which could have been interesting.
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| A slightly askew staircase
Detail |
However, none of the descriptions were in English, and no photography
was allowed. As I've said before, I don't expect museums to bend
over backwards for foreign visitors. Unlike art, though, this stuff
is a lot harder to appreciate without some background and context.
We finished looking around inside and walked around the building
a little bit. It was hot, really hot. There were many flies buzzing
around and landing on my face. Ugh. Time for lunch—another
rest and some hydration. We found a friendly little bar on the
Plaza Mayor, the tiniest plaza ever. Our server was friendly, and
the food was basic and pretty tasty, though I was beginning to
be a little tired of ham and cheese sandwiches and sausages.
At this point, I was feeling totally wiped out. For the last few
days, we'd been hauling ourselves around to "see all the sights." We
were both fighting off colds, and feeling a little bit stressed
out. We were on the tourist treadmill, and this day in Toledo was
the low point. |
