Holy Toledo

Thursday 24th May – Ordrup, Denmark to Madrid, Spain

This morning I thought I would take a last walk down to the beach. I’m glad that I took the opportunity because at the end of the lane there was a deer. I stood quietly and observed her (no antlers) for a number of minutes before she headed into the backyard of a summer house. She was still in the yard but when I approached the deer took flight and protested my arrival with a series of loud barks. It sounded like our neighbours dog Bella with a sore throat.

I continued down to the beach and took a last breath of Danish salt air and dipped the toes in the frigid water. With my sandals off I crunched my way slowly down to the jetty, turned and said a silent goodbye to Ordrup.

We have had a terrific stay here and Yette showed lots of patience as she chauffeured us around and answered our many questions. She has been a great host and we cannot wait to see her “Down Under” in 2013. One lasting memory is of the summer houses that all seem to have a large uncovered patio. The men sit with their shirts off to catch the sun and the women appear to enjoy an afternoon tipple of white wine.

The trip from Ordrup to the airport took us about 70 minutes. I don’t think that Yette was speeding, it was just the good roads. Our check in was smooth and it appears that we have good seats with a little extra leg room.

Like all airports the time moves slowly when you are waiting for your plane to board. Our aircraft has arrived but there is no movement to indicate that we will be departing on time at 15:40. The flight finally took off about 30 minutes late. The promise of extra leg room was a furphy as we were one row forward of the extra room and without the window view.


After touching down in Madrid we had the longest taxi to a terminal that we had ever encountered. It seemed like an hour but it did take 20 minutes. Still no stamps in the passport as we went straight to the baggage claim. I went cheap on the transfer to the hotel and booked a shared shuttle service. It worked OK but the extra hour was not worth it.

The Hostal Gonzalo (60 euros) is our home for the next five nights. Our room on the third floor is small, immaculate and has a good hot shower. There is also a small balcony where you can stand and watch the pedestrian flow below. It was after 22:00 but we decided a light meal to curb the hunger. There was no shortage of tapas bars but it all looked a little overwhelming. Where is the McDonalds when you need one?

We saw a spare table at one bar and decided to plunge in and try our luck. With the help of the waitress we soon had a plate full of “toasties”, beer and wine. It was a good end to our first evening in Madrid.

Friday 25th May – Madrid Walking Tour

There is no breakfast here at the Gonzalo but the management recommended a nearby coffee shop that is also a tapas bar. We were not disappointed and soon had enough fuel to tackle some walking.

The Puerta del Sol which is named for a long-gone medieval gate with the sun carved onto it was our target for the start of our walk to the Royal Palace. It is a wide open cement filled space (with a couple of good statues) that is as hot as King George Square. There is a marker “kilometre zero” which marks the very centre of Spain.

After a short walk we arrived at Plaza Mayor. This square, built in 1619, is a vast, cobbled, traffic free chunk of 17th century Spain. Today it is filled with football supporters from Barcelona and Athletic Bialbo who are in a state of origin mood. There is lots of drinking and singing as they prime themselves for the Spanish football league final tonight.

As we strolled out of the square we stopped at a sandwich shop called the Casa Rua, famous for their cheap bocadillos de calamares – fried squid rings on a roll.

We continued on past the city hall, past the Cathedral of Almudena until we reached the (Palacio Real) Royal Palace. What can I say about the palace, apart from fantastic! This is Europe’s third greatest palace after Versailles and Vienna’s Schonbrunn. The sumptuous original interior is packed with royal antiques as well as tourists (entry 10 euro). The 24 room one way circuit shows off beautiful clocks, furniture and chandeliers. What stood out for me were the beautiful frescos painted on the ceilings. The armoury was also great and was packed with weapons and suits of armour including the sword of El Cid.

The cathedral next door beckoned and I could not resist an entry fee of only 1 euro. It is relatively new (1883-1993) and the exterior is a mix of contemporary styles. The striking interior is neo-gothic, with beautiful stained glass windows and a glittering 5,000 pipe organ. The coffin of Isidro who is the patron saint of Madrid and farmers lies in a chapel behind the 15th century altar.

To finish our walk we returned to Puetra del Sol past the Royal Theatre which is currently performing the opera Cyrano De Bergerac.

