Toledo had the benefit of our presence today. From pre Roman times to the mid 15th century, Toledo was the capital of the local caliphate / kingdom / empire. Today it is still the religious and military centre of Spain, although more from a heritage than practical perspective. The coach took us from just behind the hotel on the one hour journey. Toledo is located on a high bend on the Tagus River. Its most famous structure is the Alcazar fortress - not part of...

Today was walking day! The weather continues to be fine and over 30C. It's a very dry heat and not unpleasant. We headed out on an extensive search for breakfast (next door) which cost €6 for us both, better than €40 being charged by the hotel. Fortified, we caught the metro to Atocha to visit the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. This place was difficult to navigate and half closed. After roaming through frankly boring exhibits, we found Picasso's Guernica. This ...

Today we moved from Amsterdam to Madrid. Getting to Schiphol airport was just so easy. We closed the apartment door at 8am and were at the check-in counter by 8:50. The tram to Centraal Station was mostly empty; train connections leave every 15 minutes and while the train was packed, it took less than 20 minutes to get there. There is an amazing (and user friendly) baggage self-check in, although our bags were over 23kg so we had to deal with a human (and a very...

A day of separate activities. I visited the Rijksmuseum and Bruce did a half day tour. The Rijksmuseum has recently been renovated and it is an easily accessible place. My purchase of a ticket yesterday meant I just walked straight in. There was a queue in the access road which wasn't too bad. They seemed to hold people and admit 20 or so at a time. This was at noon on a Monday; weekends would be worse. When I came out at 2 there was no queue. Using the free Ri...

Today we moved from Douwe's apartment in the Pijp which is conveniently located near the Museums. His place is fine; a work in progress best describes it. We weren't unhappy there but the stairs are scary. We lugged our hefty suitcases onto the tram like good flash packers do and headed over to the Plantage district. We couldn't access the apartment until later but noted that we're on the first floor and the stairs go straight up. The apartment is located opposi...