Friday
In order to move around this week, we reserved a rental car. Pick up was at the Madrid airport, so we hauled all our stuff through the train station and metro to the airport rental car counters.
We’d made a reservation through GoldCar, but in the process of accepting the rental, we decided to bail. The price was changing, they kept requiring signatures for documents they wouldn’t let us see, and we had to accept the condition of the car without seeing it in advance. Since GoldCar has a reputation for cheap rentals but catching you on the technical details of the contract, Keller thought it best to skip the rental.
A few hours later we were on the road with a new rental through Europcar instead. With American based support for the online rental portion and a helpful agent, Keller was much more comfortable. While it did delay our plans a bit, it was still the right call.
We hit the road toward El Escorial where our AirBNB for the night was located. The hosts have young children, so they required an earlier check in. After dropping off our things and picking up the keys, we hopped back into the car to visit the El Escorial complex. It was built in the 1500s at the height of Spain’s power to function as a palace, cathedral, monastery, and the seat of the Spanish Inquisition. It is mostly empty now, except for the active monastery and the rooms open for tours. The complex itself is massive and it is hard to capture the scale of the buildings with photos.
It also serves as the resting place for many of the Spanish monarchs, starting with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (of the Hapsburg dynasty, aka – Austria). We weren’t really supposed to take photos in some of the rooms, so I don’t have many to add to this post. It was a fascinating, convoluted building though!
The library was particularly impressive!
We drove to a nearby lookout point called the Seat of Phillip II. Rumor says he would often come up here to check on construction of the complex … not that you can see much from this distance!
We attempted to go to dinner at Los Candiles, since Google listed opening hours all evening, but they didn’t serve dinner until 9pm. Instead we went into the town of El Escorial and had pizza at a little hole in the wall, called Napoli Obrador. The pizza was fast, hot, and tasty — we were all hungry after mediocre food at lunch and not much in the way of snacks. Handling meals is definitely a challenge when you’re on the road!
Saturday
First thing in the morning, we packed up our things and headed to the grocery store to pick up breakfast and a picnic lunch. Then we visited the Valley of the Fallen! It was initially in our plans for Friday, but the memorial closed before we finished at El Escorial. Instead, we got there when it opened and had the place almost to ourselves.
The Valley of the Fallen is a massive monument built by the dictator Francisco Franco. It is dedicated to the fallen of the bitter civil war and is also Franco’s burial site. Spanish officials are working to get permission to move his remains, but in the mean time the memorial itself has become a bit of a pilgrimage site for those who agreed with Franco’s policies.
The Valley of the Fallen has an immense view of the surrounding area too. You could literally see for miles.
An immense cathedral sits in under the hill and is entirely built out of the cavern carved out by political prisoners. A bit ironic, isn’t it? It isn’t nearly as ornate as many of the other cathedrals we’ve visited, but it was very very long! And dark and echo-y.
After the Valley of the Fallen, we drove south toward Pelayos. I’d found a ropes course in the little town that looked like fun for the kids, so it was definitely on our list. Getting there with public transportation would have been really tricky, so the ropes course was a significant reason we rented a car for this leg of our trip.
We arrived 30 minutes before our reserved time slot, so we had a little time to snack, use the bathroom, and watch the other people on the course. Keller and I opted to stay on the ground and cheer on the kids. We muddled through the orientation in Spanish and the kids learned how to use the carabiners and how to work through the course safely. The harnesses were pretty neat because once you were on the course it was impossible to unhook both of your safety ropes at the same time. That definitely eased our minds because we knew the kids couldn’t screw it up and hurt themselves.
Kamy and Caden both started on the kids course, level 1. By the end of the course they’d definitely figured out the carabiners and how to move through the obstacles.
Both kids had a blast in their 3 hour allotted time! Caden did level 1 and 2, repeated 2, then did level 1 twice more. Kamy got through level 1, 2, and 3! Keller and I split up — where I followed Caden around Keller hung out with Kamy. Neither kid needed much encouragement but rather wanted positive feedback.
When it was time to go, both kids still had some energy but had gotten to do what they wanted to. I call that a win! Caden said it was his favorite day this trip so far! That means it’s topped both the slides and biking in Madrid. Pretty rave reviews all around. =)
After the ropes course, we headed south toward our AirBNB for the night. Keller found a small house near the town of Talavera de la Reina for our stay. We took the back roads path — rather than the highway. What should have been about 10 minutes longer turned into … a bit more than that. Google was unaware that part of the road was closed due to construction, so we had to go WAAAAYYYYY out of the way and make an extra loop. A one hour drive turned into a two hour drive. Fortunately, the kids are super patient and help us keep our cool when things go awry.
Ultimately we did make it to our home for the night — a quiet little two bedroom house with a yard and a peaceful view. The birds were singing and the cow bells were jingling in the distance. Kamy and Caden ran around in the yard, creating games and hunting for flowers in the grass.
After dark arrived, and everyone took showers, we drove into town for dinner. Spanish hours being what they are, our reservation was for 9pm — early by Spanish standards! We lucked out with a parking place right out front of the restaurant and Keller wiggled the car into the space.
Dinner itself was pretty good — octopus and seafood stuffed peppers for appetizers, steak and pork for main courses, and several desserts to share at the end. Nothing amazing, but we were all fed. By the time we got back to the apartment it was past 11pm! Spanish time lines are tricky when you keep getting up and going at a reasonable hour in the morning!
