Day Thirty Seven: One More Hill To Climb

We awoke in Toledo to clear skies and crisp Autumn air. And this nice spacious apartment is just what we needed to end our trip. Lots of room to relax and read while the laundry gets done in the kitchen clothes washer. We will venture out after the laundry is done. So far we have walked to the market and back for some supplies. Coffee, cookies, yogurt, laundry detergent and such. I think we are almost ready to head home to the States. Wonder what is going on there? Very nice to have no news except what I want to see on the Internet.

 Ceiling above our bed.

 Living room.

 View out one Living room window. We are almost on top of the highest hill. Also how not to take care of your roof in the house across the alley.

Comfortable reading while the laundry gets done.

 The steps leading down to our apartments street.

 Further down we go.

 Our apartment.

 Inside hallway.

 Ditto.

 Above the courtyard.

Our bedroom.

 Apartment across from us. Neat walls.

 Well the dryer is a little bit slow, so we stopped it, hung some clothes out to dry, and headed to see the Cathedral of Toledo. Having seen many churches in our travels, I get a bit jaded when touring them. However this was enormous and had more plundered gold than I could imagine. I cannot imagine how much it would cost in today's dollars to build. That said it was very nice to see. Even if the bell tower was closed to tourists.

 Inside the Cathedral.

 Another processional alter. Once owned by Queen Isabella of Spain.

 The choir's seats

 Detail.

 More detail.

 The main alter. Notice the size of the people in front of it.

 Ditto

 A painting that must be over 40 feet tall.

 Behind the alter.

 Looking down the length of it.

So we are now hungry. The first restaurant we stop at has a nasty waiter and high prices so we leave and go next door to this family run restaurant that is just our style.

 Deciding what to order.

 Families eating lunch.

 My bean soup for starters.

 Linda's local soup.

 The streets of Toledo.

 On our way to an old Mosque.

 An old gate.

The old Mosque. It really isn't very big and in fact the central part of it had a big crucifix hanging there.

 But the view from the city wall was very nice.

We took a Taxi back to our apartment and the ladies sat/laid down to read. I am headed out to the market. It may not be open tomorrow as Nov 1st is a holiday.

I picked up some bread and croissants for breakfast for tomorrow. I also managed to pick up some more blood pressure medication that I had ran out of. A nice thing here is that if you have your empty medicine bottle, they will sell you more. A months supply cost 21.00 Euros. Now why are they so expensive in the USA?

I then happened by the Halloween celebration taking place in the olde town Toledo towne square. There was a band and a few people dressed up, as well as priests and clergy that had things for the young children to do. Low keyed but nice.

The Band playing in the square

One of their songs.

I went home and just laid around. Part of the time I sat at our second story window and watched people pass below at the intersection of 4 alleyways. Signs of the time are that I only saw one person with a map. Everyone else either knew where they were going, or had their phone out in front of them following either Goggle Maps or Apple Maps. Have done the same myself.

All three of us managed to get dressed and go out to brave the cold weather. It was 52 degrees. Short cut to the fore mentioned square and we find that most of the restaurants are sort of fast food. Since it is so cold (The restaurants supply gas heaters outside) we decide to eat in. Now this shows you we have been away too long. Mary Ann and Linda have fried eggs and french fries while I have a Cheese Burger. Everything was oh so good. Mary Ann and I did manage to do in a liter of Sangria. No food pictures from there. We go back to the Apartment, and retire for the night. But not before having some chocolate and almond candy picked up earlier at the market.

Yes there were some poeple dressed up for Halloween. Mostly teenagers and some with painted faces as in the USA.

Boo.

So just before I am going to bed, I look out the window and the Cathedral is all lit up for this Holy Day.

There are no words to describe this sight.

Day Thirty Six: A Very Smart Move

So check out of our Valencia hotel a day early and head to Toledo. Our hotel in Valencia was OK, when we were thirty years younger. Back then we could deal with no hot water or sporadic warm water. And then we didn't care about the Internet connection. Lumpy beds? Who cared? People in the next room hearing everything we did (now it is snoring) who cared? No heat or AC? Who cared?
But now I am a little older and need those comforts. Plus it was going to be a rainy cold day and if I have to spend it somewhere, I will take a four hour ride in a car over that type of hotel.

So we leave Valencia using our wits and what little help the GPS gives us. Oh did I mention that just before we left we bought croissants as is usual. These were so bad no one could eat them. Worse than you can buy at Costco in the States.

