5th, 6th, 7th of November……Toledo , Cordoba and now Torre Del Mar

5th November

What a drive we had today.  We were soon descending from around 1500 metres above sea level.  We took the motorway but rejected the peage option and as we descended were way above the clouds and the views were spectacular.

Elaine did try to get a good photograph but we were on the wrong side of the motorway to get a really good image.  The drive took us on the outskirts of Madrid and now it was not the calm drive in amongst very little traffic.  Now we were on a motorway that resembled any English motorway on a Friday afternoon.

When we arrived in Toledo we found the car park by the bus station that was going to be our resting place for the night.  Way above us was the old city that was perched on a massive hill and the climb to see the sites there would be daunting to the fittest of people.

However 6 long flights of escalators took us to the top and  from there we could view all the countryside around the city.  There were the narrow streets that we have come to expect in the old cities we visit but there was a difference in what we saw in the many shops that we passed because everywhere knives of every size and proper swords of every description dominated the displays and here you could kit yourself out for a duel with a knight with one of the many suits of armour on sale there.  Going on the Crusades?…… then, again, Toledo is your place to go.

The cathedral and the surrounding buildings were impressive but the actual cathedral was closed so we only have the postcards we saw to show us what the inside of the impressive building looked like.

When we got to the old Jewish area there were small tiles on the pavements outside lots of the dwellings showing where the Jews lived and these are left in place so those days of prejudice can be remembered.  Toledo, through  history has been a melting pot of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures and a large church has hundreds of shackles decorating its walls to commemorate when a Muslim mayor had all the Christians of the city imprisoned.

That evening there was an impressive sunset and the sky was lit with lots of reds  and blacks.

6th November

We are so pleased we made Cordoba one of our stopping points on flight to the warmer climes of Southern Spain.  When we arrived in this large city there was a lot of traffic to contend with.   Elaine had found us a place to stop very close to the old city area and the coordinates took us  to a large car park and I drove to the entrance and drove in only to find that our motorhome, at 7.04 meters was too long to negotiate the very tight turn just passed the gate.  A car park attendant came running over waving his arms very excitedly, gesticulating that we should back out of the entrance.  When he had calmed himself down he helped me back out by stopping the traffic on the busy road and he pointed to another entrance that we should have used.

We walked over the busy road and entered the old city area. and after passing some of the narrow streets we came across the Royal Stables of Cordoba where shows take place to show the magnificent Andalusian horses going through their paces.

We had a quick look around the very impressive buildings and stables an d  because we were so lucky that a show would take place that evening then we bought tickets there and then.

We walked around the city and the cathedral is certainly the most unusual we have come across with its layout and its Muslim influences.

We walked down to the river and the the view from the old, large, pedestrian bridge back across to the cathedral and all the old buildings around is quite magnificent

The show wasn’t going to start until 8 o/clock so we got ourselves dressed up and walked back into the city.  The show was quite amazing and how they get these horses to dance and perform is amazing and the part where the Spanish lady dances with the man and horse makes Strictly fairly tame.

I could show picture after picture that I took during the show

7th November …..Torre del Mar

We have now reached the coast and we will stop at this campsite for some time.  We haven’t been outside out of the camp yet but we are only a couple of hundreds of meters from the beach and within the town so the location here is perfect.  The weather is warm and the forecasts say it is going to  stay this way for the foreseeable future.  There does appear to be mainly Germans and Dutch staying here for the winter but  we have already seen a few English  motorhomes and caravans.