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Travelogue: Spain and Portugal
Toledo: Getting There
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.
A slightly askew staircase
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.
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.
We continued on to the Cathedral after lunch.