Just outside of Valencia, we stop at a rest stop to eat, stock up on car snacks, get coffee and stretch. I buy a made to order sandwich with Iberian ham, Salami, cheese, and a warmed fried egg. And on real European bread. Delicious. It is raining lightly and the GPS thinks we are driving in a field and/or lake when in reality we are on an expressway headed towards Madrid and then a turn off towards Toledo. Starting out it couldn't find Toledo except for the one in Ohio. If it hadn't been for Linda's iPhone and unlimited data plan we would have been back to using maps! Be sure and tell your grand kids what maps are.

Good day to be in the car. we get to Toledo despite the GPS and find the parking garage where we will leave the car until we leave Toledo. Now for those of you who are not familiar with toledo, Spain, I am including a picture.

It looks a lot different now, but we have an apartment up on top of the highest hill. Here are a few pictures.

 View from our rooftop terrace.

 Looking the other way.

 From our living room window.

 Don Quixote and his pal Sancho.

We eat lunch just up the stairs from our apartment and then go out to explore the upper part of the town. Believe me, this town was built on a steep mountain/hill so it is a lot of up and down.
Back to our apartment to rest and unpack before dinner around 9:00 PM. What a difference this place is compared to where we were. It could comfortably sleep 6 people. And the little rooftop terrace is something else. Here are some night shots.

So we rest and head out into the rain on these somewhat slipery streets to a restaurant recommended by our host,

 Very narrow alleys in places.

But the restaurant is a gem and we have a very nice dinner with soft jazz playing in the background. I have Suckling pig of which I plan to have again at least once before we leave Toledo.

 From where we sat. We closed the place.

View from my seat.

Tomorrow we explore this jewel of a city by foot and by the little tourist train that goes around the city. Remember it is very hilly. I refer you to El Greco's painting once again. I say goodnight as church bells toll in the night.

Day Thirty Five: To Market, To Market, to Buy a Fat Pig,

Or some seriously old cow.

Today we woke uncertain of what the weather would be. To our surprise it was a very typical Autumn day. We first went to the Market Central where all fresh goods and food are sold. But alas there was very little food for consumption. We had to settle for coffee only. But the Market itself was great with a great selection of fresh food for those who would cook dinner later that day. But poor us we are not among that group.

But let me backtrack a bit. Whenever you choose hotels abroad you rely on ratings and pictures. I did this with this hotel and came up rather short. Great location, but Mary Ann only had cold water or scalding hot for her shower. I managed to get it almost right but that is not what we want at this point in the trip. We will endure.

Pictures from the daily central market.

 Label says this beef was butchered in 2014. Now that is aged beef.

 More slaughtered in 2013.

 The Central Market.

We then go to the Cathedral of Valencia (17.00 Euros to see God's House) and it is a very nice visit. But by this time the Cathedrals are starting to look very similar. This is the resting place of the Chalice from the Last Supper, but we could not find it. Only Saint Anthony's right fore arm.

 A church on the way to the Cathedral.

The same church next to the central market.

 Inside that church.

 Ditto

 Outside the Cathedral.

 Inside

 A 600 KG relic.

Saint Anthony;s right arm is in the glass case.

We have some Churros and Chocolate after the church and decide to visit the other Market, Market Colon. It is a bit of a hike  but we see many of the nice buildings that make Valencia such a great city.

After a round about hike led by me we finally find this market. Just in time for drinks. I have a couple Vodka Tonics, Linda a Cava wine, and Mary Ann a Tonic water. By the time we are done, it is almost time for lunch.

The Market Colon.  Full of Restaurants and cafes.

 The ground floor.

 Going down to the sub floor.

 Walking back to our hotel.

 The sandwich I ordered. First sighting of white bread since we arrived in Europe. Didn't like it.

 A dog waiting for hid master to finish eating.

 Another sight of Valencia.

 For some reason, this building was covered in mesh.

 Pretty building.

Close up.

We decide to walk back towards the hotel and see what restaurants might appeal to us along the way. we do find one and have lunch on the sidewalk as it has warmed a little and the wind has died down.
we order but what I thought was going to be a standard Spanish Ham and cheese becomes a grilled cheese like in the States. First I have seen the whole trip. But I do eat it.

We wander back to the hotel with Linda as the line leader. She does so well. Even leads us past a place where we can pick up souvenirs.  Back to the hotel and time to Nap. Because that is what they do after lunch in Spain.

We cancel dinner because Mary Ann is not feeling well and this hotel sort of sucks. I check on the place we have in Toledo, and they have a vacancy in the apartment we are scheduled to stay in on Wednesday. So we change it to Tuesday and will say Adios to Valencia a day early. Not Valencia's fault, just a shabby hotel.

Tomorrow we drive to Toledo.