Interail and Renfe.

My interail has expired. I have travelled to Madrid, Cordoba, Cadiz, Grenada, Huelva, Toledo, Barcelona, Ronda and now I'm back in Sevilla.

It was a great investement and saved my thousands of pounds. Literally. All my trains were perfectly on time, clean, comfortable. On long distance trains (more than 2 hours) they give you magasines and earphones to watch a film on big screens in the train (in original version, so English!) The views of the Spanish countryside were stunning. It's been great! A big thumbs up to Renfe.

Ride in a Police car.

After visiting everything in Toledo, I was tired, boiling, broke and had nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon. I saw a bus stop and figured it'd be air conditionned and would bring me a little closer to the center of the town. So sitting there at the deserted bus stop I start counting my pennies, checking I had enough for a bus ride. The empty bus arrives, I hop on and my purse was gone. Not worrying too much I get off, look around, the bus driver helps me. Nothing on the floor. Nothing in the bus stop.

The place was deserted, the only people around was a young woman and an old man. I ask the girl, she tells me she hasn't seen anything and the old man then tells me he saw the girl picking up something of the floor.  My purse. Another bus arrives, she hops on, the bus leaves. It was too late. Completely distraught I call T. My wonderful PA gives me all the numbers to cancel my card and all my account information.

There was no cash, just my Boots card (!!!!), HSBC card (which I cancelled), Oyster (that is not valid anymore and that has to be redone in September) and my European Health card (I am not expecting to use it any time soon!) and my wonderful purse! But still is was very annoying.

I find an nice young man who walks me to the Police Station. They tell me to report something lost it's at another Police Station, miles away from here. I tell them I have no money and so he rings a Police Car. Within minutes they arrive. I explain the whole story to them and they rush off sirens on towards the bus. Obviously finding THE bus the girl or purse might be on prooved pretty difficult so they drop me off at the Police Station and rush off again in hope of finding the purse. I report the lost purse. Then the man realises I have no money and that walking to the train would take hours and under the heat would be impossible so he rings back the Police Car who come to pick me up and drops me off in front of the train station. How cool?

So I didn't find my purse but I spent quite a cool afternoon. In a police car, with air conditionning, free taxi ride and entertainment! I actually saved money by loosing my purse.. So I guess it was not all bad. Thank god for Traveller's Check, I now have some money to live on for the next two weeks!

Streets of Toledo.

JMJ.

Here are some of the people attending the JMJ that were on a day trip in Toledo. The positive outcome of them flocking here is that I can now recognise flags from all around the World. Uruguay, Argentina, Syria, Lebanon and so on! Don't get me wrong the idea is great. Young people from around the World getting together one day a year but don't tell me it's for religion. ALL they were talking about was how drunk so and so got in the hostel and who was with who and what alcohol related fights they saw in Madrid...

Food.

My bum did not like the fact it had to go up and down slopes and streets three days in a row. So I found myself quickly sitting down for lunch. I picked a little tapas bar called Kumera on a small square that was packed with locals.  I had heard that venisson stew was a Toledo speciality so I had a tapa of that and another one of gambas (I was starving). The food was delicious (see below). The meat was so tender and the sauce very tasty. The gambas were very fresh and the sauce a tad salty but who doesn't like salt?! I had a tinto de verano and all in all the bill was €7,20.  How good is that? And that was a lot of food. I'd would definitely recommend this tapas bar for anyone travelling to Toledo. It's on C/ Alfonso X. To keep me company I had brought my huge International Relations book. It's very interesting but people watching prooved too tempting. My back was not pleased at my failed attempt of trying to be clever and bringing a 5kg book in my bag.

Another speciality in Toledo is the mazapan (marzipan). I  was chuffed when I found out and desperate to get my hand on some. So for 50p I bought a little bit of mazapan (see above). It was delicious. Thank god I had run out of money otherwise I would have bought tons more.

Christian, Muslim, Jewish.

Toledo is a tiny city which is divided into three quarters.

In the Muslim one you can find Mosque of El Cristo de la Luz, the last remaining one from the ten that were built during the Moorish times. 

Then you have the Christian quarter where you can find the stunning Cathedral Primada, which was built in the 13th century. 

In the Jewish quarter a few Sinagogues, one of which is called Santa Maria La Blanca. The mix of three cultures/ religions/ architecture in such a small space is quite fascinating!

Toledo.

Thursday morning I was up at 0500 again. With bum and thigh cramps and tired dry feet I made my way to the train station. It was not a direct journey. Sevilla- Madrid then Madrid- Toledo. I was completely knocked out in the train and slept for the whole journey. You can therefore imagine the state of my twisted neck when I woke up. Not nice.

At Madrid I was invaded by young Catholics from around the world. Literally. The Pope was arriving the following day and crowds were flowing through the station. I was hoping I'd loose them on my way to my next train but I was prooven very wrong. There were three enormous groups taking my train too.  One from LA, Australia and Syria. I obviously got the ones from LA in my wagon. Let's say it woke me up.

After an exhausting 20 minutes of American accent from Los Angeles I finally arrived at Toledo. The train station (top picture) was stunning and so was the city. Here is a picture of Toledo I stole from Google.

Swimming pool.

After spending around three hours in el Alhambra I wondered back to the hotel, checked out and spent the afternoon at the swimming pool. I felt so guilty for the whole thing, thinking someone was going to come and drag me out. But no. Obviously.

Then I trecked back to the train station. The train was packed with some of the loudest Spanish people. They were standing up, shouting it was like a zoo. But after three hours I finally arrived in Sevilla. Just enough time to pop back home, shower, cream myself (I was slighty red) and go to bed.

The next day I was off to Toledo at 0500 AGAIN.

Last bit of el Alhambra.

Palacios Nazaries.

Walking through el Alhambra.

Banos Arabes de la Mesquita. The old baths of a Mosque.

 Palacio de Carlos V. Inside there was an exhibition containing originals of M.C.Escher. I was chuffed, his work is great. We've all tried to replicate the symmetrical repetition of fishes in primary school. Apparently his work was inspired by the architecture of el Alhambra. 

 View from el Alcazaba. 

Bottom picture: a labyrinth!

El Generalife.

El Generalife is where the kings of Grenada escaped from their official routine. 

Top picture: I arrived there super early at the time where they water all the plants. It's amazing how they flood the roses with water. They don't use any pipes it's all done through the ancient water flumes that carry the water to the plants. 

 Top picture: I was the first visitor there and one of the gardeners took me into this little rose patio where you get another stunning view of Grenada, el Albaicín.  If you look carefully you can see wholes in the mountains (tunnel openings). This area is called Sacromonte. He explained it's where the gyspies live in very poor conditions and it's also where flamenco was born.

 El Escalera del Agua is a stairway with water flowing down it.  

Bottom picture: A Japenese guy from Tokyo who told me he was one of the guys who camped out for the tickets. Then he realised he had 5 minutes to get to the Palaces (everyone is given a very strict visiting time to the main bit of the Alhambra). We were at least 25 minutes away. So he ran off.  

El Alhambra.

El Alhambra was built under the Moors in the 14th century. The magical use of space,light, water and material makes this sensual architectural wonder a palace straight out of One Thousands and One Night. After waking up at 0500 my expectations were more than high but I was not dissapointed in the slightest.

 Pictures taken as I entered el Alhambra. 

Map of el Alhambra. It's absolutely huge.

I started with el Generalife (top).