Alfonso Vi Toledo

No Photos of Paella

Paella night began inauspiciously. We presented ourselves at the Royal Paella Restaurant at 9 pm having been assured by our hotel clerk that no reservation would be necessary. Upon learning that we had no reservation, the maitre'd perfunctorily dismissed us with an "all full." We turned and walked away disappointed and a tad forlorn. Remembering that we would be coming through Madrid on our way home, we went back and asked to make a ...

... system isn't too complicated, but may be tricky to figure out for those who don't speak Spanish, as would various other aspects of travel in smaller Spanish cities. In a cab, the most expensive option, one can simply simply say "a la plaza mayor, por favor." To walk, one only needs a map.

--------------------------- -------------
Disclaimer: This blog was written from my personal experience of travel in Toledo, Spain. Many of my personal opinions ...

... egg. The oily broth had no flavour. The local specialty is partridge (and all this time I thought it was hotel hotties!) - stringy and flavourless. It was basically boiled poultry. The accompanying bread was hard and stale. I was roasting after eating the hot soup and hot partridge dish. Mary had roasted pig - lacking a little salt, but roasted pig is always a yummy dish. According to the menu, dessert was "trifle with scum". Mmmm ...

... far from home. So what it is specifically? In no particular order: the people. Friendly, funny, proud, passionate, people who aren't afraid to say what they mean, the honesty of it all. The weather: it's Spain, 'nuff said. The clock: everything operates a bit later, and a bit more flexible. Being "late" is a relative term! Dinner is after 10 pm, and some clubs don't even open till 3 am. Getting home at 6 or 7 in the morning after a night ...

... looked good from the outside (The bell tower "the belfry" was the tallest in the city!) so I paid EUR 6 to go in. Besides that, I had no memory of what was inside the Cathedral (Come on, I had been to ...

... made it 24 hours later...not bad I guess. I have a really great set up in Madrid. The family I am staying with basically runs a little hostel...there are 8 students in the two apartments they own - four from the US, 2 from France, and 2 from Canada, ranging in ages from 15-21. It is really nice to have all these people available to travel with and tour the city ...

... I leave Madrid. I'm enjoying the city way more than I could have anticipated. The young man at the hostel, Niel, is from St. Louis. god's work bringing them across my path. Niel was a sturdent here in Madrid a couple years back. He's going to do the Camino too and we'll probably ride the bus up to Pomplona and then over to France together to begin the walk. I'm surprising myself at being interested in "seeing the ...

... Alfonso IV 370 years later in 1085 with the lamp still burning. A mass, the first celebrated in Spain after the reconquest, was immediately held. Tradition says that the painted cross on King Alfonso's shield was the one used for the mass. A plaque on the floor celebrates the event. As legends go it neatly vilifies the local Jewish population too. There was once a hermitage here with a crucifix on the door. Two Jews hit the crucifix and it began to bleed. Terrified ...