Toledo day 3 (Monday, October 13th)

While our Canadian friends and family were devouring turkey dinners we were roaming the wilds of Toledo.

Toledo is surrounded on three sides by the Rio Tajo, which forms a large U around the old town, making the hill on which Toledo is built easy to fortify and defend.  The weather forecast indicated 20% chance of rain before noon and 90% chance of rain in the afternoon, so we set off at 9 am to walk along the river, outside the city walls.  About 3/4 of the way around, we crossed the river and followed the Camino Natural upstream for several kilometres.  

San Martin Bridge and Rio Tajo

The river was alive with fish (lots jumping), and the river valley was home to ducks, geese, herons, cormorants (shags) and other birds that we could not identify.  After the recent rains the river was high and moving very quickly, especially over the several weirs that we passed. From the river valley we had an invader's view of Toledo, and it was interesting to see all of the tour buses parked high on the opposite bank, so that their travellers could get a photo of the old city from outside, before being whisked away to their next destination. 

Tour bus climbing hill on opposite side of the river

Alcazar and city from river valley

Old city from Camino Natural

We got back to town just as the rain started, so we headed to Pepas for lunch....menus in English, good coffee and simple food. 

Remember yesterday I said that we were done with Alcazars?  Well, I have to eat my words, as we decided that a good activity for a rainy afternoon was to visit the Army Museum, which was (you guessed it) in the Alcazar.  The museum occupies at least 5 floors, so we spent two hours focussing on the top two floors which explained the army's involvement in the history of Spain and her territories.  The exhibits were all described in Spanish and English, and after two hours we had sore feet and information overload.

Enroute to the hotel we stopped at Mercado de San Augustin (our favourite market) for a drink, and to pick up bread, cheese, salad and fruit for our evening meal. Everything was fresh and the staff very happy to see us again. 

On the way back to the hotel we passed the Hospital of Tavera, which has the biggest (and probably ugliest) set of knockers that I have seen in Spain to date.

After our evening quiet time, we headed out at 7 pm to walk in our neighbourhood....just like the locals do. We wandered through a park and watched a soccer team practicing, before heading back to the hotel to get organized for travel tomorrow.

We will not have wifi in Cordoba or Granada, so don't be surprised if you don't hear much from us in the coming week. It will be lack of access not lack of interest.