DAY 3 – MADRID to TOLEDO
9AM“Andiamos sleepy head, we got-a-lot to do. We should have been on the road by now, so get your cute buns in the shower!”
The alarm had rung 30 minutes ago, and Chuckie nearly bounced the travel alarm off the wall [he’s never trusted wake up calls since the defective clerk in Rome].
“These late night NOWATS are really taking it out of me. We should have been up and running to catch the last taste of Madrid.”
But it is all that Chuckie can do to drag his aching butt, leg, foot and everything else [it’s Hell turning 60] into the shower and still roust the groggy Dragon Lady out of bed.
After a quick pack, and a double check of the room, we head down for a typical “Desayuno Euoropeo”. [European style continental breakfast]
Into a crisp Madrid morning we headed for Avis to pick up our car and marvel at the street vendors every where, hustling everything from purses, pictures CD’s, DVD’s and more. We found it interesting that they were nowhere to be found on the weekend. Guess even they are socialized and only work a 5-day week. Chuckie spots the quintessential “shoeshine boy” [and we use the term ‘boy’ loosely as he had to be at least 50] and treated himself to a first class shine. Of course the Dragon Lady could not resist the opportunity to turn the tables on the photo happy Chuckie and snap a shot of him and the ‘shine boy’.
Processing Avis was smooth, they had everything we asked for including a mediocre map of Spain, and we headed for the garage to pick up a 2003 Volvo 60D diesel with only 1800 kilometers on it! This puppy has all the bells and whistles and handles like a dream. Chuckie [Mario Andretti, III] will have fun with this baby on the AUTOVIA…. But first he has to get it out of the garage and back onto the Gran Via with the Dragon Lady Ooooofffing and Eeeeekkking all the way. The streets, ya see, between the garage and Gran Via are just a tad on the narrow side. And... Of course the Madrileños may not drive as Nutz as the Romans, but they can be as impatient and just a bit rude. Ignoring misdirection’s by Apprentice Navigator Illy [the street we were turning into was no wider than a sidewalk] Chuckie still found the Gran Via without incident.
Once back at the hotel with no parking available on the extremely narrow street, Chuckie noses the Volvo into the taxi zone leaving the back end jutting precariously into the street much to Illy’s dismay. Apparently while he was in the hotel, the Dragon Lady was having panic attacks numbers 2 and 3 as she watched trucks maneuver WAY TOO CLOSE to the rear end of the squeaky new Volvo.
Coming out of the hotel Chuckie finds a distraught Illy wagging a finger and saying
“DON’T YOU EVER LEAVE ME SITTING OUT HERE LIKE THIS -AGAIN!!!!!!!”
The directions for getting out of Madrid from the nice lady at Avis were excellent with the exception of the unexpected detour around construction along the way which raised Illy’s
anxiety level when she couldn’t see the route number we were supposed to be on. Chuckie, ALWAYS calm in these situations and with an impeccable sense of direction, was able to navigate the twist and turns of the detour to successfully return to route N401, and we were off to Toledo.And of course… once out of the maddening traffic of Madrid, the “Ever Anxious” Illy released her death grip on the map which now has the impression of the road to Toledo firmly imprinted on the palm of her left hand.
Toledo was a short trip from Madrid with some very lovely countryside along the AUTOVIA,
however once again our trusty MAPBLAST directions did not quite mesh with the posted highway signs. The exit we took for Toledo resulted in taking us into the center of ‘Modern Toledo’, on the opposite side of Old Toledo and just a tad away from the Parador which was our destination. A quick stop at a gasolinaria [gas station] and some gracious directions from a gentleman who had a tad too much garlic in his lunch, and we were headed off in the right direction…. At least until we got to “Turn Number 3” of his instructions and then… the fun began!Since the Paradores are State owned, they have their own directional signs incorporated into
the regular highway signs. But at this intersection the boys at the DOT- ESPAÑA were having a bit of fun with everyone. The directional signs to the Parador [that we can see at the crest of the hill from the highway below] were just a bit confusing. One arrow pointed left, and when you glanced across the road, another arrow pointed right. The first time we hit this corner, Chuckie followed the sign to the left. This only managed to take us all the way around the winding road, up a hill, down a hill and well past the Parador, heading back to Madrid. Ascertaining that this indeed was the wrong way, it was time for a Pirula [Madrid dialect for U-turn – or Girare-U for those of you familiar with Illy’s favorite “U-Turn” maneuver] and we were back at “Turn Number 3”.Now it was time to try and make heads or tails of the conflicting signs. This time, Chuckie went right, and as we passed what appeared to be a road across the street leading to the Parador we realized that the conflicting signs were instructing you to “cross the center line to the left and make an immediate right into a special lane” which paralleled the center line on the wrong side of the road [Say What????] that led to a special turn lane and the entrance to the Parador. [Reeeally tricky, but Hey… it’s owned by the Spanish DOT’s BIG Brother…. Ain’t it Great To Be King!?!].
