view photo album
The train ride from Madrid to Toledo was interesting but dry. As we left the city, buildings gradually faded, but there never did get to be suburbs. All the buildings were tall, often multi-use, and apartment-looking. Almost all in Madrid were reddish-colored, like the plains. No one had a yard, which is why all the kids played soccer on the cement in the plazas. There were dirt soccer fields from time to time, but no lawns or fields. Judging by the clotheslines, no one had a washing machine.
The plains were huge, flat and baked, and mixed with endless fields of perfectly flat corn that looked like someone went over the top with a chainsaw. In between cornfields there was dry grass, also uniform height, or baked red dirt. Here and there was a farmer or house. On the way out of Toledo, we saw lots of hunters looking for rabbits (and one stressed-looking rabbit).
Toledo had two items of note: the Alcazar and the Cathedral. The Alcazar was a military museum that was a fort from Roman times to the Spanish Civil War. It was the site of a siege by Republicans who failed to take it in the war, and the nationalists made it a museum after the war. It still glorifies Franco and the nationalist defenders. The Alcazar now features a small two-room display about the Civil War siege, with the pictures of the nationalists who died there.
The cathedral was also huge, with 88 pillars and a huge gold centerpiece that seemed impressive at the time (this sort of thing gets old when it turns out that every town has one). Outside was a beautiful square, where we ate a picnic dinner and watched the shadows creep up the bell tower. Swallows filled the sky and a couple of kids kicked a football around the square, while the town's older people hung out on benches and went for walks.
* * *
The Hotel Santa Isabel was very nice and very cheap. It was recently reconstructed, and so had a modern and completely foreign light system. To turn the power on, we had to put the room key card in a slot by the door. When the key was removed, the lights and power went off after a few minutes. It saves energy when you leave, is American-tourist proof and you can't possibly forget where you put your keys. Neat.
Too bad we couldn't figure it out on our own, and had to meekly ask the maid how the lights worked.
