Tag: Spain

Toledo Day 2

Toledo tuned out to be a wonderful place to spend two nights. The Parador here is great and Toledo itself is a fantastic place to explore. Sunday at 2am the clocks were turned forward an hour here. That meant we slept a bit later. We had an 8:30 breakfast reservation and had to rush a bit to make it.

Saturday when we walked into Toledo the first part of the walk was on a road with no sidewalks. It seemed a bit dangerous so Sunday we drove down to a vista point below the Parador, parked the car, and walked into Toledo from there.

The dangerous part of the walk yesterday
The path we took into Toledo today.

First we visited the Santa Cruz Museum. They had an excellent exhibit celebrating eight centuries since the birth of King Alfonso X. He reigned from 1252 until 1284 and was known as Alfonso the Wise.

The Santa Cruz museum
Alfonso X with scientists

Next we went to the Alcazar which houses the Army Museum. It in the enormous building you can see on the Toledo skyline. The museum gave a interesting overview of Spanish history. It is like the Smithsonian or the British Museum in that it isn’t possible to take it all in in one visit.

The Army Museum is the big building in the middle
Armor in the Army Museum

When I visit museums in European countries I often get a new perspective on US history. The museum had a series of displays about Spain’s contribution to the American war of independence. They highlighted the battle of Pensacola.

Battle of Pensacola
Description of the siege of Pensacola

After visiting the museums and getting lost in the labyrinthine streets of Toledo we walked back to the Parador. I think gin and tonic is the national drink of Spain. We had to have some before Roger and Gayle go home!

Pouring our gintonics

Later I made a video Duke’s review of our rental car. You can see it on YouTube here.

Monday we will drive to Madrid and turn in the rental car. Roger and Gayle fly home on Tuesday.

Guadalupe to Madrid

Duke and I got an early start this morning. We packed up, had breakfast and headed to Madrid to pick up our friends Roger and Gayle at the Madrid airport. We assumed they would be arriving at terminal 4, the international terminal. Which is a couple of miles from terminals 1, 2 and 3.

We followed the signs for arrivals, pulled in and found ourselves by the terminal 4 parking garages. The signs said if you don’t want to park keep going. We did and found ourselves back on the freeway leaving the airport! That was not the plan! I texted Roger; “We are going in circles but we will find you!” Maps on my phone said it was 15 kilometers back to the airport!

Apparently we were on a toll road because the next thing you know we were at a toll booth. Duke pulled up and said to the toll taker “Estamos perdidos! (We are lost!). Luckily there was almost no traffic and she was very helpful.

As we were making our way back to the airport we got a text from Roger saying “we are at T1 number 12”. Terminal 1! That was unexpected! I quickly changed the Maps destination and we managed to get to terminal 1.

It looked like we were on the rental car pick up area but miraculously we saw Roger and Gayle up ahead. It was one lane road with no where to pull over but the bus in front of us stopped. Roger and Gayle jumped in, and mission accomplished, we were on our way to our hotel in downtown Madrid.

We made it to the hotel without getting lost and checked in.

Checking in at our hotel in Madrid

Duke and I took the car to the rental car return place and walked back to the hotel.

Returning our rental car.

This afternoon we went to the Madrid Archaeological Museum (MUSEO Arqueológico Nacional – MAN).

Display of a woman’s tomb
Visigothic Guarrazar Hoard

It was a lovely day for a walk so we walked to and from the museum

Plaza Cibeles

After resting for a while back at the hotel we went out and had tapas for dinner. They were wonderful and a great end to a busy day.

Patatas Bravas
Taverna Los Chanquetes

Trujillo to Guadalupe

Today we had a fairly short drive further northeast towards the Parador of Guadalupe, another new Parador for us. We drove through the mountains.

The view on our drive to Guadalupe

Guadalupe is the site of the Royal Monastery of Guadalupe. It has been a pilgrimage destination since the fourteenth century. At the location where pilgrims first crested a hill and looked down on Guadalupe there is a Hermitage.

Hermitage of the Humilladero
Guadalupe

The Parador of Guadalupe is right next to the cathedral.

Parador de Guadalupe

The view of the Parador and the Cathedral from the balcony of our room blew me away when we walked in.

We have to leave here fairly early tomorrow to meet Roger and Gail at the airport in Madrid. So this afternoon we drove back up to the Hermitage and recoded Duke’s second car review of this trip.

Duke’s Review of our rental car.

When we got back to Guadalupe we went exploring.

Cathedral of Guadalupe
One of the old gates of Guadalupe
Guadalupe

We had a picnic in our room for dinner.

Dinner
Dinner

The view from our room is pretty at night too.

Guadalupe

Badajoz to Trujillo

Tuesday morning in Badajoz, after breakfast Duke and I walked to the rental car office and picked up a new rental car. Then we went to a Corte Inglés outlet store and bought a new jacket for Duke because he left his jacket somewhere n Lisbon.

Walking to the rental car office in Badajoz

After we checked out of our hotel we stopped at a laundromat to do our laundry.

Finally we left Bandjoz and headed northeast to Trujillo. We are on our way to Madrid where are will meet our friends Roger and Gayle on Thursday. Tonight (Tuesday) night we are staying in the Parador of Trujillo.

Trujillo Parador

This is the 72nd Parador we have stayed in. Paradors are hotels owned and run by the Spanish government. They are usually in historic buildings like monasteries’ convents or castles. Some Paradors are in modern buildings in exceptionally beautiful locations. There are currently 98 Paradors in Spain and one in Portugal.

The Parador of Trujillo where we are tonight is in the former convent of Santa Clara. We wandered around Trujillo exploring a bit after we arrived. The Plaza Mayor is the impressive central square. There is a large statue of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro on horseback in the square. He was born in Trujillo.

Trujillo Plaza Mayor
Trujillo Plaza Mayor

We are dinner in the Parador Bar. We shared a cheese plate and fresh hot croquettes. The left over cheese will be for lunch tomorrow.

Cheese

Croquettes

Pontevedra to Parador de Santo Estevo

Our first stop today was to do laundry.

Doing Laundry

While the laundry was processing we had coffee and read in the cafe next door.

Waiting for laundry to finish.

The Camino de Santiago is actually multiple medieval pilgrimage routes that all end in Santiago de Compostela. This morning we were only about an hours drive from Santiago de Compostela. so we decided to visited the Cathedral that is at the end of the Camino de Santiago before driving to the Parador where we are tonight. We parked fairly close to the Cathedral square and walked up to it. You can see the Cathedral from a long way away. It really is awe inspiring and it is fun to see walkers/pilgrims arriving at the end of their walk.

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Next we drove about an hour and a half southeast to the Parador of Santo Estevo. Duke and I have been here once before. I think it may be my favorite of all the Paradors we have visited. It is in a beautiful, big , old Monastery on the side of a mountain overlooking a gorge.

Parador de Santo Estevo
Central cloister of the Parador de Santo Estevo

Because we’re have visited so many Paradors we get treats in our room when we arrive. the brownies we got today were devine.

Our room in the Parador de Santo Estevo