Since we realized all this after we were well past the tricky little zig-zag to the entrance, it was time for another Pirula. Once we navigated the opposite approach to the special lane, we turned into the driveway of the Parador, and hustled to check in as we are now running late to meet our guide in Old Toledo. We had been instructed to meet our guide in the center of Toledo at… McDonalds – of all places!
The reputation of this Parador not withstanding; the “Breath Taking” view of ancient Toledo from its spacious patio was truly Magnificent! The Parador itself, a converted country house with some obviously modern additions was a true a delight. We were escorted to a magnificent
mini-suite overlooking the pool and the western fringes of Ancient Toledo. The room was done in the style of an old country ranch house, and the utter contradiction of an Ultra Modern bathroom was a pleasant surprise. Overall the Parador could easily be rated a 4 Star plus hotel anywhere in the world and rivals AAA 5 diamonds. All this and more at only $80 bucks a night! [To be honest, Chuckie did some shopping to find the program called Dias Dorado or “Golden Days” which allows for a 35% discount if you are 60 and over and of course... we all know who turned 60 the day before leaving for Spain… Now that’s what I call timing!]Chuckie makes a quick call to our agent at OLE to alert the waiting guide that we were running a bit late due to the multiple Pirulas. We grab a cab into Ancient Toledo since we had been advised that finding adequate parking would be difficult at best. A short cab ride up some narrow winding streets into the old city and our cabby dropped us on the corner near the McDonalds. It was an amazing contradiction to turn the corner amongst these magnificent Medieval buildings, some from as early as the 1st century, to find the ‘Golden Arches’ of Mickey D’s. Of course now, we had NO IDEA who we were meeting or what our guide looked like. We urgently searched the faces in the patio, the upstairs dining room and all around the area. Just as the anxiety level was creeping upward with the thought that we might have been to late, this fashionably dressed young man approaches Illy and asked “Are you here for a tour?” The ever-cautious Illy, being suspicious of all strangers that approach her in public places [due to the warnings of friends to be on the lookout for pickpockets and Gypsies] takes a half step back and asked, “Are you with Ole’?” By now the ever-protective Chuckie comes quickly to her side and takes over the situation [as usual] and confirmed that the nice young man was indeed our guide for the afternoon.
We apologized for being late without getting into one of Chuckie’s lengthy explanations, and Señior Fernando Vazquez began our introduction to this ancient Capitol of Spain. He asked if there was anything in particular we were interested in and we told him we wanted to touch, feel, smell and taste of the full flavor of Toledo. He inquired if we minded walking a lot and we responded we were more than ready to walk however much it took to learn as much as we could in the allotted time about this magnificent rock of history. Speaking of Rocks… Toledo is one square kilometer situated on a craggy rock surrounded on 3 sides
by the Rio Tajo, which allowed it to be very defensible from aggressors. Our tour began as we climbed past what was originally the Royal Palace of several Spanish Kings, which more recently served as the Royal Infantry Academy. The Academy has since been relocated across the river in a new “Modern” building and the Palace is now being converted to the Spanish Army Museum.Our tour took us through all the significant sections of the Ancient town, from the Catholic section through the Muslim section to the Judaria. Walking the streets that date back to the 190 B.C. was awesome. Being able to take pictures of all this unbelievable history, was overwhelming. [Ok… maybe 14 rolls of Kodak weren’t enough – we may have to stock up later.] Hearing the passion in Fernando’s rhetoric produced shivers not caused by the fabulous weather that we were enjoying. We visited the Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca with its multiple religious influences since, during its storied history, it was a Synagogue, Muslim Mosque and a Catholic Chapel. We then visited “The Cathedral” of Toledo, which was started in 1226 and not finished until the end of the 15th century. It is the Cathedral Primate of Spain and considered one of the most extraordinary monuments in Spain and the world. It even houses several significant works of Goya, Raphael, Rubens, Titian, Velazquez, and one of the Greatest Works of El Greco “The Disrobing of Christ” which hangs in the Sacristy of the Cathedral. [El Greco lived here for over 35 years and produced the majority of his most renowned works while in Toledo.]
