Toledo

=DON QUIXOTE RIDES AGAIN= On our way to Toledo we made a short stopover at Conseguera, a small working village with old windmills atop the hills overlooking it, and reputedly the ones Cervantes based Don Quixote’s “tussle with giants”. We drove up and the view was fantastic – you could see forever in every direction. An old 12th century castle was also on the hilltop (where else?) but it was the white windmills which fascinated us. Only one is in working order and is put into action during a festival in October (we were a week too early) which celebrates the harvest of saffron from the crocus flowers. As you can see by the pictures they make a great sight sitting as they do on the horizon. Oh, and we saw a few olive trees on the way – like as far as we could see in all directions for miles and miles! No wonder they give them away with a drink in bars here. =TOLEDO= Famous for its steel – (anyone for a sword? there were plenty on offer here), Toledo is a modern city surrounding the old medieval town which is dominated by its cathedral (what else?). Being somewhat over cathedrals we gave it a miss and contented ourselves with just wandering around the old streets and narrow alleys. The trip to the old town was very exciting – we caught a bus from near our hotel (they come every 15-20 minutes said the receptionist and the timetable) but obviously that was Spanish time as we waited 40 minutes before one arrived! However once on board the fun started as the bus wound its way up what seemed to be increasingly narrower and steeper streets, virtually ignoring other traffic and pedestrians, until we arrived (surprisingly safely) at our final stop. We enjoyed it so much we considered staying on for another go! BYE BYE SPAIN (for a few weeks)
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