Day 37 Toledo

Today's outing was a day trip to Toledo. We started from the Atocha main station where we arrived in plenty of time. We were surprised to discover that the main hall, where you would normally expect to see tracks with lots of trains and people had in fact been transformed into a very large greenhouse filled with tropical plants, some enormous. At the head end there was a wide shallow pond filled with floating miniature water lilies that were being eaten by a horde fo turtles of various sizes. We happily whiled away the excess time observing these turtles sunbathing on flat rocks provided for the purpose, and more entertainingly, attempting to clamber up onto these surfaces from the water and failing, repeatedly. 

The journey to Toledo was on a "medium distance" train somewhat posher and faster then the one we had previously been on. Although it was faster, the ride, i.e. track was not as smooth as I had expected. The journey took only 30 minutes and traversed a sort of plain with low level topology that leads me to think this area was once under water. At the Toledo station an interesting tourist game unfolded. One of the first things you need after arriving is a map. And what was the first thing being sold by franchisees as you exit the platform? Maps of course, at €2 each and we could see quite a few people falling into this trap. Two doors further down was a tourist office where we got an adequate map for free. We had to wait a while for a bus up the hill into the city, but it beat walking, of which there was much ahead of us.

Toledo is World Heritage listed city with lots of churches, museums , alcazar (closed) and the usual old city maze of streets. This is emphatically a tourist town with tons of tourist shops and restaurants. Many shops had large selections of knives ranging from small to swords and cutlasses, apparently harking back to its history of producing good  swords. Even though they are labeled "Toledo", one wonders if they are actually made here.

Joan was keen to visit a Templar exhibition while I sat on my behind on the nearby theatre steps. The exhibition wasn't a great success as it toed the party (Catholic) line. We started to notice a sameness about all the notable buildings - churches, museums, etc. It was obvious that they had all been either rebuilt or extensively renovated. There appeared to be much new material. After a while this uniformity became boring and we found the place to be somewhat fake.

The high point for us, literally and figuratively was our visit to the Iglesia de Los Jesuitas (San Ildefonso). Unlike every other church we had seen, the interior was painted white, the shrines were freely accessible (no grates), and the wooden floor was of contemporary provenance. The white ceiling was not adorned in any way and this freshness appealed to us - we liked the place. Our reason for visiting it though was the view obtained from the towers, as this is the highest point in the city. We were amply rewarded in this regard. There was one incongruous object on our way up the towers - a Coke machine! This is a functioning church. Thirsty work climbing steps,apparently.

Finally success in the dining department! We took the LP's advice and went to their top recommendation. Unusually, the service was good, friendly and helpful, but most importantly, the food was good to, and not that expensive. Mind you, the rapidity with which the dishes arrived made you think they were trying to push you through for a quick turnover.

After lunch the temperature rose to 33° and as there was lots of up and down walking, we soon became rather tired, so we decided to cut short our stay and return on the 5:30pm rather than the 7:30pm train. On arrival back at Atocha station in Madrid we thought we'd be smart and buy tickets for our two remaining rail journeys. Good idea, but it entailed a 40 minute wait in aqueue in the un-air-conditioned ticket hall. We were rewarded by being served by a very charming and helpful (English-speaking) teller.

We had earlier intended to have dinner at the food hall we had seen next to Plaza Major the day before. However, after our exhausting day on our feet we didn't feel like more walking so we looked locally and were lucky to find an elegant Italian restaurant near the Opera. We weren't that hungry so only ordered a main dish each - two pasta dishes, which were excellent. I would go so far as to say the best we have had so far.