This walking tour, with a personal guide, was everything and more than we ever expected and more than offset the shabby motor coach tour of Madrid. We were so taken by this young mans passion, and fire, that we just had to invite him for dinner and drinks as night began to fall and it was obvious that we got more of a tour than he normally gives. After a little coaxing, we even got him to suggest his favorite place for Tapas or dinner.
Fernando had already planned on taking us back to the Parador for some final insights as we overlooked the illuminated city. But, after a stop at a quaint converted ranch house for cocktails overlooking the city, and upon our invitation, he took us to instead to the Posada de la Cal in the town of Orgaz [which coincidentally is the legendary home of the subject of one of El Greco’s most famous paintings “ The Burial of Señior Orgaz”] for one of the most incredible meals we have had in ages. [Yes Rene’ we tried to steal the chef… unfortunately he was the owner with no intention of leaving for the USA] But we really did try. Besides, it was old school farm cuisine, not the Nuevo Style. Not wishing to make anyone drool, [like hell!!!] I must recall the extraordinary brick oven roasted Leg of Lamb, the juices of which were eagerly sopped up with the outstanding home baked bread, preceded by some of the finest fresh cured Jamon Serrano, Tortilla con Baclao, Tostidos de la Casa [I have no idea what they were but…Yumm Yumm] and some fine aged Manchego cheese, all washed down with an unbelievable Asturian Vino Tinto and followed by a selection of the simplest yet most scrumptious deserts we’ve had the opportunity to savor. [Fernando had the Catch of the day and no wine… he had partied a bit too much with colleagues the night before]. Are you ready for this… all this, dinner for 3, wine coffee and dessert…€95 including tax & Tip! They even opened a closed dining room for us after a call from the road by Fernando so we wouldn’t have to sit with the rowdy locales watching the local soccer match. I would feel guilty except; there were soon 3-4 more parties in the room in short time. [They really do eat late]
One of the funniest moments of the trip [so far] came as Fernando, with a very straight face turned to Chuckie, [who was really trying his best to conduct himself in Spanish whenever he could] and said,
“You know, I am quite impressed, you have no accent when you speak Spanish, it really is quite good.” [But wait… this is too Good…]
He then turns to the beaming Cuban Lady [who is so proud of her Little Italian Man] and says with equal sincerity,
“But you DO have an accent… a South American accent to your Spanish.”
Swear to Heaven… you could have picked Illy up off the floor with a sponge… she just melted. I would have really felt bad for her if I wasn’t laughing so hard at the look on her face. She finally recovered [I think] after a little more wine and with Fernando, realizing his Faux Pas, apologizing for the rest of the evening. Of course, Chuckie now takes great pains in reminding her that HE has no accent, whereas she, the resident Latina has been judged by a native Asturian as speaking accented Spanish.
[The significance of this being that the Asturians were the only Spaniards never conquered by the Moors, or Romans and consider themselves the only Pure Spaniards.] She has assured me that “Pay Backs are a Bitch” but I have the first call on that trump card, after the Surprise party she pulled mid October.
After dropping us back at the Parador and Besito’s around, Fernando promised to keep in touch and we promised to recommend him to all our friends and colleagues who plan a trip to Spain.
[Attention Christina: … he’s really cute… a perfect gentleman, And... Single!]
After a night cap of Fine Cardinal Mendoza Brandy in the cozy lounge at the Parador, and a
brief stroll along the great terrace for last minute photos of the Grandly illuminated Toledo, we retired to get some rest for the drive to Cordoba and the city tour the next day, but not before we edited the final NOWAT from Madrid.I am editing this NOWAT about Toledo, from the Lounge of the UNBELIEVABLE Parador of Carmona where we are staying Tuesday and Wednesday night. I dictated most of it to Illy as we drove from Toledo to Cordoba. It was supposed to be a 4 hour drive but Mario Andretti III found that on Spanish highways if you don’t maintain at least 160-180 kph you almost get run over by a Mercedes or another Volvo, so the trip only took 3 hours.
I will relate the excellent city tour of Cordoba, the former Arabic Capital of Spain tomorrow since we have an early tour of Seville scheduled and need to rest. But, not before another of, what will probably be many comments on the Paradores. My only regret is forgetting to take pics of the Parador Toledo itself and not just its view. We did take pics here in Carmona upon first entering the incredible room and look forward to the Parador @ El Saler near Valencia. Without a doubt, several Grand Lux operators not only in the USA but Europe as well, can take lessons from these guys. Every thing so far [I pray not to jinx it here] has been outstanding. More later… I gotta crash.
Ciao 4 Now
Chuck, and the exhausted [but slightly South American accented] Illy.
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