We started our day by heading to the Metro Station – Puerta del Sol in order to take the subway to Antocha Renfe. Technically, Callao (another station) is closer to our hotel, but instead, we wanted to walk through the streets leading up to the Puerta del Sol. These streets are full of small shops, restaurants, and then a huge department store called El Corte Ingles.

Arriving at Puerta del Sol, we went down into the station and bought our metro passes, a 10-trip pass for about €2.

*NOTE – A “trip” does not necessarily mean a trip between two consecutive stops/station, but instead refers to as many stops/stations necessary in order to arrive at your final destination. So in essence, once you are in the metro system (underground), you can ride as many trains as you’d like until you reach your final stop and actually follow the signs marked “salida” or exit, and actually leave a station to go up and out to a street or site.

**SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE – If leaving or arriving at the airport in Madrid, beside the Metro ticket you need to buy to get there (as stated above), there is an additional fee of 1€ to enter the airport, IF YOU ARE TAKING AN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT at the T4 – Terminal 4. If you are taking a domestic flight, this fee DOES NOT APPLY and you will instead be heading to T1, T2, or T3.

Renfe, think Am Track, are trains that are leaving Madrid to go to other cities. Thus, there are two stations that are called Atocha, Atocha and Atocha Renfe. Arriving at Atocha Renfe, we head to the main hub to buy our tickets to Toledo. The trip to Toledo took roughly 30 minutes. On the way, there isn’t too much to see in regards to visible terrain. One sees a few independent farms that seem large enough to sustain the family tending it.

Got our tickets to Toledo

Once in Toledo, we took a bus up to Plaza de Zocodover where we were greeted with the sounds and dances of a small traditional dance group. We went down a street and bought tickets for a small train that takes you around the historic town of Toledo; the trip lasts around 30 minutes.

Plaza de Zocodover - Toledo

Viewing the sights & sounds of Toledo via a mini-train

The historic area of Toledo is comprised of cobble stone streets, so riding the little train makes it difficult to take photos, hahaha.

one of the more focused photos of Toledo (from the train)

Once we arrived back at the Plaza, we began walking around. We found a church which was hosting a large traditional dance festival with three or four groups involved. There were about 200 or more people sitting and dancing in the audience. I took some cool video of two of the dance groups (I’ll be sure to upload it later).

Traditional Dance Festival

About two blocks away from the festival, we stopped in Café del Fin for lunch and for the free WIFI; taking advantage in order to check my email and update my twitter. Free WIFI is almost impossible to find in Spain; you can surely see networks but they are either password protected or available to specific cell phone/network carriers only (sorry AT&T and Verizon users – unless you have an international plan or have a WIFI network card). The restaurant is very modern looking, and uses a lot of bright colors mixed with brown tones to bring it to life. Café del Fin had a menú del dia (menu of the day) that consisted of three courses: appetizer, main course, dessert and also included bread and your drink of choice.

Café del Fin - lobby

Café del Fin - bar

My father chose: Espagetti with gambas, garlic, and olive oil – Bistec (Steak) with Papas Fritas (fries) – and Flan.

Spaghetti with gambas, garlic, and olive oil

Bistec (Steak) with Papas Fritas (fries)

Traditional Flan

I chose: Espagetti with gambas, garlic, and olive oil – Hake – and Chocolate Ice Cream (I needed something to cool me off!)

Hake with Papas Fritas (fries)

But one of the best experiences was to go outside the ancient city. If you have enough time, and don’t rely on a tour guide (because they won’t recommend this), you may be able to follow the streets to reach the end of the ancient walls. Outside these walls, you can look out into modern Toledo. Of course, you come to see the traditional monuments and architecture, but to see a flash of the present just outside these walls is very humbling. You can literally turn around and see the past, and then look out into what is the present. Now, I’m not saying that there are skyscrapers, Spain just isn’t like that, after all, you can count on one, maybe two, hand(s) the number of skyscrapers within the city.

Marzipan filled with a sweet paste/cream

We took some escalators down to the main level to what I will refer to as Toledo-modern. Seriously, I’ve never rode six consecutive escalators before, but I suppose it is necessary to get from the altitude of the traditional city down to the modern area. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn’t get to explore the modern area. We went back to the Plaza in order to take the bus back to the station. At that point, we rode the Renfe back to Madrid, ending our wonderful day in Toledo, Spain.

Filed under: Travel by Giancarlo Deleon