We decided to go on an adventure today and see Toledo. It’s only a 35 minute train ride, so that seemed doable. Dan and I walked to the train station, which was a mere 1.6 miles (downhill), so that was pretty easy. Then we had to figure out how to use the machine to order train tickets. Well, we just weren’t quite sure we were doing it right so we found a Renfe ticket place and stood in a long line only to find out that was for the local trains. The person there directed us to where we had to order our tickets, but we were confused and finally decided to try the ticket machine again. No biggie … tickets were easy to get! We killed a bit of time since the earlier trains were no longer available, getting coffee and a somewhat light breakfast. Oh … and the bathroom was pretty darn funny and worth the €1 it cost: they had some sort of ambient sounds with birds and whatnot. Dan shot me a text of what they (“One Hundred Bathrooms) are about so I must share it here:

When I came out of the bathroom I told Dan I was just so relaxed. Truly a magical experience. (I’m joking, I’m joking.)

Then it was off to Toledo on a lovely train. (Dear United States, you need to get your act together and have better trains!)

As I was telling Dan, trains, planes, and automobiles cause me to fall asleep and, sure enough, I slept a bit on the train. Still, I did manage to see some things out the window for a time. Unfortunately I only took one iPhone shot, though.

We got off the train and headed up the hill to the old part of Toledo. In hindsight we might have opted for the rather inexpensive taxi that would give us a bit of a tour of the area, but the walk was probably good for us. I guess I didn’t take iPhone photos on our walk — I had pulled out the Fuji at that point— but below are images from the station.

Then … well … walk, walk, walk. Plus lunch (I had gazpacho and bread). And more walking. What a fun little area! So much to see. I also went into a shop to see if I could find a dress. I really want a linen dress with NO waist (because I think I’m rapidly losing my waist on this trip). I didn’t see just the right thing, though. The funny thing was the shop clerk asked me something in Spanish and I told her I only spoke English and she said, “Just looking?!” I suppose she’s heard that a lot from us English speaking folks.

Here are a lot of photos from the day:

When I hit the wall we stopped and had a snack of olives, iced tea (well, I think Dan maybe had sparking water), and ended with coffee. Then we ambled back to the train.

Our train was listed to be on track 1. It was on track 2. Go figure. And yes, I slept … nearly the whole ride this time! We got back to Madrid, took a taxi back to our hotel (it was uphill and we were tired!) and by then it was time for dinner. We went back to the Mercado and had a bit to eat, and after that kind of spoiled ourselves with dessert. Now I’m stuffed, and quite exhausted.

Tomorrow we are off on another train ride to our next destination. Stay tuned!

And now goodnight.