Spain and Portugal 2018 – Page 2 – Judy and Valerie On the Road

Toledo

Toledo is a fascinating place to visit. A completely walled hill top city with windy narrow streets, beautiful stone houses and architecture from various influences. Before the expulsion of 1492 there was a large Jewish population here with ten synagogues. After the Jews departed these were taken over and made into churches. Two have been restored. One is now a museum for Sephardic Jewry and the other is an exquisitely beautiful building with rows of arches. Apart from just wandering around the streets we visited the two old synagogues, the El Greco museum, a tapestry museum and the cathedral. Here are some photos (click on a photo for an enlarged image)

Synagogue

Museum of Sephardic Jewry

El Greco museum

The museum was thought to have been El Greco’s house and some of the rooms have been furnished with furniture from that period in addition there is a large collection of El Greco’s paintings

Tapestry museum

This museum is connected to the cathedral and contains wall coverings and also garments worn by the priests.

Toledo Cathedral

Madrid

We stayed three nights in Madrid mainly to visit the museums.

We re-visited the Reina Sophia to see Picasso’s Guernica and a multitude of other modern artists including Salvador Dali, Georges Braque and Madrid-born Juan Gris. The Prado gave us the Spanish painters – Goya, Velazquez, Ribera and El Greco gets included), and then we went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum for the first time. What a collection! Here are a few photos.

Dali- Dream caused by the flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking up

If you are going to visit these galleries and you’re over 65 take your passport as you’ll get in half price.

We stayed in the Osuna campsite which had mixed reviews but we found it absolutely fine and positively leafy.

We got the metro into town very easily.

And of course not to forget the Sunday morning market

Fortunately for us it continued until 3pm .

Segovia

Stayed a couple a nights in Segovia which I definitely recommend for a visit. It has a Roman aquaduct 900m in length built in 50AD. It also has an Alcuzar which looks like a fairy castle (it was rebuilt after a fire) and evidently Walt Disney used as the basis for his castle in Sleeping Beauty.

But apart from all that it’s a lovely place to walk around. Small enough to manage and at this time of the year not crowded with loads of tourists (only a select few).

We wandered around the old Jewish quarter (the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 by Ferdinand and Isabella) Where they have a permanent exhibition in a Jewish centre.

Stayed overnight on an Aire at the bullring- very pleasant and just a 10 minute walk to the centre

First night in Spain

We arrived in Santander and decided that the one Camperstop in the town would be full up, so drove for 30 minutes to a delightful medieval village called Santillana del Mar. This had a great big Aire on the edge of the village with a few other vans

The village was just five minutes walk and we found a most acceptable restaurant up a little cobbled street, especially for Valerie’s birthday. A €16 menu 3-course meal including a bottle of Rioja ticked all the boxes.

I would definitely recommend it for a night’s stop when coming off the ferry