A wonderful Parador buffet with a cool breeze blowing under
light cloud cover only the upper 70s today. It is a short drive of 146K some on
highways others on minor CR number roads. On the map book there was a small
note that said “windmills”. I think we
will have a look at that! We headed towards Consuegra and from quite a distance
could see all the windmills on top of the hills! We pointed the car in that
direction and drove up the hill towards them. They are really quite remarkable
and in the process of being renovated. There are a few finished and as you can
imagine there are oodles of tourists, mostly Asian! We were looking for a potty
stop but could find nowhere in town so we looked up by the windmills but I was
very unenthusiastic as there was such a line and only 1 for men and 1 for
women. I decided I didn’t need to go that badly! Said Asian tourists were very
rude and pushy and tried to go to front of line. They were very annoyed when
the pushy American (me) said back off lady and removed them! There were ladies
going to the Gents and holding all others back….it was chaos!
It was incredibly windy up there, I asked the chica in one
of the windmills if it was always like this and she said yes, basically! We
have some great pictures of the windmills and as we had been to the Quijote
museum the day before I could understand that addled old man trying to tilt at
the giants who were invading! Never did
find a bar in that town and did not make it to a potty until Toledo!
Carmen Garmin took us right in to the Hotel Mayoral and the
receptionist looked in amazement as the foreign lady yelled “ I have a
reservation but where are the toilets?” as she dashed by him. He pointed
silently and the lady found relief quite quickly! The hotel has delusions of
grandeur. It is big and totally soulless It is next to the Bus Station with
very few bars or restaurants nearby. I see taxis in our future! We had a huge
room with a terraza but no safe so the trusty Samsonite will be pressed into
service again as it can be locked up tight and hidden.
We could see the city above us on the hill so we headed for
the escalators which took us all the way up (6 long escalators) to the main
Plaza. We headed into the narrow streets seeking lunch. Quite quickly we found
Lizarran a pintxo type restaurant which is one of our favorites. Something we
have found is that tapas are not the same size as pintxos. Tapas found mainly
in the south are quite large and twice or three times the size of a pintxo. You
have to scale back with tapas and buy them to share or else you have far too
much food. Pintxos are just the right size. Just up the street is a Basque
restaurant which we will try this evening.
After siesta at the odd hotel we took a taxi up to the Plaza
Zocodovar and headed up to Txoko Restaurant and were sent upstairs to sit by
the open window. We were the only people
in there but it was very comfortable and the host was eager to please. As we
have often found, when we go in somewhere empty there will often be an influx
of customers, only two people this time, Andy and Glen RAF retirees now in the
reserves and working for a civilian company in the UK as parachute rigging
quality something or other! They came in because they saw us sitting at the
open window.They are really nice guys who needed a bit of help with ordering
food etc so we complied. We had a great time and closed down the restaurant
after midnight! I am sure the owner was happy to see us go but he was very
sweet. We resolved to stay in touch (which you know will not happen) and we
parted ways. It was one of these happy chance occasions where you meet terrific
people and have a wonderful evening. Andy, Glen if you read this….Hi! And do
call us when you come to Florida! They are visiting several locations in Spain
and later on to Florida for 5 more locations as well one near us in Sebastian
other include Lake Wells, Deland etc…. we shared the restaurant between us and
were the last to leave at 1215. |
| Toledo Railway Station, rebuilt 1923 |
 |
| Toledo Rail Station (Interior) |
Back to the odd hotel in a taxi. How many miles did we cover
today? About 4 miles, which is quite good considering the car journey. Tomorrow
we go to the Alcazar which we have missed seeing for years because it has
always been closed. This is the purpose of this visit!
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