I thought we had finished walking however I decided (not Alice) that we should look in the local department store. That was a mistake as we left about 300 euros poorer as we had purchased a Garmin GPS and a tour to Toledo. The GPS purchase is for the next part of the trip in southern Spain. It is actually cheaper to buy a unit than to rent one for 9 days. Hopefully we will not get lost.

After all that walking we were too buggered to go out for dinner. A little bit of Spanish television and then I switched to the football which Barcelona won 3-0.

Saturday 26th May – A Day with Jose


A good American breakfast before we meet with Jose who is one of Alice’s old students from South Bank. Jose was dead on time at 10:30 after traveling on the metro for about an hour. We had no plan so he took us on a route that would encompass new territory for us.

Our first stop was a park with a beautiful statue of Miguel de Cervantes and the two famous characters he created Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Further up the hill at Montana Park there was a surprise in the shape of an Egyptian temple.

Due to the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1960, many valuable monuments and archaeological sites were in danger of being destroyed. As thanks for the aid given by Spain, particularly in helping to save the sacred buildings of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian government donated the temple Debod to the Spanish people in 1968. On the temple itself you may admire some carved reliefs but Jose prefers to come at sunset as it is Madrid’s most outstanding.

It was a short walk to Madrid’s cable car which we caught from Pintor Rosales, in the Parque del Oeste. You catch it out to the huge Casa de Campo, a massive park which goes on for kilometres, stretching out towards the east of the city. From the cable car, you are able to see the Royal Palace and of course take award winning photos. Jose's plan was for us to walk through the park and down to the lake where we would take lunch Spanish style. There was a lot of activity going on and it turned out that Madrid was hosting a leg of the world triathlon championships.

As we had arrived early for lunch at 13:30 we had no trouble securing a table. Jose was correct when he told us that it would not get busy for at least another hour. We left it to the local expert to order and he suggested three traditional dishes.
• Croquettes (Not our favourite as it was a little dry)
• Pigs blood stuffed with rice and mixed with scrambled egg and red capsicum – good flavour
• Prosciutto known as “Jamon Iberico” and sourced from stress free roaming pigs that feast on acorns – very expensive and very nice

Alice and Jose chatted while I checked out the start of the women’s triathlon. There are a few Aussie girls competing so I threw in a couple of quiet Oi, Oi, Oi’s. After the swim leg two of the girls were in the leading fifteen. At around 17:00 lunch was drawing to an end so we started a slow stroll back to the chairlift. Along the way we stopped in a couple of places to watch the bicycle leg of the race. On the last lap of what was a demanding bicycle leg there were three Aussie girls in the lead pack. Watching the news on the following day I discovered that they went unplaced.

It is amazing how late the locals stay out! There were still plenty of families relaxing in the park at 20:00 and just as many watching a free concert outside the royal palace. As we were getting closer to our hostel you could see the tapas bars warming up as throngs of people jostled for a space at a table. A lot just stand at the bar where they chat with animation, drink and eat. We farewelled Jose at around 21:30 and commented what a great day we had exploring Madrid with him.

Sunday 27th May – Holy Toledo!

Today the Gould’s are on tour with a local company called Trapsatur which I have translated to trap the tourist!

Our first stop on the tour is the town of El Escorial to visit the Monasterio de San Lorenzo or the King’s Palace. The palace has plenty to offer including magnificent paintings, tapestries and frescos. Some of the art on display is by Titan, El Greco, Cellini and Weyden. After walking through bedrooms and galleries we came to the Royal Pantheon which is the gilded resting place of 26 kings and queens representing four centuries of Spanish monarchy. The only queens in this chamber are the ones who became mothers of kings. The basilica is again awesome and a highlight was hearing the organ that was built in the 1500’s playing just before the prelude to mass. It was our signal to leave and catch the bus to our next stop.

The Valley of the Fallen is about 8 km from El Escorial high in the Guadarrama Mountains. The first thing you see is a 150 metre cross that marks this immense and powerful underground monument to the victims of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. In 1940 prisoners dug 220,000 tons of granite out of the hill beneath the cross to form an immense underground basilica. A solemn silence and a stony chill engulf the 250 metre plus basilica. The remains of General Franco and 50,000 soldiers from both sides are interred here. It is a very impressive site and worth a Google.