Sunday
We were able to check in to our next AirBNB a little after noon today, so we packed up everything (again) and drove to Toledo. This time we took the highway — no chance of closed roads! The drive was easy and quick and took about an hour. Before going to our new apartment, we stopped along a view point road across the river from Toledo. The view was immortalized in a famous El Greco painting. We haven’t seen the painting in person, but now we’ve seen the view! 😉
Check in for our apartment went just fine. We’re a little out of town, but within a long walking distance. We walked (mostly) downhill to a restaurant for lunch. It is a local hangout with a very affordable daily menu. We were pleasantly surprised by the food! Our favorites were the moussaka and the “secret” pork with caramelized onions. We definitely felt like we were eating like the locals and not like tourists.
We walked past the “new” train station that was built to imitate Moorish designs. It was so beautiful!
From lunch, we hiked uphill to the town itself. Man, there’s a lot of elevation change! I totally understand the defensive advantage of building a walled city on top a hill. LOTS of stairs and steep roads.
On Sundays the Army Museum offers free admission, so we went “straight” there, despite the non-straight, twisty and turny roads. The Army Museum is in the rebuilt (for the third time) Alcazar. In fact, the interior of the museum included walkways over some of the archaeological ruins from prior iterations of the Alcazar bastion. The museum itself was a little lack luster, but we’re hard to impress. Oh well.
We found a Hapsburg statue here … hmm, how can we tell? 😉
Next we walked to the Cathedral. We tried to figure out where to go in, but after looking over 3 different sides, we assumed the cathedral itself was closed. NOPE! The entrance was on the last side of the cathedral, instead of in the front doors behind the closed gates. <sigh>
Lastly, we went to the Santa Tome storefront to pick up some locally made mazapan. Or marzipan, as we call it in English. Mazapan originated in Toledo and historically would be made by nuns within the convents. Keller and the kids enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favorite. They taste kind of doughy with a little sweetened filling. The kids also tried fancier pastries that were mazapan wrapped around a chocolate ball that was filled with matching jam. They were a hit!
Grocery stores are rarely open on Sunday evenings, so we stopped at Comes pizza to share something small for dinner. The pizza was pretty tasty, though surprisingly not as special as the little hole in the wall place we went to in El Escorial. Afterward, we hiked down and then back up to reach our apartment.
According to my FitBit, we walked 7 miles and every bit of that was either up or down. There’s nothing flat in Toledo — you’re either going up, going down, or standing still. LOL!
Monday
We headed back into Old Town today to check out the cathedral. This time we drove to the free parking lot down by the river and found the escalators. Our legs were appreciative!
We stopped by one of the TI locations and asked for directions to both a post office (to mail Kamy’s STEM questions) and where the entrance for the cathedral was. Hence, we learned it was on the 4th side of the building. A quick stop at the post office and we were in line for the cathedral.
We were early enough that, while there were certainly people there, it wasn’t swamped. The cathedral itself is AMAZING! It is the prettiest one I’ve ever seen. The high alter was beautiful and the transparente was truly stunning! Not to mention the intricately carved choir and elaborate chapter house ceilings.
I love studying all the intricate ceilings in Europe — we just don’t have anything quite like it at home. I take many photos looking straight up in the middle of a room.
The Monstrance was also quite impressive — I can’t imagine the work that went into creating it.
We spent about an hour and a half at the cathedral, not including climbing the bell tower steps. It’s by far the longest we’ve stayed in a cathedral. The chapels and nooks and decorations just went on and on. Each new thing we saw was impressive in its own right. Since Toledo is the religious center of a very Catholic Spain, it makes sense that the cathedral is so grand, but it was more than I was expecting. This one will be hard to top! This is the source for the expression “Holy Toledo!”
We also climbed the 190-odd stairs to the bells in the bell tower. The largest is a massive bell that unfortunately cracked shortly after installation, as the clapper was too hard for the bell. It was a bit intimidating to stand right underneath it!
After the cathedral, we walked over to a smithy — the only one remaining in Toledo. Here they still hand make swords of all sizes. We got to step back into their workshop where they were polishing blades and crafting handles. While the prices clearly show the items aren’t made in China, the prices felt very reasonable for a hand-made item.
Caden decided to purchase a small sword as a souvenir! He was very excited to get it and couldn’t wait to show it to everyone on video calls that evening. It’s just the right size for him and as he said, “I have always wanted a sword like this!”
We stopped at Santa Tome once again for a few mazapan sweets the kids picked out and then we walked back to our car and back home to our apartment. I went down the hill to the grocery store for lunch ingredients, while Keller worked and the kids had some down time. Both kids called and talked to anyone who would respond. 😉 Later that evening, we walked to a local playground to let the kids run around a bit but they were a little big for the equipment.
Tuesday
Today is Father’s Day in Spain! And guess what that means? (1) Several museums are closed. (2) All the good restaurants are fully booked for lunch.
Our INTENTION for the day was to check out El Martes, the Tuesday market in the park across from the city gates. But no one was there, probably because of Father’s Day. So then we hiked up to the Victorio Macho Museum, one of Spain’s modern day sculptors. Which was also closed. AND so was the Synagogue del Transito, a synagogue and museum about the Spanish Sephardic Jews, who lived in Toledo until run out by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition.
After striking out on three different things, we said, “fine, let’s find lunch and then we’ll go home.” Except we tried multiple restaurants and they were already fully booked for lunch (and opening at 1pm or later, while Keller had to be back at the apartment at 2pm for work).
New plan? Go to the grocery store and I’ll just cook something. Except? You guessed it, the supermarket was closed. Our host had recommended a local bar, called Gurugu, as a good option for burgers. Since they WERE OPEN, we were game. We were there early, as the Spanish don’t show up for lunch until 2pm or later, but they sat us in the dining area around noon and we finally found something to eat. The appetizers and desserts were particularly good! Again, we didn’t have high expectations, so we were pleasantly surprised. For 11 euros each, we had an appetizer, main course, dessert, and a drink. That’s a bargain!
We returned to our apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, doing some school, and packing. On to Cordoba in the morning!