Toledo and TOURISTS

Saturday 21 September
Everyone has told us not to miss Toledo while we are in Madrid so Lady P has done the research and lines up google maps to schedule our arrival at the Atocha station for the 9.20am train. This was specifically to avoid the crowds - selfishly we prefer these historic places to ourselves and given no one in Spain moves much before 10am anyway and the average travelling time by road is 1 hour, she reckons we will be well ahead of the game if we arrive via our fast train just before 10am. Great planning as usual BUT .....Firstly we need to travel on the suburban C train network to get to the main train station of Atocha and surprise surprise our 4 day tourist pass doesn’t seem to work on that system, no probs, we are dab hands at these auto ticket machines now (luckily they have an English button to help) so within minutes we have tickets and reach Atocha central station. We need to buy tickets for the fast train BUT ....... The 9.20am train has been cancelled and the 10.20pm train is FULL so we settle for the 11.20am train. Coffee is definitely in order but nothing is open till 10am so we head into the famous Parque de el Retiro for some solace.

The trees are just turning into their autumnal splendour, the running tracks are pumping with locals getting their weekend exercise and the kids and soccer Dads are assembling to train for the next Madrid Real soccer team. Have a delicious Illy coffee in a tea house just near the Prada Museum. We meander back to the station, anxious to check if we require ID documentation for our journey as on of the RENFE websites tell us passports are required for all non local train travel – crisis averted, Toledo is a local destination. Our fast train gets us to Toledo in 33mins and we share a 5 min taxi ride to the top of the hill with a couple of San Franciscans, who kindly offer to pay. First impressions don’t auger well as we discover McDonalds and Burger King in the main square cleverly disguised as cool Spanish bars. We didn’t fall for that one and find a little local bar around the corner for a red wine and an average sangria.

The fabric of Toledo visually is amazing, with ancient stone walls, splendid towers from medieval times and plenty of battlements.  We decide to find the Cathedral, which although obvious on the horizon is a maze of tiny streets away and you guessed it, all the streets are shoulder to shoulder with tourists, every nationality and plenty of locals too as it is a Saturday but we spend more time avoiding the crowds than we do enjoying the surroundings. The cathedral has a €10 entry fee and a queue for miles so we move on and eventually decide to investigate our lunch options. By this time it is drizzling, the rough stone roads are slippery and we are over Toledo. We end up at the bottom of the hill beside the impressive Roman gates with a pizza and ribs and more vino tinto. Ambling back to the station we reflect on how lucky we were to experience the simplicity of the Logrono lifestyle and medieval towns with not a tourist in sight.
A speedy train ride home, and as the phone dies we only just work out our way home before the neighbourhood comes out to play again at 8pm. The early bird definitely catches the worm but some tourist destinations are just that – their reason for being, is completely lost in the crowds.