After a very huge lunch in Madrid we were back on the bus for the 70km trip south to Toledo. Our guide is taking us for a stroll through the cobble stone streets and past the many souvenir shops selling swords made from the finest Toledo steel and anything to do with Don Quixote.

We walked past the Cathedral which gave birth to the expression “Holy Toledo” but did not venture inside. The view from a private museum that we visited gave us a good look at the valley and the river that bisects it. A simple chapel called Santo Tome housed El Greco’s masterpiece “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz”. A couple of more churches, out through the huge Bisagra gate, a walk downhill to the bus and the tour was over, almost! Before we could leave everyone was subjected to the ubiquitous visit of a jewellery store. I did not escape unscathed as I purchased a knife which we desperately needed for cutting cheese!

Back in Madrid by 8:00pm where Alice purchased a few supplies, including the world’s most expensive prosciutto from the happy pigs for a cheap stay at home dinner.

Monday 28th May – Culture at the Museum

There is only one art museum open on a Monday and that is the impressive Reina Sofia Museum (6 Euro). The showpiece for the museum is Picasso’s Guernica. He painted this in response to the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War and shows the horror of modern war. There is also a good collection of works by Salvador Dali including “The Great Masturbator”. This surrealism piece is supposed to depict a lonely, highly sexual genius, in love with his muse, Gala, while she is still married to a French poet. To be honest I think Dali was on more drugs than Keith Richards ever took! There were a lot more works by Picasso including the “Blue Lady” who Alice thought looked like Cruella De Ville as well as Braque, Leger and Gris. These artists were at the forefront of the Cubism movement.

This culture business sure is exhausting work. After about three hours of stopping and starting I had a sore groin and could hardly walk. We called it quits and walked back to the hostae for a well-deserved rest.

Our last night in Madrid and we decided to try the pub crawl dinner suggested by Rick Steve’s guide book. The starting point was the Museo del Jamon (Museum of Ham) where we had a croissant washed down with beer and wine. This was my cup of tea as the atmosphere was hectic and the price cheap. Casa Toni was a delightful little spot and has a helpful English menu. We nabbed a low table with stools and ordered berenjena (deep-fried slices of eggplant) and pimientos de pardon (miniature green peppers). Last stop on our little tour was the Naturbier Microbrewery where we had more wine and of course a dark beer. Home to bed as we have an early train to catch in the morning.

Tuesday 29th May – Cordoba Fast Train

Our train does not depart until 8:35 nevertheless we are up by 6:30 and on the road by 7:30. When I say on the road that is exactly what it means. We must have looked an odd sight wheeling our large luggage down the main arterial road en route to the Atocha train station. Cordoba is approximately 400km from Madrid and the journey time is scheduled for two hours. Our seats are more comfortable than an aircraft and they also play a movie. One downside for Alice is that she jumps every time the train passes something close as it causes a buffeting effect. She just did it again!

The train pulled into Cordoba station dead on time which was pretty good for such a long trip. Alice looked after the luggage while I went in search of the Hotel Serrano (51 Euro) which is supposed to be ten minutes away. Seems like we have made a good choice as we have saved another taxi fare and only have a 15 minute walk to the major attractions.

Our first visit was to the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos which is basically a fort (4.5 Euro). Upon entering there is a big garden rich with flowers and fountains. It was a good place to gain some respite from the 32 degree heat. The fort has a tower that gives you a view of the Guadalquivir River and the Roman Bridge which we later traipsed over.

The highlight of a visit to Cordoba is the Mezquita or the Cathedral of Cordoba. This massive former mosque which now has a 16th century church rising up in the middle was once the centre of Western Islam that rivaled Baghdad and Istanbul. As soon as we entered this imposing structure you could immediately feel the drop in temperature. The 850 red and blue columns are topped with double arches made from alternating red brick and white stone. The columns seem to recede into infinity. Although it is a vast room, the low ceilings and the dense forest of columns create an intimate and worshipful atmosphere.

Another highlight is navigating the narrow cobblestone streets to and from the Mezquita. They provide shade from the sun and limit the number of cars that can travel in this area. Houses have whitewashed walls with colourful doors and windows. When you peek through the iron grilled gates there are beautiful patios with wonderful mosaic tiles.