Bus Tour Comes To An End

Our final full day (Saturday) here in Madrid was a busy one.

It began with me doing myself some nasty damage with my razor blade.  It took quite a long time to get the nick to stop bleeding and got my day off to a less than satisfactory start.

While rushing down to the dining area to grab a quick cup of coffee after the bleeding slowed I missed a step and fell, ripping a pair of trousers across one knee.  I will be to shops for a replacement pair when we get some spare time in Barcelona where we are due tonight for three nights.

Yesterday Saturday was a couple of tours.  One was to the Prado (Madrid and Spain's major art gallery).  We saw some famous paintings I had only seen before in books when at school.  It was OK but this is what you get on bus tours.

From there it was to the former capital Toledo around 80ks away from Madrid.  It began as a Roman city and was built high up a rocky peak to provide protection from any enemies.  Being high up meant it had many great views but any walking was usually either up or down a hill!

The streets were narrow and being a Saturday it was busy.  A visit to a cathedral (as usual) was on the agenda but around 1/3 of us opted to wait outside and enjoy the sun on this 18º day.

The city is now spread over quite an area of land and most of it (which we didn't visit) is now outside the former Roman Town.

The views are spectacular. This view in particular was great.

We can leave the hotel at midday today for our trip to Barcelona and make our way to the train station by cab.  Our Very fast Train leaves at 2pm and travels at up to 300kph and should have is in Barcelona by 5pm. Hopefully later we will be settled in to our hotel in Barcelona for three nights.

We board our Cruise Ship at midday on Wednesday in Barcelona.  It sails at 4pm.

Also hopefully we will have access to wifi as well at the hotel in Barcelona.  It is strange watching the footy scores live right now from Australia on my phone and/or laptop.  Hopefully my footy team will improve and have a win.  The early stages of the game don't look at all promising!