On Saturday morning we left Mazarron for the 5 hour drive to Toledo, a World Heritage site in Castilla y Mancha and the capital of Medieval Spain. It's a fortress on a hill in a bend of the river Tajo, originally Moorish, conquered by Christians, and inhabited by Jews, Muslims and Christans in peaceful cooperation for a few centuries.

Our hotel had many Moorish features, including a lifesize suit of armour, tiles and Moorish arches echoing those in the city centre. We had Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning here, long enough to walk every dead end whilst trying to decipher the map. My Spanish came in handy when asking the locals for directions; they all agreed the tourist map was useless.

Amongst the many shops selling swords, daggers, bayonets, flickknives and penknives, Andy found a replacement toothpick for his Swiss Army knife. He was delighted, and so was the shop owner when I said he could keep the change from €1. (he asked for 50c). We got the impression we were the only customers that day.

Every second shop sold replica armour and weapons, and with the steep, cobbled streets it was picturesque. We wondered how many shields, replica medieval helmets and sharp pointed metal objects were sold, given the other tourists consisted of coachloads of Chinese, students probably, and at least one large group of Japanese businessmen.

The Alcazar castle dominates the city, built by the Moorish rulers in the 10th century on top of a Roman fortress. It was taken by Christians when the Moors were driven out of central Spain but survived until the Civil War, when it was besieged in 1938. Franco ordered it rebuilt in 1948 and it now houses a military museum.

At 4.30 on Sunday we left Toledo for Madrid Airport, where we waved of Mal & Lynne then drove for 5 hours back to Mazarron.